Decomposing Response Errors in Food Consumption Measurement : Implications for Survey Design from a Survey Experiment in Tanzania

There is wide variation in how consumption is measured in household surveys both across countries and over time. This variation may confound welfare comparisons in part because these alternative survey designs produce consumption estimates that are...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Friedman, Jed, Beegle, Kathleen, De Weerdt, Joachim, Gibson, John
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2016
Subjects:	LIVING STANDARDS PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION HOUSEHOLD SIZE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DURABLE GOODS UNDERVALUATION VALUATION FOOD CONSUMPTION INCOME PERISHABLE FOOD AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT CONSUMPTION DATA WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME CASSAVA ASSET WEALTH FOOD POLICY WELFARE DAIRY AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS HOUSEHOLD BUDGET SURVEY PAYMENTS WEALTH BASIC FOODSTUFFS FOOD CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE CALORIC INTAKE ECONOMIC ANALYSIS REGION WELFARE COMPARISONS DEVELOPMENT MAIZE INFLUENCE CEREALS DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS TELECOMMUNICATIONS DATES HOUSEHOLD HEAD TOTAL CONSUMPTION HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE SURVEY PERISHABLE GOODS CRITERIA HOUSEHOLD INCOME PADDY FRUITS POVERTY STATUS VEGETABLES NUTS CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE FOOD EXPENDITURES PERISHABILITY HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS HOUSEHOLD WEALTH CONSUMPTION GOOD ECONOMIC RESOURCES FUTURE VALUE ANIMAL FEED PERMANENT INCOME TUBERS FRUIT CONSUMPTION MEASURE FOOD GOODS BEVERAGES AGRICULTURE FOOD RECALL MALNUTRITION MEASUREMENT FOOD SCRAPS HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS NUTRITION WFP HOUSEHOLD BUDGET BENCHMARK FOOD PERSONAL CONSUMPTION PORK FOOD DEMAND FOOD LOSSES FOOD INSECURITY MEASURED CONSUMPTION DEMAND FOR FOOD GOODS REGIONS SUGARS HOUSEHOLDS POVERTY RURAL AREAS BANANAS MEAT HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION RICE HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURES CONSUMPTION LEVELS FOODS FOOD CHARACTERISTICS FLOUR COMMODITY PULSES HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE DEVELOPMENT POLICY
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/04/26247062/decomposing-response-errors-food-consumption-measurement-implications-survey-design-survey-experiment-tanzania http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24220

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Summary:	There is wide variation in how consumption is measured in household surveys both across countries and over time. This variation may confound welfare comparisons in part because these alternative survey designs produce consumption estimates that are differentially influenced by contrasting types of survey response error. Although previous studies have documented the extent of net error in alternative survey designs, little is known about the relative influence of the different response errors that underpin a survey estimate. This study leverages a recent randomized food consumption survey experiment in Tanzania to shed light on the relative influence of these various error types. The observed deviation of measured household consumption from a benchmark is decomposed into item-specific consumption incidence and consumption value so as to investigate effects related to (a) the omission of any consumption and then (b) the error in value reporting conditional on positive consumption. The results show that various survey designs exhibit widely differing error decompositions, and hence a simple summary comparison of the total recorded consumption across surveys will obscure specific error patterns and inhibit the lessons for improved consumption survey design. In light of these findings, the relative performance of common survey designs is discussed, and design lessons are drawn to enhance the accuracy of item-specific consumption reporting and, consequently, the measures of total household food consumption.

Decomposing Response Errors in Food Consumption Measurement : Implications for Survey Design from a Survey Experiment in Tanzania

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