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Exploring monetary incentives and respondent 

burden in the Consumer Expenditure Interview 

Survey

Yezzi Angi Lee

Clayton Knappenberger

Special thanks to Incentive Field Test group:

Ian Elkin, Brett McBride and Barry Steinberg

Division of Consumer Expenditure Survey

AAPOR
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Disclaimer

“Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the 

author(s) and do not constitute policy of the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics”
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Outline

1. How to measure burden?

2. What is the role of incentives?

3. Research Question

4. Data

5. Methodology

6. Results

7. Limitations
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How to measure burden?

 In recent CE studies of burden, (1) respondents’ views about 

survey length and (2) their interest in survey topic correlates 

with their burden experience

 Fricker et al. (2015) emphasize taking increased efforts to 

promote respondents’ interest in the survey
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What is the role of incentives?

 Incentives are an effective method of increasing respondent’s 

motivation and cooperation (Eyerman et al., 2002)

 Hypothesized relationship:

Incentives Motivation/

Cooperation Burden
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Research Question 

Does providing incentives 

decrease the amount of 

burden perceived by 

respondents?
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Data

Treatment and Control Groups

Token Survey Record Total

All $5 $40 $20 Up to $65

No Token No $40 $20 Up to $60

No Record $5 $40 No Up to $45

Control No No No $0

 CE interview survey

 from July 2016 to Sept 2017

 Incentive Field Test group (IFT)

 Burden questions were 

introduced in April 2017 and 

are asked in 4th wave

 Restricted to sample units 

who were eligible for 

Incentive Field Test (IFT) and 

completed burden questions

 A total of 2,741 cases used
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Data

Incentives Test 

End of Incentive 

Field Test 

Burden Questions 

Introduced

Burden Question

Year Month Interview

2016 July

Interview 1 August

September

October 

Interview 2 November

December

2017 January

Interview 3 February

March

April

May Interview 4

June
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Data

 Incentives vs No Incentives

“How burdensome was this 

survey to you?” N=2,741

Not Burdened 1. Not at all 932

Burdened

2. A little 829

3. Somewhat 661

4. Very 205

5. Extremely 114

Incentive N=2,741

No Incentive Control group 850

Incentives

Up to $65 599

Up to $60 622

Up to $45 670

 Burdened vs Not Burdened
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Data

Demographic Not Burdened Burdened 

N 932 1,809

Median Survey Length 

(minutes)*

54.88 60.45

Median Income* $34,354 $48,800

Median Quarterly 

Expenditures*

$9,039 $11,643

Respondent’s Education (%)*

Less than High School 14.27 8.46

High School 26.29 20.12

Some College 22.00 20.40

Undergraduate 27.47 36.48

Postgraduate 9.98 14.54

* Statistically significant at p < 0.05

 Other statistically significant 

differences

 Housing Tenure (owner/renter)

 Household size

 Demographics that were not 

statistically significant 

 Respondent’s race

 Respondent’s sex 

 Respondent’s age
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Methodology

 First Method - Average Treatment Effect (ATE)

ATE = E[Yi 1 − Yi 0 ]

 Second Method - Conditional Average Treatment (CATE)

CATE = E Yi 1 − Yi 0 Xi = x]

Treatment Group Burdened (%) Not Burdened (%) N

Incentives 63.6 36.4 1,891

No Incentives 71.3 27.7 850

Difference* -7.7

* Statistically significant with p < 0.05 
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Results

 Treatment Effect Estimates

CATE was smaller but qualitatively similar to ATE 

Both were statistically significant at p < 0.05

 Respondents were less likely to report being burden if incentives 

were offered

Treatment % difference SE

ATE 7.7% 0.019

CATE 7.1% 0.019
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Limitations

 CE’s burden questions may not accurately measure 

respondent burden

 Time gap between the event of interest (incentives, 1st

wave) and the burden question – 9 month time gap

 Data consists of respondents who completed their 4th

wave 
Contact Information

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Yezzi Angi Lee

Economist

Division of Consumer Expenditure Survey

202-691-5154

Lee.yezzi@bls.gov