Asking Questions About Household Members 

to Improve Proxy Reporting

Erica Yu

CE Survey Methods Symposium

July 15, 2014

All views expressed in this presentation are those of the 

author and do not necessarily reflect the views or 

policies of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Checked union/professional registers 

Placed or answered ads 

Looked at ads 

...

Proxy Reporting

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 Advantage: A single respondent 

provides information about others

 Disadvantage: Proxy information is 

typically of lower quality than self-report

(Mathiowetz, 1987; Moore, 1988; Sudman, Schwarz, & Blair, 1989; Sudman, Bickart, Blair, 

& Menon, 1994)

In studies of expenditures, errors are often 

missed expenditure reports
Proxy Reporting Data Quality: 

Actor-Observer Differences

Actors

 Attribute behavior as 

due to the situation

Observers

 Attribute behavior as 

due to disposition

Jones and Nisbett (1971) 3

Respondents

 Have richer knowledge 

of actual events

 Recall circumstances 

and deviations from 

typical behavior

Proxy Respondents

 May not have complete 

knowledge of events

 Recall the other 

person’s “usual” 

behavior
Proxy Reporting Data Quality: 

Household Dynamics

 Higher data quality is associated with:

More communication

Stronger emotional bonds

Miller & Tucker (1993); Kojetin & Miller (1993) 4
Proxy Reporting Data Quality: 

Possible Methods for Improvement

 Remind respondents to consider others

 Cue respondents to recall others’ actual 

events, rather than rely on dispositions

 Cue respondents to recall out-of-theordinary deviations from typical 

behaviors

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Proxy Reporting Study:

Book & Edgar (2012)

 Simulated CEQ interviews with 20 

participants

 Conversational-style protocol

 Initial questions asked participants to 

consider other household members’ 

hobbies, unusual purchases, vacations

 Probing for additional expenditures 

during the CEQ

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Proxy Reporting Study:

Book & Edgar (2012)

 10 of 18 participants added at least one 

expenditure

 18 total additional expenditures

 Median amount added =$63

 One person added a fridge ($1,000)

 Median duration of questions = 2m 15s

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Research Question

Can we improve proxy reporting with a 

standardized protocol that can be used in 

production?

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Participant Demographics

 n = 25

 Screened for recent purchases, household > 2 people

 Median education level = college degree

 Median income range = $40,001-$60,000

 Household composition

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Household type n

Adult and partner 6

Adult and child(ren) 6

Adult and extended family 5

Adult and roommates 4

Adult and partner and child(ren) 2

Adult and partner, visited by child for summer 1

Adult visited by child regularly 1
Methods:

Procedure

 Ask initial questions about others

 Debriefing

 Administer abridged CEQ

Target relevant sections

After completing a section, probe for 

missed expenditures using information 

from initial questions about others

 Debriefing

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Methods: 

Initial Questions about Others

 Reminders to think about all others in the 

household

 Reminders to think about ways others spend 

their money

 Encourage thinking about changes to and 

deviations from typical behavior

 Trigger memories about others’ actual events

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Methods: 

Initial Questions about Others

 Are there some types of things that Joe 

spends money on that you don’t?

 Thinking about the last three months since 

April 1st, has Joe, Jimmy, or Jane... 

Taken any vacations or trips without you?

Made any changes to their normal day-to-day 

routine that might have changed what they did or 

did not spend money on?

Bought anything unusual or out of the ordinary?

 Does Joe, Jimmy, or Jane have any hobbies 

or activities that they like to spend time on? 12
 You mentioned that 

Are there any other expenses that you 

want to add related to that?

Methods:

Probes at the Time of Reporting

 You mentioned that your wife made a

change to her day-to-day routine. 

Are there any other expenses that you 

want to add related to that?

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Interim Findings

 With the first 11 participants, no 

additional expenditures were elicited

 Remember - Book & Edgar (2012) using 

conversational style probes elicited 

additional reports from 10 of 18 

participants

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Modification to Probes

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Book & Edgar (2012)

You mentioned that your wife bought some school books, has she 

done that in the past three months?

Current Study, Round 1

You mentioned that your wife made a change to her day-to-day 

routine. Are there any other expenses that you want to add related 

to that?

Current Study, Round 2

You mentioned that your wife started school. Did your wife have any 

other school-related expenses that we haven’t talked about yet?
Self-Rated Knowledge of 

Others’ Spending

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n

A great deal 8

Quite a bit 12

Somewhat 5

Very little 0

Not at all 0

How much do you know about how other people in your 

household spend their money?
“Very Helpful” Questions

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How helpful were the questions about what others 

spend their money on for reminding you about others’ 

expenses?

n

1 Not at all helpful 0

2 0

3 4

4 5

5 Very helpful 15
Sensitive Answers, 

Not Sensitive Questions

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How sensitive, or personal, would you say those 

questions were? 

What do you think other people would say?

Self

n

Others 

n

1 Not at all sensitive 8 5

2 6 2

3 6 8

4 4 6

5 Very sensitive 1 4
A “Short” Protocol

 Median duration of questions = 2m 40s

 Perceived length of protocol

n

Short 23

Long 1

1 participant reported that the length 

was ‘in between’ short and long.
Expenditure Categories 

Reported

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CEQ Section

Average

Reports*

6 Appliances, household equipment, other 8

8 Home furnishings and related household items 13

9 Clothing and clothing services 24

12 Vehicle operating expenses 8

16 Educational expenses 4

17 Subscriptions, memberships, books, entertainment 15

18 Trips and vacations** 2

19 Miscellaneous 5

*The average is calculated for those participants reporting an expense. The number of 

items reported is approximate. When participants did not specify quantity, the 

interviewer used judgment to estimate.

**A trip was counted as one item.
Added Expenditures

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Proxy Question Topic n $

Hobbies 4 $528

Changes to day-to-day routine 1 $30

Types of things others spend money on 1 $30

Vacations or trips without the participant 0

Unusual purchases 0

 Fees for participating in races: $30, $58

 Fees for participating in kayaking: $350 ($50 every 2 weeks)

 Shoes for a visiting child: $30

 Tennis balls: $60 ($15 every month)

 Gasoline for mower: $30

 Jeans: $30
Probe Usefulness

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... If I had not instructed you to remember their 

purchases, do you think you would have?

n

Would have remembered 12

Would not have remembered 12
Summary

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Protocol Style

Participants With

Additional Expenditures

Conversational 10 of 18

Standardized 0 of 11

In-between 5 of 14
Limitations

 In-lab research is not representative of 

field interviews or actual respondents

 Only probed up to 3 CEQ sections –

could see greater impact if used all 

information available

 Different household compositions 

reacted to the protocols differently –

needs to be controlled in future

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Main Takeaways

 A protocol of questions and probes can 

improve reporting but...

Probes at the time of reporting should cue 

respondents with as much detail as 

possible to encourage them to retrieve 

memories

Ask about others’ hobbies, what others 

spend their money on, changes to day-today routines

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Future Research

 What is the marginal effect of the initial 

proxy questions? of the probes?

If much of the utility is in the initial scripted 

questions, then no need for complicated 

conversational-style probing

If much of the utility is in probing at the time 

of reporting, then no need for initial questions

 How determine with which households to 

implement the protocol for production?

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Contact Information

Erica Yu

Research Psychologist

Office of Survey Methods Research

www.bls.gov/osmr

202-691-7924

yu.erica@bls.gov