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Consumer Expenditure Surveys
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Events
This page shows events at which Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE) staff from the National Office in Washington, DC, will be presenting. You may be interested in attending them, or in arranging for a CE staff member (subject to staff availability) to visit your organization to deliver a formal presentation or attend a one-on-one meeting. Please note that neither the CE program nor the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is affiliated with the sponsors of these events. In addition, there usually are registration fees associated with these events. However, none of these fees is paid to the CE program or the BLS. Participation at these events is subject to the status of the BLS budget.
If you would like to contact the CE staff about these or other matters, please use either method below to contact the CE National Office. Inquiries should include your name and phone number or e-mail address, along with a brief message.
This page will be updated periodically, as new information becomes available.
All archived CE presentations can be viewed in the CE Library.
Events
International Total Survey Error Workshop (ITSEW)
Date: September 18-20, 2024
Title: Data Quality Profile for Consumer Expenditure Surveys
Presenter: Gray Jones
Abstract: This presentation is part of a panel titled “Total Survey Error Frameworks for Government Surveys: Methodology, Evolution, and Adaption,” which will discuss total survey error (TSE) frameworks used in large federally-sponsored surveys, evolution of the frameworks over time, and adaptations for unique features of the surveys. This talk specifically will focus on the Data Quality Profile used in the Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE). It covers metrics developed using a TSE framework to evaluate the quality of survey estimates on consumer spending, which are updated on a quarterly basis by BLS staff.
Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology Conference (FCSM)
Date: October 22–24, 2024
Title: Analyzing the Impact of Survey Cost Reduction Measures on Data Quality in the Consumer Expenditure Interview Survey
Presenter: Gray Jones
Abstract: The Consumer Expenditure (CE) Survey is a nationwide household survey program sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and fielded by the U.S. Census Bureau. To facilitate survey fielding, the BLS contracts with the Census Bureau to collect CE Survey data and deliver it back to the BLS for processing and publication. In August and September of 2022, the BLS and Census implemented survey cost-reduction measures that restricted interviewers from returning to households for Wave 4 interviews that were previously incomplete (Type-A) interviews. As a result of these measures, there was a rise in Interview Survey non-contact and non-response rates during the third quarter of 2022. While these measures clearly impacted survey response rates, it is less clear whether they affected survey reporting quality during this period. The purpose of this analysis will be to identify whether differences in sample composition or survey reporting quality exist between the cost-reduction period and those months immediately before and after. This will be accomplished by comparing components of Wave 4 reporting quality (in-person interviews, information booklet use, record use, length of interview, etc.) between periods, as well as the demographic composition of the samples. Identifying the impacts of these policies is important for informing future CE Survey fielding decisions made by the BLS.
Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology Conference (FCSM)
Date: October 22-24, 2024
Title: Developing More Effective Interview Materials for a World with Increasing Telephone Surveys
Presenter: Ariana Welsh
Abstract: The Consumer Expenditure Interview Survey is collected by the Census Bureau on behalf of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It was originally designed as an in-person interview but has increasingly moved to telephone interviewing in recent years. The information booklet is an informational guide, similar to showcards, designed to aid respondents in the survey by providing examples of the expenditure items targeted for each question. Originally, the information booklet (infobook) was designed for use as a paper booklet to be viewed by the respondent during in-person interviews; however, with the increase in telephone-conducted interviews, Census interviewers can point respondents to a PDF version of the infobook that is available on the BLS website. Evidence suggests that the PDF infobook suffers from low use, with responses to a field staff survey in 2021 reporting that 80 percent of interviewers do not use it in their interviews. In 2021, CE proposed a redesign of the online PDF infobook to make it more conducive for use in telephone-conducted interviews. Across two pre-testing studies, feedback was collected from 45 participants on various experimental design features of the infobook. These features were tested in tandem with different styles of interview approaches. In this presentation, the redesign and results of these studies regarding the new online infobook’s features will be discussed.
For more information on regional CE data, please contact your local BLS Regional Information Offices.
If you have questions, please contact the CE National Office Staff.
Last Modified Date: August 23, 2024