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Developing an Online Mode for the 

Consumer Expenditure Diary Survey

Ian Elkin and Nhien To – BLS

Doug Williams – Westat

FedCASIC

April 11, 2017

Any opinions expressed in this presentation are those of the authors and do 

not constitute policy of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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I. Current Diary Design and Online Diary 

Objectives
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Consumer Expenditure Diary Overview

 The Consumer Expenditure Diary (CED) currently uses a singular paper 

diary to collect household expenditures for a week (x2) 

 Interviewers place the diary in-person and conduct one more visit

 The CED gathers more detailed expenditures than the Consumer 

Expenditure Interview Survey

 The Diary is divided into four sections: 

 Food and Drink Away From Home 

 Food and Drink for Home Consumption 

 Clothing, Shoes, Jewelry and Accessories 

 All Other Products, Services and Expenses 
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Consumer Expenditure Diary Overview
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Gemini Redesign Initiative – Proposed Diary 

Design

 One-week online diary with paper diary backup

 Single portal access

 Personal diary for all household members 15 years old and 

older

 Respondent to use their device functionality to capture data 

(such as photos or voice messages), which will create a 

record in the diary for later completion 
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Online Diary Objectives

 Improve on each past diary design and refine options as part of 

the Gemini Redesign Initiative

 Present respondents with options for contemporaneous data entry

 Improve unit and item response rates through increased options 

and a reduction in proxy reporting

 Lower costs compared to a paper-only option due to reduced or 

eliminated printing, scanning, and data entry expenses

 Reduce measurement error due to proxy reporting through ease 

of access afforded by both individual and online diaries
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II. Past Design and Testing Efforts
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Previous CE Diary Tests and Projects

 Web Diary Feasibility Test

 Individual Diaries Feasibility Test

 Proof of Concept Test – Diary Portion

 Electronic Diary Desktop Design Improvements 

Project 
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Web Diary Feasibility Test Overview

 Designed to simulate entry methods used by respondents in CED paper 

diary 

 Formatted for desktops and laptops

 Household-level diary

 New materials -

 Interviewer Talking Points 

 User Guide

 1,300 starting sample collected January-March of 2013 with 456 total 

completed diaries 
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Web Diary Feasibility Test Diary
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Individual Diaries Feasibility Test Overview

 Two instruments formatted for mobile devices and desktops/laptops

 Person-level diary design

 Targeted sampling on area mobile usage, internet penetration, multi-person 

households, and English-speaking households

 Assignment Protocol

 If a household is eligible, household members were offered modes 

sequentially

 Mobile mode first and, if they did not have a Smartphone, then

 Desktop mode, including tablet 

 1,200 starting sample collected August-December of 2014 with 241 HHs 

completing at least one week
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Individual Diaries Feasibility Test Diaries
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Proof of Concept Test Overview

 Respondents who were eligible for and selected an online diary were given a 

single account username and password, and were not restricted to a single 

online mode (mobile or PC), but instead encouraged to move between the 

online versions depending on their situation or reporting needs

 During the diary-keeping week, paradata was collected on the logins and 

entries for the electronic diaries. This information was available to the team 

during the test to identify and address potential issues 

 Person-level diary design

 Incentives offered

 1,200 starting sample collected July to October of 2015 with 520 HHs 

completing all phases of the test
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Proof of Concept Test Diary
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Electronic Diary Desktop Design Improvements 

Project Overview

 Designed online diaries focused on the desktop/laptop platforms

 Developed two prototypes incorporating design elements that utilize the 

increased screen space of desktops/laptops (relative to mobile devices)

 Expanded list of categories to improve recall (more expense type cues)

 Prototype 1 focused on presenting all respondent actions and feedback (e.g., 

entries) on one screen

 Prototype 2 presented expense entry tasks on progressive screens. This 

version included many more visual cues for each expense category type

 The prototypes were laboratory tested with 30 respondents using a withinsubject design
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Electronic Diary Desktop Design Improvements 

Project Diary Prototypes

Prototype 1: Prototype 2:
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III. Current Design and Testing Efforts
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Current Test and Design Objectives

 Applying past experiences and lessons learned from previous online 

diaries CE is working with Westat to develop an online diary that is...

Optimized to the respondent’s device and accessible from a single 

portal

Adaptable to future enhancements as technology advances

Written in a common programming language that is transferable 

Equipped with robust paradata monitoring
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Online Diaries Improvement Project Overview

 Two instruments optimized to the respondent’s device 

(mobile or desktop/laptop) and accessed through a single 

portal

 Person-level diary design

 Developed based on previous CE online diaries

 Robust paradata output

 Modular design that allows for technological enhancements
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Online Diaries Improvement Project Instrument 

Design

 Desktop design with focus on minimizing burden and 

providing feedback:

Default to expense date and category last selected. 

Entered expenses are added to top of summary list and 

highlighted to provide entry feedback.
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Online Diaries Improvement Project Instrument 

Design

 Mobile design – same focus as desktop:

Same look and feel as desktop, but optimized for mobile

Instrument appropriately renders for varied device screen 

sizes

Uniform look and feel to promote usage of multiple 

devices.

 Developed using secure open-source software for scalability 

and accommodating future technologies
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Online Diaries Improvement Project Diaries - Home 

Screen
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Online Diaries Improvement Project Diaries – Entry 

Screen
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Online Diaries Improvement Project Usability Test

 Three Component Usability Test –

A home component for testing instrument placement and 

instructions on diary keeping

A home component for testing participants’ ability to log 

in and interact with the instrument, such as enter 

expenditures over the course of a week

A component where the interviewer returns to the home to 

test pickup of the diary and collect debriefing information
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Online Diaries Improvement Project Usability Test

 Goal of 60 component interviews (placement/reporting/pick-up). As of March 

30th:

 18 placement interviews completed; 4 pick-up interviews completed

– 18 households represent 48 persons (~2.7 persons 15+ per household)

– 1 nonresponse for pick-up interview (never used web diary)

– 15 of 18 households have accessed the diary; 24 of 48 persons have 

accessed the diary.

– 14 of 17 households have entered at least 1 expense; all persons 

accessing the diary have entered at least one expense
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Online Diaries Improvement Project Usability Test

 Of those where user device detected: 41% used a mobile 

device.

 As expected most expenses are for food...

Expense Type Count Percentage

Meals, Snacks, and Drinks Away From Home 71 25.9

Food and Drink for Home Consumption 128 46.7

Clothing, Shoes, Jewelry, and Accessories 9 3.3

Entertainment and Recreation 9 3.3

Home Furnishings and Decorative Items 1 0.4

Education Expenses and Supplies 2 0.7

Transportation Expenses 21 7.7

Medical Expenses and Supplies 8 2.9

Personal Care, or Hygiene Items 10 3.6

All Other Products, Services, and Expenses 15 5.5
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IV. Future Analyses and Design Efforts
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Moving Forward...

 Online Diary Results and Future Plans

 Percent of entries where expense and entry occurred on same day

– For those not same day - what was the average difference between 

entry date and expense date?

 Edits and deletes – how well do descriptions match category?

 Expanded categories – were often missed expenses captured?

 Online versus paper – comparable data quality?
Contact Information

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Ian J. Elkin

Senior Economist

Consumer Expenditure Surveys

www.bls.gov/cex

202-691-6865

elkin.ian@bls.gov