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Abstract
The United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics
Service conducts the annual Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) in
several phases. Phase 3 of this survey collects detailed economic information with
a lengthy Costs and Returns Report (CRR) questionnaire administered in face-toface
interviews. An additional sample uses a sixteen-page Core questionnaire with
mail-out/mail-back data collection and face-to-face nonresponse follow-up. Based
on positive results of incentive use with the 2004 ARMS Core form, both prepaid
and promised incentives were tested on the CRR face-to-face interview sample of
the 2005 ARMS in order to increase response rates. Incentives included $20 ATM
cards, NASS logo wall clocks, and Individual Farm Analyses.
The results showed that incentives, as implemented, did not significantly increase
the overall response rates. Due to the increased cost and processing required to
provide incentives, their use is not recommended for future ARMS face-to-face
interview samples.