Respondent Record Use in 

Respondent Record Use in 

US Consumer Ex

penditu

Survey

Jennifer Edgar

Bureau of Labor Statistics Bureau of Labor Statistics

AAPOR 2010
Consumer Expenditure Su

Consumer Expenditure Su

 National federal survey average 65 m

National federal survey, average 65 m

 Panel survey, 5 quarterly waves D i d t b l i it ( Designe

d

to 

be personal visit ( 30%  ̃ 

 p

 Respondents report for the household E di i i f l Expenditure questions rangi

n

g

from la

regular items (mortgage) to small, infr

(clothing) items (clothing) items

Detailed follow-up questions (descri

month cost sales tax) month, cost, sales tax)

 General philosophy: “more is better”
Respondent Record U

Respondent Record U



“Most questions are about expenses y

Most questions are about expenses y

household had or bills you’ve received

will find it helpful to have your checkbwill find it helpful to have your checkb

register, credit card statements and otrecords available as you answer the 

questions.” 

 “Please refer to any billing statements 

other records you have when answerinth i” ese questions.

”
Respondent Record Us

the CEQ the CEQ

 Research on CEQ data shows a relatio

Research on CEQ data shows

a relatio

between record usage and:

Reporting levels Reporting levels (Safir & Goldenberg 2

(Safir

& Goldenberg, 2

Underreporting (Tucker, Meekins & BiemData q alit Data

q

uality (G l & Ed 2009) (Gonzalez 

& Edgar, 2009)
Data

 April 2006 through March 2008 April 2006 through March 2008 Waves 2 through 5 Interviewer question after interview as

how often respondent used records anhow often respondent used records an

type of records were used

 44,300 completed personal visit interv 21 011 unique households 21,011 unique households
Method

 Compared record use by Compared record use by

Respondent characteristicsH h ld h t i ti Household characteristics

Interviewer characteristics

 All i i l (Chi S d AN

All statistical tests (Chi Square and AN

were statistically significant and not re

Lik l d t l i Likely due to sample size
Reported Record Usa

Reported Record Usa
Respondent 

Characteristics

 Included only unique households Included only unique households Several interesting trends in who does 

does not use records does not use records

 Males were slightly less likely to use re

than females than females
By Age
By Education By Education
Household Characteris

Family Size and TypFamily Size and Typ

 As family size increased the likelihood 

As family size increased, the likelihood 

respondent will use records decreases

Exception: two Exception: two

-person households w

person households w

the most likely to use records

 Husband and wife only households we

Husband and wife only households we

likely to use records

Single consumers and Single consumers and ‘other’ house

house

types were least likely
Household Characteris

Tenure

 Homeowners without a mortgage were 

Homeowners without

a mortgage were 

likely to use records

 Households residing in student housin

Households residing in student housin

least likely use records
Household Characteris

Income Reporting Income Reporting
Interview Characteris

Interview Characteris

 Interviews where: Interviews where:

The advance letter was reported to 

been received were more likely to ubeen received were more likely to u

records

The advance letter was not received 

The advance letter was not received 

more likely to never use records

The Information Booklet was used w

The Information Booklet was used w

more likely to use records

The Information Booklet was not us

The Information Booklet was not us

were more likely to never use recor
Interview Characterist

By Wave By Wave
Interview Characterist

Converted Refusals Converted Refusals
Interview Characterist

Number of ContactNumber of Contact
Interview Characterist

Interview Length Interview Length
Interview Characterist

Section Length Section Length

 Some specific CEQ sections probably b

Some specific CEQ sections probably b

most from the use of records, (utilities

health

-insurance and income) insurance and income)

 Respondents who used records took lo

co p ete t ese sect o s t a espo de 

m

plete

t

hese sectio

n

s

t

h

an respo

nde

who did not



This trend found in sections not thou

g

benefit from records (entertainment) t

 Record usage relates to longer intervie

time, re

gardless of topic
Interview Characterist

Reporting Rates Reporting Rates

 Number of expenditures ranged from 0 

Number of expenditures ranged from

0 

179 items

Mean = 29 4 Mean

= 29.4

Standard deviation = 17.5 
Reporting Rates Reporting Rates
Expenditure Amoun

Expenditure Amoun

 Total expenditure amount reported by 

Total expenditure amount reported by 

respondent ranged from $0 to $424,98

Mean = $5 180 Mean

= $5,180

Standard deviation = $8,566
Expenditure Amoun

Expenditure Amoun
Data Quality Data Quality

 Any type of editing required (imputatio

Any type of editing required (imputatio

allocation) was identified per expendit

report and summed across an interviereport and summed across an intervie

 Proportion of editing calculated

Ranged from 0 0 (no editing require

Ranged from

0.0 (no editing require

1.0 (all reports required editing)

 Forty two percent of interviews require

Forty two percent of interviews require

editing

 The mean proportion was 0.12, with a The mean proportion was 0.12, with

a

standard deviation of 0.16
Data Quality Data Quality
Summary

 Certain types of respondents (females ol

Certain types of respondents (females, ol

highly educated) and households (two pehomeowners) y were more likely to use rec

 Respondents who reported receiving the 

letter, and used the Information Booklet wmore lik l e y to use records

 Respondents who had to be convinced to 

participate were less likely to use records participate were less likely to use records

 Using records is related to longer intervie

more reports and higher reports.... more reports and higher reports....

... but
Conclusions

...record usage was not consistently rela

record usage was not consistently rela

higher quality data quality

So, what should we conclude? Record use likely increases respondent Record use likely increases responden

burden: is it worth it?

 Should we be collecting records rather 

Should we be collecting records rather 

respondent answers?

 Is more really better? Is more really better?
Next Steps: Additiona

Analysis

 Existing data Existing data

Multivariate analysis: mitigating var

between data quantity and quality? between data quantity and quality?

 New data

Section level record usage Section level record usageInformation about how respondents 

records

What “always” vs. “almost always” m

to interviewers to interviewers
Jennifer Edgar

Edgar.Jennifer@Bls.gov