Use of farmer recall versus direct measurement in gathering lactation data: Lessons from Kenyan smallholder dairy systems

The use of farmer-recall in field data collection typically allows for relatively quick and low-cost information gathering. Such data can often be gathered using a simple cross-sectional survey, in many cases requiring only a single farm visit. In return, however, there may be an increase in measure...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Staal, Steven J., Omore, Amos O.
Formato: Conference Paper
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: British Society of Animal Science 1998
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/51291
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author Staal, Steven J.
Omore, Amos O.
author_browse Omore, Amos O.
Staal, Steven J.
author_facet Staal, Steven J.
Omore, Amos O.
author_sort Staal, Steven J.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The use of farmer-recall in field data collection typically allows for relatively quick and low-cost information gathering. Such data can often be gathered using a simple cross-sectional survey, in many cases requiring only a single farm visit. In return, however, there may be an increase in measurement error and a decrease in the quality of the data in general, due to recall-error and lack of an established relationship between enumerator and respondent. More accurate data can only be gathered by direct measurement methods, and may require repeated farm visits to capture effects of seasonality or periodicity. The cost of using recall data in terms of reduced reliability of research results, however, may be reduced when there is a high degree of natural variability in the data. Under such circumstances, for example when gathering data for the estimation of lactation curves of cows on smallholder tropical farms where feed resources are poor and highly variable, the additional effort and cost of recording milk yields over a substantial portion of the lactation period may not be justified. The authors compare smallholder dairy lactation curves estimated from data gathered by two studies in Kiambu District in the Kenyan highlands to determine whether estimation of lactation curves from recall data necessarily yields less useful results compared to estimation using directly recorded longitudinally-gathered data.
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spelling CGSpace512912023-02-15T09:29:21Z Use of farmer recall versus direct measurement in gathering lactation data: Lessons from Kenyan smallholder dairy systems Staal, Steven J. Omore, Amos O. small farms lactation data collection dairy industry milk yield The use of farmer-recall in field data collection typically allows for relatively quick and low-cost information gathering. Such data can often be gathered using a simple cross-sectional survey, in many cases requiring only a single farm visit. In return, however, there may be an increase in measurement error and a decrease in the quality of the data in general, due to recall-error and lack of an established relationship between enumerator and respondent. More accurate data can only be gathered by direct measurement methods, and may require repeated farm visits to capture effects of seasonality or periodicity. The cost of using recall data in terms of reduced reliability of research results, however, may be reduced when there is a high degree of natural variability in the data. Under such circumstances, for example when gathering data for the estimation of lactation curves of cows on smallholder tropical farms where feed resources are poor and highly variable, the additional effort and cost of recording milk yields over a substantial portion of the lactation period may not be justified. The authors compare smallholder dairy lactation curves estimated from data gathered by two studies in Kiambu District in the Kenyan highlands to determine whether estimation of lactation curves from recall data necessarily yields less useful results compared to estimation using directly recorded longitudinally-gathered data. 1998 2014-10-31T06:22:22Z 2014-10-31T06:22:22Z Conference Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/51291 en Limited Access British Society of Animal Science
spellingShingle small farms
lactation
data collection
dairy industry
milk yield
Staal, Steven J.
Omore, Amos O.
Use of farmer recall versus direct measurement in gathering lactation data: Lessons from Kenyan smallholder dairy systems
title Use of farmer recall versus direct measurement in gathering lactation data: Lessons from Kenyan smallholder dairy systems
title_full Use of farmer recall versus direct measurement in gathering lactation data: Lessons from Kenyan smallholder dairy systems
title_fullStr Use of farmer recall versus direct measurement in gathering lactation data: Lessons from Kenyan smallholder dairy systems
title_full_unstemmed Use of farmer recall versus direct measurement in gathering lactation data: Lessons from Kenyan smallholder dairy systems
title_short Use of farmer recall versus direct measurement in gathering lactation data: Lessons from Kenyan smallholder dairy systems
title_sort use of farmer recall versus direct measurement in gathering lactation data lessons from kenyan smallholder dairy systems
topic small farms
lactation
data collection
dairy industry
milk yield
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/51291
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