Data reconciliation and estimation in an agricultural survey

Abstract

The Puerto Rico Census of Agriculture (Census) is the leading source of statistics about the island’s agricultural production. The Census is conducted every 5 years, in years ending in 2 and 7. However, the most recent Census was administered in 2018 due to delays caused by Hurricane Maria. Because the Census list frame is incomplete, a separate survey is conducted to inform measures of undercoverage, nonresponse, and misclassification, leading to adjusted weights. At the time of Hurricane Maria, the 2017 survey had already been conducted in preparation for the planned Census that year. In 2018, the survey was repeated using the same sample. Linking and analyzing the 2017 and 2018 survey data provide insights into the impacts of Hurricane Maria on the island’s agriculture. Furthermore, the 2018 survey gives an opportunity to evaluate the 2018 Census results. Although the same sample was used in 2017 and 2018, automated record linkage methods are not suitable to link records from the two surveys. This paper discusses record linkage and estimation approaches used to determine the number of farms and land in farms in Puerto Rico before and after Hurricane Maria based on the two surveys and the Census of Agriculture.