Cognitive Testing for ARMS III - Sept 2020

September 14, 2020

Cognitive Testing Write-up for ARMS III Cost and Returns Report

(Core version and Hog Version)

(OMB No. 0535-0218)

Survey methodologists conducted eight cognitive interviews virtually with respondents from grain and hog farms in Iowa, between July 15 and July 22, 2020. Five interviews were with grain farmers, and three were with hog farmers. Five of the interviews were conducted with people who are also NASDA enumerators and were initially tasked with recruiting participants, but were also potential survey respondents and were willing to be interviewed for this project.

These interviews were conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which made in-person interviews unfeasible. The web-conferencing platform Zoom was used to conduct the interviews, allowing interviewers to share their screens with respondents. In some cases, if the respondent was unable to get audio functionality in Zoom, the interviewers called respondents on the phone in parallel with the Zoom meeting. Interviews lasted approximately 60 minutes.

Some examples of changes made to the CRR questionnaire because of these cognitive interviews include:

• Section E, Marketing and Production Contracts and Direct Sales, Question 4 – The second column response options were changed to “No change from 2019”, “More sales in 2020” and “Fewer Sales in 2020.”

• Section E, Marketing and Production Contracts and Direct Sales, Question 4b – added, “Include other informal sales” to the instructions.

• Section G, Government Payments & Other Farm Related Income – The column header changed from “Amount Still Owned” to “Amount Forgiven.”

• Section K, Personal Characteristics and Farm Management, Question 14 – The question wording was changed to “Loss of off-farm employment and unemployment compensation due to COVID-19 related disruptions or shutdowns.”

  • In addition, the question-stem was modified to read, “Since March 13, 2020, did the principal producer, principal producer’s spouse, or any other member of the household lose an off-farm job or were furloughed due to COVID-19 related disruptions or shutdowns?

  • In the third column, the header was changed to “Total amount of assistance received?”

• Section K, Personal Characteristics and Farm Management, Question 15 – The wording was changed to, “Number covered by health insurance as of January 1, 2020” and “Number that experienced a break in coverage at any time during 2020.”

Some examples of changes made to the HOG questionnaire because of these cognitive interviews include:

• Section G, Government Payments & Other Farm Related Income – The column header changed from “Amount Still Owned” to “Amount Forgiven.”

• Section O, Access to Veterinary Services, Question 3 – The question-stem was modified to read, “In 2020, did you receive one or more Veterinary Feed Directives (VFDs) for your hogs from a veterinarian? A VFD authorizes the use of antibiotics in feed for the prevention, control or treatment of disease.”

• Section R, Hog Sales and Contract Removals, Question 1 – In the header for column 4, changed the text to, “Under a production contract in 2020.”

• Section V, Hog Manure, Question 2 – Added annually as an option for manure removal.