1 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Rates of Non-Itemization in a SelfAdministered Test of Online Diaries

Graham Jones, Nikki L. Graf, Tucker Miller, and Wendy Carlton

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

2022 FCSM Research & Policy Conference 

October 27, 2022
2 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Presentation Outline

 Consumer Expenditure Surveys 

(CE) background

 Online Panel Self-Administered 

Diary (OPSAD) background 

 Purpose of Analysis

Non-Itemization/Bundling

 Analysis Results

 Conclusions and next steps
3 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) Background

 Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) estimate are derived from 

two separate surveys.

The CE Interview Survey 

The CE Diary Survey

 CE Diary Survey data come from two sources.

The Household Characteristics Questionnaire

The Spending Diary
4 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

CE Diary Survey Background

 The Household Characteristics Questionnaire

 The Spending Diary

Collects detailed expenditure data for two consecutive 1-week periods.

Four classifications of goods and services:

1. Meals, snacks, and drinks away from home

2. Food and drinks for home consumption

3. Clothing, shoes, jewelry, and accessories

4. All other products, services, and expenses
5 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

CE Diary Survey Background

 Historically CE production used two one-week paper diaries for 

the spending diary.

1. Diary placement

2. Train respondents use the diary

3. Follow-up to encourage diary keeping

4. Collect any forgotten expenditures at the end of the diary period

 Online spending diary mode was made available in June of 2020 

using these protocols.
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Online Panel Self-Administered Diary Test

 Test conducted on the Ipsos KnowledgePanel® 

 Probability-based web panel designed to be representative of the U.S.

 Field period: November 2021 – January 2022

 Initial Household Characteristics Survey (based on CE CAPI 

instrument)

 Two-week Consumer Spending Diary (based on CE online 

spending diary)
7 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Purpose of Analysis

 To examine the quality of data provided in the Online Panel SelfAdministered Diary Test (OPSAD) compared to the CE 

production equivalent. 

 Specifically, comparing the prevalence of non-itemized 

expenditures.

Also known as bundling

Associated lower data quality
8 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Analysis Design: Data Compared

 OPSAD Data (November 2021 – January 2022)

5,864 diary cases

 CE Production Data (November 2021 – December 2021)

1,709 diary cases

January 2022 data not yet available to public.
9 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Analysis Design: Defining Bundling

 Item descriptions containing the following strings were flagged as 

“bundled” entries:

 GROCERIES

 FOOD

 CLOTHES

 CLOTHING

 HOME IMPROVEMENT

 HOUSEHOLD

 MISCELLANEOUS

 MISC
10 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Analysis Design: Defining Bundling

Main ways of looking at rates of 

bundling:

 The percentage of diaries with at 

least one expenditure flagged.

Less granular detail but 

provides a clear picture.

52.0%

19.4%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

OPSAD (N=5,864) CEPROD (N=1,709)

Percentage of Diary Cases with Any Bundled 

Expenses
11 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Analysis Design: Defining Bundling

 The rate of bundled expenditures 

within diary cases

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# oooo EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ii DD DDDD CC

 Can be misleading if there are few 

cases.

11.5%

5.5%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

OPSAD (N=5,864) CEPROD (N=1,709)

Average Bundling Rate Within Diary Cases
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Analysis Results
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Cost and Bundling

$54.52 

$98.35 

$36.08 

$90.01 

 $-

 $20

 $40

 $60

 $80

 $100

 $120

No Bundling Yes Bundling

Comparison of Average Expenditure Cost

Avg Expenditure Cost in OPSAD

Avg Expenditure Cost in CE Production

$704.75 

$1,085.30 

$612.38 

$914.18 

 $-

 $200

 $400

 $600

 $800

 $1,000

 $1,200

No Bundling Yes Bundling

Comparison of Average Total Cost

Avg Total Cost in OPSAD

Avg Total Cost in CE Production
15 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Percentage of Diary Cases with Any Bundled 

