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Discussion: Proxy Reporting

Nora Cate Schaeffer

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Consumer Expenditure Survey Methods Workshop

8-9 December 2010

U.S. Census Bureau

Suitland, Maryland

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Questions that might be addresse1. Key aspects of proxy reporting 

during redesign

2. Tradeoffs CE will need to balan

reporting

3. Designs to reduce reliance on 4. Best-practice methods for colle

household members

5. Next research steps for a poss

methods

6. How survey(s) to collect detaile

comprehensive range of expen

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Key Aspects of Proxy Reporting

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Key aspects of proxy reporting: QWhat do we know about proxy rep• We use proxy reports to central

unit and save costs

• The measurement properties of 

topic, reference period, relationproxy

• When compared to self reports, 

expenditures appear likely to be 

• Underreport number of purch• Underreport amount of purch

• But self reports are themselves 

to an objective criterion, proxy rpoorer than we usually observe 
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Key aspects of proxy (and self) reporting: The future• Electronic and automatic payments reduce exposure of 

consumers to opportunities to observe and encode

• Medium, location, and content of records has changed 

since original CE design and will continue to change rapidly

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Balancing Tra

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Balancing tradeoffs• Total survey error provides a traditional framework for 

thinking about tradeoffs involved in redesign

• Unit nonresponse• Measurement

• Response error• Item nonresponse• Interviewer variance

• Costs

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Balancing tradeoffs (continued)• Design alternatives affect unit n

• But they also improve measu

increase effective sample siz

• Proxy reports have more error t

• But self reports also have er

• Managing tradeoffs in redesign 

impact of

• redesign on reducing measu• reducing measurement error 

• What is the impact of 

• The use of proxy reports on • Replacing proxy reports with 
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Designs to Reduce Reliance on Proxy Reporting

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Starting point for redesign• Information

• Where is the information the • Where will it be by the time t

• Respondents

• What are they able to do

• Principle impact is on me

• What are they willing to do

• Principle effects are on un

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Locating information about expenditures• Consumer units likely to become increasingly 

heterogeneous in types of records of expenditures they are exposed to and maintain

• Organization of records may vary by income and 

consumption patterns

• Electronic records of transactions

• Automatic payroll deposits and electronic pay records• Web banking• Web statements for each credit card and service 

account

• Separate websites for telephone, cell, automobile 

payments

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Negotiating records in the intervie• Web branch for mortgage inform• Web bank statement for car pay

• Paper utility statement for ga

• Paper check register for water, • E-mail for landline phone• E-mail for receipts of web purch• Website for cell phone
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Internal organization of expenditure information• Detail and standardization of receipts heterogeneous• Many receipts now provide diary-quality detail about 

purchases

• Which is of more variable quality – receipts or 

respondent’s transcriptions onto diary

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Reducing burden and facilitating reporting• Burden of diary has several components

• Remembering to collect receipts at point of purchase• Obtaining information from other household members• Transcribing information onto diary form

• Increasing quality of reporting requires strategies for 

these sources of burden

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Reducing burden and facilitating r• Incorporating technology into de

• Reminders

• Text and email reminders 

members

• Recording

• Web-based diaries for rec

purchase

• Audio memos• Photographs• Scanning records and rec
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Segmentation of consumer units• Segmentation by household composition

• Proxy reports may achieve acceptable accuracy in 

husband-wife consumer units

• Proxy reporting is relevant for consumer units with 

children over 6 (approximately 30%?)

• Segmentation by likely spending patterns

• Use information at initial interview to predict spending 

patterns and tailor reminders

• Segmentation by likely reporting errors

• Use information at initial interview to predict difficulties 

in reporting and provide additional support

• Segmentation by technology available in household

• Begin with technology and record audit

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Best Practices in Pr

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Next Research Steps

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Error in the current design• Estimates – even rough estimat

• Unit nonresponse• Item nonresponse• Reporting

• Other features of current study

• Impact of editing• Use of records

• Comparison to criterion – Audit • Construct scenarios of possible 

error (both variable error and bion total error and effective sam
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Field studies• Technology profiles of consumer units of different 

compositions and income levels

• What technology is owned and how is it used in 

spending and record keeping

• What is bought, where, and how

• Automatic deposits and payments• Debit and loyalty cards• Web-based accounts for credit cards and vendors• Web purchases

• Records of transactions 

• Receipts and expenditures• E-mail and web statements and receipts

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Concluding comments• Using self reports as a criterion 

overstates success of proxy rep

• The literature suggests that the 

about expenditures appears to 

• Ways of spending, records, and 

have all become more varied sidesigned. 

• The technologies available for c

consumer purchases have expa

• The population’s tolerance of bu

continue to decrease

• Redesign should consider impa

as cost

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Thank You!

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