DOI: 10.3886/icpsr04184
title: Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2003: Interview Survey and Detailed Expenditure Files
title: Archival Version

description: The ongoing Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) provides a
 continuous flow of information on the buying habits of American
 consumers and also furnishes data to support periodic revisions of the
 Consumer Price Index. The survey consists of two separate components:
 (1) a quarterly Interview Survey in which each consumer unit in the
 sample is interviewed every three months over a 15-month period, and
 (2) a Diary Survey completed by the sample consumer units for two
 consecutive one-week periods. The Interview Survey was designed to
 collect data on major items of expense, household characteristics, and
 income. The expenditures covered by the survey are those that
 respondents can recall fairly accurately for three months or longer.
 In general, these expenditures include relatively large purchases,
 such as those for property, or expenditures that occur on a fairly
 regular basis, such as rent, utilities, or insurance premiums.
 Excluded are nonprescription drugs, household supplies, and personal
 care items. Including global estimates on spending for food, it is
 estimated that about 90 to 95 percent of expenditures are covered in
 the Interview Survey. The Detailed Expenditure Files were created from
 all the major expenditure sections of the Interview Survey
 questionnaires and contain the most detailed expenditure data from the
Interview Survey.
description: National probability sample of households designed to
represent the total noninstitutional civilian population.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Consumer Unit Characteristics and Income, First Quarter, 2003
DS2: Member Characteristics and Income, First Quarter, 2003
DS3: Detailed Expenditures, First Quarter, 2003
DS4: Income File, First Quarter, 2003
DS5: Consumer Unit Characteristics and Income, Second Quarter, 2003
DS6: Member Characteristics and Income, Second Quarter, 2003
DS7: Detailed Expenditures, Second Quarter, 2003
DS8: Income File, Second Quarter, 2003
DS9: Consumer Unit Characteristics and Income, Third Quarter, 2003
DS10: Member Characteristics and Income, Third Quarter, 2003
DS11: Detailed Expenditures, Third Quarter, 2003
DS12: Income File, Third Quarter, 2003
DS13: Consumer Unit Characteristics and Income, Fourth Quarter, 2003
DS14: Member Characteristics and Income, Fourth Quarter, 2003
DS15: Detailed Expenditures, Fourth Quarter, 2003
DS16: Income File, Fourth Quarter, 2003
DS17: Consumer Unit Characteristics and Income, First Quarter, 2004
DS18: Member Characteristics and Income, First Quarter, 2004
DS19: Detailed Expenditures, First Quarter, 2004
DS20: Income File, First Quarter, 2004
DS21: Major Household Appliances
DS22: Rented Living Quarters
DS23: Owned Living Quarters (Detailed Property Description)
DS24: Owned Living Quarters (Disposed-of Property)
DS25: Owned Living Quarters (Mortgage Payments)
DS26: Owned Living Quarters (Lump-Sum Home Equity Loans)
DS27: Owned Living Quarters (Line of Credit Home Equity Loans)
DS28: Owned Living Quarters (Ownership Costs)
DS29: Utilities and Fuels for Owned and Rented Properties (Telephone Expenses)
DS30: Utilities and Fuels for Owned and Rented Properties (Additional Telephone Expenses)
DS31: Utilities and Fuels (Screening Questions)
DS32: Utilities and Fuels (Detailed Questions)
DS33: Construction, Repairs, Alterations, and Maintenance of Property (Screening Questions)
DS34: Construction, Repairs, Alterations, and Maintenance of Property (Job Description)
DS35: Appliances, Household Equipment, and Other Selected Items (Purchase of Appliances)
DS36: Appliances, Household Equipment, and Other Selected Items (Other Household Equipment)
DS37: Household Equipment Repairs and Service Contracts
DS38: Home Furnishings and Related Household Items (Rental, Leasing, or Repair of Furniture)
DS39: Home Furnishings and Related Household Items (Purchases)
DS40: Clothing and Sewing Materials (Clothing)
DS41: Clothing and Sewing Materials (Infants' Clothing, Watches, Jewelry, and Hairpieces)
DS42: Clothing and Sewing Materials (Sewing Materials)
DS43: Clothing and Sewing Materials (Clothing Services)
DS44: Rented and Leased Vehicles (Screening Questions)
DS45: Rented and Leased Vehicles (Detailed Questions for Leased Vehicles)
DS46: Owned Vehicles (Detailed Questions)
DS47: Owned Vehicles (Disposed-of Vehicles)
DS48: Vehicle Operating Expenses (Vehicle Maintenance and Repair, Parts and Equipment)
DS49: Vehicle Operating Expenses (Licensing, Registration, and Inspection of Vehicles)
DS50: Vehicle Operating Expenses (Other Vehicle Operating Expenses)
DS51: Insurance Other Than Health (Detailed Questions)
DS52: Hospitalization and Health Insurance (Detailed Questions)
DS53: Hospitalization and Health Insurance (Medicare, Medicaid, and Other Plans Not Paid by Consumer Unit)
DS54: Medical and Health Expenditures (Payments for Medical Expenses)
DS55: Medical and Health Expenditures (Reimbursements for Medical Expenses)
DS56: Educational Expenses
DS57: Subscriptions, Memberships, Books, and Entertainment Expenses (Subscriptions and Memberships)
DS58: Subscriptions, Memberships, Books, and Entertainment Expenses (Books and Entertainment Expenses)
DS59: Trips and Vacations (Not Fully Reimbursed)
DS60: Trips and Vacations (Fully Reimbursed)
DS61: Trips and Vacations (Trip Expenses for Non-Consumer Unit Members)
DS62: Trips and Vacations (Local Overnight Stays)
DS63: Miscellaneous Expenses
DS64: Miscellaneous Expenses (Contributions)
DS65: Expense Patterns for Food, Beverages, and Other Selected Items (Food and Beverages)
DS66: Expense Patterns for Food, Beverages, and Other Selected Items (Selected Services and Goods)
DS67: Credit Liability (Credit Balances, Second Quarter Only)
DS68: Credit Liability (Credit Balances, Fifth Quarter Only)
DS69: Credit Liability (Finance Charges, Fifth Quarter Only)
description: Noninstitutional civilian population of the United
States.
description: face-to-face interview; computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI)(1) Starting with the 1994 collection, the Interview
 Survey and the Detailed Expenditure Files (EXPN) are released together
 in one data collection by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2)
 Beginning in April 2003, Consumer Expenditure Interview Survey data
 are collected via Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI), and
 some changes to the data files were also made. For details, please
 see, "Section II. Changes from the 2002 Microdata Files," in the
 codebook. (3) This release includes files from the first quarter of
 2004 in addition to files containing data from interviews conducted
 during the four quarters of 2003. (4) The integrated Diary and
Interview Program uses both Diary and Interview data.