Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Agricultural Coding and Data Processing Section A 1

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. 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. 2

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Typical Open-ended Responses 1.General (race, ethnicity, ancestry, language) 2.Geographic (place of birth, place of work, migration) 3.Complex classification: (industry, occupation, crops, manufacturing, etc.) 3

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Coding Operation Components 1.Classification system 2.Rules or procedures 3.Reference materials 4.Coding method 4

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. 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 5

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. 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. 6

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Automated Coding Considerations 1.Determine coding requirements 2.Software development and testing 3.Validation 4.Determination of acceptable quality 5.Quality and production statistics 6.System for dealing with unresolved cases 7

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. 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 8

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Coding Work Flow 1.Paper forms: manual coding, keyed data entry 2.Scanned forms: manual coding 3.Scanned forms: computer assisted coding 4.Scanned forms: automated coding 5.Interactive coding: computer assisted coding and/or autocoder 9

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. 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 10

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. 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 11

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. 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 12

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Coding Production Information 1.Batch identification 2.Batch completion date (time) 3.Number of codes assigned by coder 4.Coding errors per batch by coder 13

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. 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 14

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Daily Production by Coder Chart 15

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. 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 16

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. 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 17

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. 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) 18

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Decision Strategies 1.Determining what is acceptable work 2.Determining incentives for quality work (award system) 3.Determining what to do about unacceptable work (re-work, re-train, other disciplinary actions) 19

Copyright 2010, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved. Section A Quiz 1.What are the three general categories of open-ended questions? (hint: also used to group specialized coders) 2.What are the three methods that can be used to assign codes? Extra credit for naming four. 3.What information is needed to calculate coding production information? 4.Which verification method provides the best quality? 20