Can Internet Surveys Mimic Food Insecurity Rates Published by U.S. Government?

AAEA members release new research in AEPP

Food insecurity in the United States is measured by the U.S. Government using a true probability sample of U.S. citizens. In some new research released in the Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, the authors study the measures food insecurity rates using three opt-in internet surveys and compares the measured rates to those reported by the U.S. government.

Sunjin Ahn from Mississippi State University, Bailey Norwood from Oklahoma State University, and Travis Smith from the University of Georgia, ask “Can Internet Surveys Mimic Food Insecurity Rates Published by the U.S. Government?” in a new article in the Applied Economics Perspectives and Policy.

Ahn says, “While internet samples acquired from professional sampling companies that provide samples with the representative of the U.S. demographics, they do not use true probability sampling and thus will be unrepresentative the samples of the CPS-FSS survey. Therefore, we employed sampling balancing and screening procedure adjustments to produce food insecurity rates similar to the official rates. As a result, we produced rates that closely mimicked the government estimates in repeated across two years.”

If you are interested in setting up an interview with Ahn, please contact Allison Scheetz in the AAEA Business Office.

ABOUT AAEA: Established in 1910, the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) is the leading professional association for agricultural and applied economists, with 2,500 members in more than 60 countries. Members of the AAEA work in academic or government institutions as well as in industry and not-for-profit organizations, and engage in a variety of research, teaching, and outreach activities in the areas of agriculture, the environment, food, health, and international development. The AAEA publishes two journals, the American Journal of Agricultural Economics and Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, as well as the online magazine Choices and the online open access publication series Applied Economics Teaching Resources. To learn more, visit www.aaea.org.

Contact: Allison Scheetz
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