Expenses by Mode

52.0%

19.4%

36.5%

14.8%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

OPSAD (N=5,864) CEPROD (N=1,709) Online CEPROD (N=379) Paper CEPROD (N=1,330)
16 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Percentage of Diary Cases with Any Bundled 

Expenses By Type

45.1%

23.1%

9.9%

15.7% 14.3%

2.5%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Food at Home Any Bundled

Expenses

Clothing Any Bundled Expenses Other Any Bundled Expenses

OPSAD (N=5,864) CEPROD (N=1,709)
17 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Percentage of Diary Cases with Bundled Expenses by 

Mode and Type

52.0%

45.1%

23.1%

9.9%

36.5% 34.2%

17.9%

4.0%

14.8%

10.6% 13.1%

2.1%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Diary Cases with Any

Bundled Expenses

Food at Home Any

Bundled Expenses

Clothing Any Bundled

Expenses

Other Any Bundled

Expenses

OPSAD (N=5,864) Online CEPROD (N=379) Paper CEPROD (N=1,330)
18 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Percentage of Diary Cases with All Bundled Expenses

0.9% 0.8% 1.2% 0.7%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

OPSAD All

Bundled

CEPROD All

Bundled

CE Online All

Bundled

CE Paper All

Bundled

All Expense Categories 

20.1%

19.0%

8.2%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

OPSAD FDB All

Bundled

CE Online FDB All

Bundled

CE Paper FDB All

Bundled

Food and Drink for Home Expenses
19 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Differences in Bundling by Demographics

 Likelihood to provide bundled expenses varied significantly by...

Respondent Age (18-34, 35-49, 50-64, and 65+)

Household Size (1 Person, 2-3 Persons, and 4+ Persons)

 Race, ethnicity, education, and income were examined, but were 

not found to vary significantly. 
20 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Percentage of Diary Cases with Any Bundled 

Expenses by Age

48.0%

53.8%

57.7%

48.8%

15.2%

20.5%

25.1%

26.0%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Ages 65+

Ages 50-64

Ages 35-49

Ages 18-34

CEPROD Any Bundled Rate OPSAD Any Bundled Rate
21 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Percentage of Diary Cases with Any Bundled 

Expenses by Household Size

57.53%

53.33%

44.80%

28.63%

18.67%

20.54%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

4+ Person

2-3 Person

1 Person

CEPROD Any Bundled Rate OPSAD Any Bundled Rate
22 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Differences in Bundling by Device Used

50.7%

54.0% 52.5%

44.7%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Desktop

Only

(N=2,439)

Mobile Only

(N=1,522)

Mixed

Device Type

(N=1,623)

Other

Devices

(N=276)

OPSAD Any Bundled Rate by Device

33.1%

50.5%

35.8%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Desktop Only

(N=274)

Mobile Only

(N=65)

Mixed Device

Type (N=76)

CE Online Diary Any Bundled Rate by Device
23 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Summary of Findings and Recommendations
24 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Summary of Findings

 The prevalence of bundling was generally higher in the online panel test 

of a self-administered diary than in CE production.

 Potentially due to interviewer intermediation (placement, training, and follow-up).

 Bundling was significantly higher in the CE online diary cases than in the CE paper 

diary cases, but still significantly less than in the OPSAD diaries.

 Item descriptions for food and drink at home purchases are by far the 

biggest contributor to bundling. 

 Some demographic differences (respondent age and household size). 

 How bundling is measured matters. 
25 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Recommendations

 Further research into the prevalence of non-itemization in CE 

online diaries with more robust data.

 Continue analyzing entry counts and non-itemization.

 Examining the relationship between time spent in the diary and 

non-itemization.

 Analyzing the “Business name” data provided by respondents 

for meals away from home expenditures.
26 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Graham Jones, Economist

Email: Jones.graham@bls.gov

Phone: 202-691-6869

Thank you!