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

Factors that Affect Reporting in 

Online and Personal Diaries

Brett McBride

Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys

2017 CE Survey Methods Symposium

July 18, 2017
2 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Diaries Trends in the CE Survey

 CE testing electronic diaries for past 5+ years 

 Evolution: 

household desktop 

personal mobile 

personal diary integrated across device types

 Latest test (with analyzed data): Proof of Concept (Gemini Redesign)
3 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Overview

 Background on diaries in Proof of Concept (POC) test

 Research questions – personal diaries:

What kind of households ultimately participated?

Did full participation affect extent of reporting?

Did exposure to interviewer diary instructions affect extent of reporting?

 Research questions – online diaries/diary mode: 

Who were more likely to receive online diaries? 

Was diary mode associated with completion rates?

Did (personal) online diaries boost reporting socially undesirable expenses?

 Future tests
4 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

POC Test Diary Background

 Eligibility: Household members 15 or older

 Incentives: $20 debit card per complete diary 

 Mode Choice: Paper or Online (if eligible)

 Reporting period: 7 days starting day following diary placement

 Recall process: members with unreported expenses asked to recall 

them based on how soon after reporting period diary was picked-up
5 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

POC Personal Diary Findings
6 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Household Sizes and Completion Levels

1 eligible 

member

2 eligible 

members

3 eligible

4

eligible

Proportion of POC Diary HHs 

by # of Eligible Members 

1 2 3 4 5+

 Final sample size: 520 households completing 1+ diary

72%

63%

83%

100%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

4-eligible

3-eligible

2-eligible

1-eligible

Proportion with Full/Partial 

Completion by HH Size

Full Partial(3) Partial(2) Partial(1)
7 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Full Participation Effects

 No evidence full participation increased entries compared to 

partial household self-reporting, among households with 2+ 

eligible members

Full Partial

Number of HHs 248 76

Mean HH entries* 26.4 29.6

Mean # HH eligible 2.4 2.6

*Includes recalled entries, provided they were not 100% of entries
8 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Personal Diary Effects

 Compared 2+ eligible households between POC (personal diary 

self-reporting) and equivalent CE diary cases (proxy reporting) 

Same areas, time periods, paper modes

 No indication personal diaries increased reporting

Personal Proxy

Number of HHs 184 181

Mean HH entries* 29.8 36.1

Mean # HH eligible 2.4 2.5

*Includes recalled entries, provided they were not 100% of entries
9 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Helpful Role of Diarist Presence at Placement

 When placing diaries, interviewers prompted to have other household 

members attend diary-keeping instructions

 Diarists present at placement had more entries than those absent:

 78% of eligible diarists were present and they provided average of 

almost double the number of entries as absent diarists

# Diarists Mean Median Min Max

Present 788 22.1 15 0 161

Absent 219 11.2 5 0 144
10 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

POC Online Diary Findings
11 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Online Diary Eligibility (N=1,008)

73.9%

6.1%

20.0%

Home Internet Access - Frequent Use

Home Internet Access - Infrequent Use

No Home Internet Access

Eligible for online diary
12 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Mode Choice for Online Eligibles (N= 747)

46.3%

52.3%

1.3%

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Online Paper Refused

Online Eligible Diarists 
13 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Households Assigned Online Diaries: Educated

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Up to HS graduate Some college and

Associate

Bachelors Masters and

beyond

Proportion of Assigned Diaries

Distribution of diary modes by households’ most educated

Online Paper

 Diarists in households without college-educated comprised 24% of online 

diaries but 43% of paper diaries

 Diarists where someone in household had a masters or higher made up 21% 

of online diaries but only 8% of paper
14 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Households Assigned Online Diaries: Young

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

age 15-19 age 20-39 age 40-64 65 and older

Proportion of Assigned Diaries

Distribution of diary modes by diarist's age

Online Paper

 44% of online diaries were assigned to those age 20-39 compared to 

29% of paper diaries

 6% of online diaries were assigned to those age 65 and older compared 

to 23% of paper diaries
15 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Diary Completion by Mode

Filled Diaries Unfilled Diaries Total

% NonParticipation%

Legitimately 

Blank Diaries

% Total 

Recall Diaries

Paper (N=646) 89% 7% 2.6% 1% 100%

Online (N=345) 81% 13% 0.3% 6% 100%

 Small difference in diary completion rates by mode 

 Slightly higher online non-participation rate and rate of 

‘Total Recall’ diaries – all expenses reported to interviewer 

May point to technical difficulties logging in to online diaries
16 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

POC Personal Online Diary Findings
17 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Role of Personal or Online Diaries?

 Did POC diaries have more reports of ‘undesirable’ expenses 

compared to production (involving proxy reporting)?

