Agricultural Coding and Data Processing

1. Agricultural Coding and Data Processing Section A

2. What Is Coding? The conversion of human language provided in censuses, surveys, or other forms into coded (usually numerical) categories for data processing and tabulation.

3. Typical Open-ended Responses • General (race, ethnicity, ancestry, language) • Geographic (place of birth, place of work, migration) • Complex classification: (industry, occupation, crops, manufacturing, etc.)

4. Coding Operation Components • Classification system • Rules or procedures • Reference materials • Coding method

5. Clerical Coding Considerations • Time, staff, and cost needed for completion • Appropriate space, equipment and storage • Determining logistics (supervision and workflow) • Development of procedures, code lists, training and testing • Production and quality statistics

6. Specialized Coders • Divide coders into groups by the type of coding: • General • Geography • Complex classification • Assign forms such that they move from easiest to complex coding groups.

7. Automated Coding Considerations • Determine coding requirements • Software development and testing • Validation • Determination of acceptable quality • Quality and production statistics • System for dealing with unresolved cases

8. Computer Assisted Coding • Presentation of questionnaire image or information for coding on computer monitor • Lookup code lists may suggest codes • Interactive coding during computer assisted interview data collection • Need quality control procedures • Need to ensure these systems produce production and quality statistics

9. Coding Work Flow • Paper forms: manual coding, keyed data entry • Scanned forms: manual coding • Scanned forms: computer assisted coding • Scanned forms: automated coding • Interactive coding: computer assisted coding and/or autocoder

10. Work Flow Impact on Quality • Time savings in one process will often not translate into overall time savings • Improvements in one process demand improvements in related operations • Ensure that quality is not dropped when adopting process improvements

11. Coding Clerk Duties • Follow procedures, regard only information required to assign code • Assign codes without consulting other coders • Look up codes in the proper coding lists • Make a list of codes for common responses • Note questions for supervisor

12. Supervisor Duties • Assign work units • Track work and flow of forms, information • Keep timesheets, production and quality statistics • Respond to questions and resolve problems • Hold weekly coding meetings

13. Coding Production Information • Batch identification • Batch completion date (time) • Number of codes assigned by coder • Coding errors per batch by coder

14. Coding Production Calculation • Batches completed by date and coder • Codes assigned by date and coder • Overall progress is cumulative batches completed as percentage of total batches

15. Daily Production by Coder Chart

16. Coding Error Calculation • Number of errors by batch coding clerk by date of batch completion • Post error charts by coder beside production charts • Combine error and production rates to show relationship

17. Verification Production and Error Rates • Number of batches verified by verifier and date of verification • Number of errors attributed to the verifier by batch • If verifier work falls below acceptable levels, they should be re-trained, then possibly removed from verification

18. Choice of Verification Dependent (less quality, less costly) • 2-way (1 verifier) • 3-way (2 verifiers) Independent (more quality, more costly) • 2-way (1 verifier) • 3-way (2 verifiers)

19. Decision Strategies • Determining what is acceptable work • Determining incentives for quality work (award system) • Determining what to do about unacceptable work (re-work, re-train, other disciplinary actions)

20. Section A Quiz • What are the three general categories of open-ended questions? (hint: also used to group specialized coders) • What are the three methods that can be used to assign codes? Extra credit for naming four. • What information is needed to calculate coding production information? • Which verification method provides the best quality?