Data analysis
Data collected from surveys were double-checked with the
enumerator for any missing entries or misinterpretations and
translated into English by the lead author. Ambiguous data or
unreliable respondents were removed from the dataset. Responses
from interviewees had to be coded and regrouped
(Table 1). There were two main datasets collected from the
household surveys—smallholder plantation (number of smallholdings=528)
and smallholder household background (number
of smallholders=375).
To investigate the most important factors influencing smallholder
yield and income from oil palm agriculture, we applied
an information-theoretic approach which provides a framework
that allows for multiple model comparisons and identifies the
most parsimonious model which best explains variation in the
response variable (Burnham and Anderson 2002).