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

Welcome!

Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE) 

Methods Symposium
2 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Technical Help: 

Use the chat box

OR email

CE_WORKSHOP_HELP@bls.gov
3 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Agenda

1:00-2:00 p.m. Session I

Welcome and CE Redesign Update ‐ Laura Erhard

Navigating a Pandemic: Adjusting CE Field Data Collection During COVID-19 ‐ John Gloster and 

Alicia Walker, U.S. Census Bureau

An Examination of Nonresponse Bias in the Consumer Expenditure Surveys During the COVID-19 

Period ‐ Stephen Ash, Division of Price Statistical Methods

2:00-2:15 p.m. Break

2:15-3:15 p.m. Session II

COVID-19's Effect on the Consumer Expenditure Surveys' Estimates ‐ Bryan Rigg and Brett Creech

COVID-19 Protocol Changes and Consumer Expenditure Diary Reporting in 2020 ‐ Brett McBride 

and Nikki Graf, Ph.D.

Consumer Expenditure Interview Survey: Data Quality Assessment Pre vs. Post COVID-19 ‐ David 

Biagas, Ph.D., Office of Survey Methods Research
4 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Consumer Expenditure Survey: Redesign

Update

Laura Erhard

Survey Methods Symposium

July 20, 2021

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

Outline

 Brief overview of CE and the Gemini Redesign project

 Results from the online diary test

 Updates on the Streamlined Questionnaire

 Future research
6 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Current CE Design

Consumer Expenditure Survey 

Estimates

- 4 waves of personal interviews

- 3 month recall

- Large or recurring expenditures

- 2 one-week household paper* diaries

- Contemporaneous recall

- Small, frequently purchased items
7 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Gemini Redesign Plan

2013: 

Redesign Plan 

approved

2015: 

Proof of 

Concept 

Test 

complete

2016: 

Incentives 

Test 

complete

2020: Large 

Scale 

Feasibility 

Online Diary 

Test (LSF) 

complete

2022:

Online Diary 

Implementation

2023 onwards: 

Phased 

Implementation of 

Streamlined 

Questionnaire

You are 

here!
8 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Design Elements for Implementation

 Online diary

 Streamlined interview (less detailed expenditure categories)

 Record use

 Select incentives
9 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Design Elements being Postponed

 Single sample design

 Two visits per wave

 Two waves, a year apart
10 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

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

Online Diary: Large Scale Feasibility Test (LSF)

 Sample size: 2500 addresses

 Field period: October 2019-April 2020

 Pre-notification postcard sent out in advance of the advance letter

 Advance letter with $5 cash incentive by priority mail for half the sample 

(incentive experiment)

 Two interviewer visits to household, one for diary placement and one for pickup

 Push to online diary if the household respondent is eligible based on screening 

questions, if they refuse or are ineligible-- they get paper diaries

 Automated email reminders and two calls by interviewer during the diary keeping 

period to remind respondents to login and enter expenses

 Recall tab in the CAPI instrument for interviewer to record additional expenses 

reported by respondent at pickup
12 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Highlights from the analysis
13 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Summary of LSF results

 Final LSF response rate was 41.8%, which is lower than the production diary 

(46.0%)

 Potential test effect “Diaries placed too late” (+3.1%)

 LSF data had a higher proportion of cases removed due to editing (+2.1%)

 About 37% of the completed diaries were online, the rest were paper 

 Online respondents were younger, higher education, homeowners, larger households

 Incentive and advance postcards had no impact on response rate

 Mean total expenditure reported was lower than production diary, driven 

by differences in the “Other” category of expenditures 

 Higher and allocation of expenses in LSF compared to the production diary.
14 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Recommendations from preliminary analysis

 FRs need more training on the online diary; placement and 

pickup procedures need to be clarified

 Allow for an explicit option for paper placement for online 

eligibles in the instrument Access and training for online diary 

help desk. 

