DOI: 10.3886/icpsr06580
title: Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1993: Interview Survey
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. The Consumer Unit Characteristics and Income
 (FMLY) files in this collection contain consumer unit characteristics,
 consumer unit income, and characteristics and earnings of both the
 reference person and the spouse. Summary expenditure data are also
 provided. The Member Characteristics and Income (MEMB) files present
 selected characteristics for each consumer unit member, including
 reference person and spouse. Each record in the FMLY and MEMB files
 consists of three months of data. Detailed Expenditures (MTAB) files
 provide monthly data at the Universal Classification Code (UCC)
 level. In these files expenditures for each consumer unit are
 classified according to UCC categories and are specified as gifts or
 nongifts. There may be more than one record for a UCC in a single
 month if that is what was reported to the interviewer. The Income
 (ITAB) files supply monthly data at the UCC level for consumer unit
 characteristics and income. The Documentation File (Part 20)
 contains a sample program and a list of variables by start
 position. This program is for use in the verification of the
 public-use data and as an illustration of the Consumer Expenditures
estimation methodology, as well as to provide programming assistance.
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
DS2: Member Characteristics and Income, First Quarter
DS3: Detailed Expenditures, First Quarter
DS4: Income File, First Quarter
DS5: Consumer Unit Characteristics and Income, Second Quarter
DS6: Member Characteristics and Income, Second Quarter
DS7: Detailed Expenditures, Second Quarter
DS8: Income File, Second Quarter
DS9: Consumer Unit Characteristics and Income, Third Quarter
DS10: Member Characteristics and Income, Third Quarter
DS11: Detailed Expenditures, Third Quarter
DS12: Income File, Third Quarter
DS13: Consumer Unit Characteristics and Income, Fourth Quarter
DS14: Member Characteristics and Income, Fourth Quarter
DS15: Detailed Expenditures, Fourth Quarter
DS16: Income File, Fourth Quarter
DS17: Aggregation File
DS18: Label File
DS19: Universal Classification Codes
DS20: Documentation File
description: Noninstitutional civilian population of the United States.
description: The codebook is provided as a Portable Document Format
 (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems
 Incorporated and can be accessed using the Adobe Acrobat
 Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is
provided through the ICPSR Website on the Internet.