 POC records alcohol as a separate expense in the Meals Away 

from Home section

N (CUs)

% CUs 

reporting 

alcohol

Min. 

alcohol 

entries

Max. 

alcohol 

entries

POC 508 22.2% 0 10

Production 265 22.3% 0 1
18 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Role of Personal or Online Diaries?

 Did POC diaries have more reports of ‘undesirable’ expenses 

compared to production (involving proxy reporting)?

 POC records alcohol as a separate expense in the Meals Away 

from Home section

N (CUs)

% CUs 

reporting 

alcohol

Min. 

alcohol 

entries

Max. 

alcohol 

entries

POC 508 22.2% 0 10

Production 265 22.3% 0 1

POC 

(online/mix)

190 27.4% 0 10

POC (paper) 318 19.2% 0 6
19 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Summary

 Research questions – personal diaries:

What kind of households ultimately participated? 

Did full participation affect extent of reporting? 

Did exposure to interviewer diary instructions affect extent of reporting? 

 Research questions – online diaries/diary mode: 

Who were more likely to receive online diaries? 

Was diary mode associated with completion rates? 

Did (personal) online diaries boost reporting socially undesirable expenses? 
20 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Summary

 Research questions – personal diaries:

What kind of households ultimately participated? POC had 77% full participation

Did full participation affect extent of reporting? 

Did exposure to interviewer diary instructions affect extent of reporting? 

 Research questions – online diaries/diary mode: 

Who were more likely to receive online diaries? 

Was diary mode associated with completion rates? 

Did (personal) online diaries boost reporting socially undesirable expenses? 
21 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Summary

 Research questions – personal diaries:

What kind of households ultimately participated? POC had 77% full participation

Did full participation affect extent of reporting? No & no advantage over proxy

Did exposure to interviewer diary instructions affect extent of reporting? 

 Research questions – online diaries/diary mode: 

Who were more likely to receive online diaries? 

Was diary mode associated with completion rates? 

Did (personal) online diaries boost reporting socially undesirable expenses? 
22 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Summary

 Research questions – personal diaries:

What kind of households ultimately participated? POC had 77% full participation

Did full participation affect extent of reporting? No & no advantage over proxy

Did exposure to interviewer diary instructions affect extent of reporting? Yes, 

associated with above average number of entries reported

 Research questions – online diaries/diary mode: 

Who were more likely to receive online diaries? 

Was diary mode associated with completion rates? 

Did (personal) online diaries boost reporting socially undesirable expenses? 
23 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Summary

 Research questions – personal diaries:

What kind of households ultimately participated? POC had 77% full participation

Did full participation affect extent of reporting? No & no advantage over proxy

Did exposure to interviewer diary instructions affect extent of reporting? Yes, 

associated with above average number of entries reported

 Research questions – online diaries/diary mode: 

Who were more likely to receive online diaries? Higher-educated, under age 39

Was diary mode associated with completion rates? 

Did (personal) online diaries boost reporting socially undesirable expenses? 
24 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Summary

 Research questions – personal diaries:

What kind of households ultimately participated? POC had 77% full participation

Did full participation affect extent of reporting? No & no advantage over proxy

Did exposure to interviewer diary instructions affect extent of reporting? Yes, 

associated with above average number of entries reported

 Research questions – online diaries/diary mode: 

Who were more likely to receive online diaries? Higher-educated, under age 39

Was diary mode associated with completion rates? Slightly lower for online

Did (personal) online diaries boost reporting socially undesirable expenses? 
25 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Summary

 Research questions – personal diaries:

What kind of households ultimately participated? POC had 77% full participation

Did full participation affect extent of reporting? No & no advantage over proxy

Did exposure to interviewer diary instructions affect extent of reporting? Yes, 

associated with above average number of entries reported

 Research questions – online diaries/diary mode: 

Who were more likely to receive online diaries? Higher-educated, under age 39

Was diary mode associated with completion rates? Slightly lower for online

Did (personal) online diaries boost reporting socially undesirable expenses? 

Possibly. HHs proxy reporting with paper diaries had fewer alcohol expenses
26 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

Caveat

 None of the diary tests involved experimental assignment 

 Those present at placement may have had different characteristics 

affecting reporting (e.g., age)

 Final diary mode used resulted from mix of respondent characteristics 

(web access), preferences, and technological (login) experiences
27 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TATISTICS • bls.gov bls.gov

CE Diaries – Next Up

 Online Diaries Implementation Test – testing of a deviceoptimized online diary, compatible with future features (e.g. 

scanning, voice-to-text, etc.)

 Results will feed into diary plans for the large scale test of 

Gemini design 
28 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Brett McBride

Senior Economist

Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys/

Office of Prices and Living Conditions

www.bls.gov/cex

202-691-5136

mcbride.brett@bls.gov

Contact Information