 Recall: discuss with Census to find the best way to pick up recall 

with online diaries

 A printed user guide needed with a flap to gather receipts

 Customizing the username and password may not be needed

 Develop better screening for online diary 
15 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Online Diary next steps

 Continued evaluation of differences between production and LSF

 Evaluate the results from the contingency use of the online diary in 

production

 Recommendations for full implementation protocols

 Implementation in July 2022

 Continuous improvement

autosuggest feature, prompts, trip based diary

more use of receipts

self-administration test
16 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Streamlined Questionnaire
17 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Streamlined questionnaire features

 Reduce the level of detail: aggregate to the extent possible

 Records focus: facilitate the use of records, including a records 

path for certain groups of questions and records incentives

 Question order/sections: some changes to the order and section 

organization
18 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

CEQ: Streamlined Questionnaire

 The streamlined CAPI instrument with a record-focus will not be field 

tested, but will go through cognitive testing and expert review before 

being put into production in a phased implementation starting in 2023, in 

conjunction with the development of the revised processing system. 

 Major sections with few or no changes will be released in the first phase 

in 2023 along with the revised processing system for those sections. 

Requirements for these sections are ready. Sections with more extensive 

changes will be released in subsequent years.
19 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Streamlined Questionnaire Sections

 Demographics (no changes)

 Housing characteristics 

 Rented housing

 Owned homes - records path

 Utilities and Fuels - records path, records 

emphasis 

 Household services

 Home improvement and repairs

 Household furnishings and equipment

 Vehicles - records path

 Transportation

 Computers and Electronics 

 Hobbies, Sports, and Recreation

 Family care and education

 Clothing, jewelry and watches

 Health Insurance - records emphasis

 Medical Services and Equipment - records 

emphasis

 Other Insurance - records emphasis

 Professional services

 Trips 

 Events 

 Contributions

 Expense patterns for selected goods and 

services

 Extended Recall for outlet data collection

 Work Experience and Income (no changes)

 Assets and Liabilities (no changes)
20 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Streamlined Questionnaire Sections

 Demographics (no changes)

 Housing characteristics 

 Rented housing

 Owned homes - records path

 Utilities and Fuels - records path, records 

emphasis 

 Household services

 Home improvement and repairs

 Household furnishings and equipment

 Vehicles - records path

 Transportation

 Computers and Electronics 

 Hobbies, Sports, and Recreation

 Family care and education

 Clothing, jewelry and watches

 Health Insurance - records emphasis

 Medical Services and Equipment - records 

emphasis

 Other Insurance - records emphasis

 Professional services

 Trips 

 Events 

 Contributions

 Expense patterns for selected goods and 

services

 Extended Recall for outlet data collection

 Work Experience and Income (no changes)

 Assets and Liabilities (no changes)

April 2023 April 2023

April 2023
21 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Streamlined Questionnaire Sections

 Demographics (no changes)

 Housing characteristics 

 Rented housing

 Owned homes - records path

 Utilities and Fuels - records path, records 

emphasis 

 Household services

 Home improvement and repairs

 Household furnishings and equipment

 Vehicles - records path

 Transportation

 Computers and Electronics 

 Hobbies, Sports, and Recreation

 Family care and education

 Clothing, jewelry and watches

 Health Insurance - records emphasis

 Medical Services and Equipment - records 

emphasis

 Other Insurance - records emphasis

 Professional services

 Trips 

 Events 

 Contributions

 Expense patterns for selected goods and 

services

 Extended Recall for outlet data collection

 Work Experience and Income (no changes)

 Assets and Liabilities (no changes)

April 2023 April 2023

April 2023

... In progress

... In progress

... In progress

... In progress

... In progress

... In progress
22 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

Upcoming Changes to Interview Survey

2021:

 We have reduced content including replacing detailed clothing questions 

with fewer high level questions about spending on clothes. 

2023: Three sections have major changes

 A new Family Care and Education section will include questions on 

childcare, education, school meals, and adult care

 The section on Expense Patterns will include questions on grocery 

expenses, alcohol and tobacco, food away from home and gifts

 The section on Transportation will include questions on vehicle operating 

expenses and public transportation
23 — U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS • bls.gov

https://www.bls.gov/cex/geminiproject.htm
Contact Information

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

Laura Erhard

Chief, Research and Program Development

Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys

202-691-5119

Erhard.Laura@bls.gov