A Study of Response Errors in Expenditures Data from Household Surveys
A Study of Response Errors in Expenditures Data from Household Surveys

Author: John Neter

Publisher:

Published:

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13:

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In the collection of consumer expenditures data through household interviews, a major source of error arises from respondents' failure to recall expenditures, or to recall exactly when the expenditures were made. In an experimental study conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the measurement of these two types of response errors in the reporting of alterations and repairs expenditures in household interviews was a major objective. It was found that lengthening the recall period from one month to three months led to respondents reporting substantially fewer small jobs, but almost the same number of large jobs. In addition, net forward telescoping of expenditures was found, that is, a significantly larger portion of expenditures was moved into a more recent time period than in the opposite direction. The study also provided information on another effect of lengthening the period for which the respondent is asked to report expenditures. By considering recall for the most recent month when the respondent is asked for his expenditures over a longer period of time, the effect of the length of the reporting period can be separated from the effect associated with memory decay. A substantial loss of jobs associated with lengthening the total reporting period from one to six months was found in the reporting of expenditures for the most recent month.

Survey Errors and Survey Costs
Survey Errors and Survey Costs

Author: Robert M. Groves

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2005-01-21

Total Pages: 616

ISBN-13: 0471725269

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The Wiley-Interscience Paperback Series consists of selected books that have been made more accessible to consumers in an effort to increase global appeal and general circulation. With these new unabridged softcover volumes, Wiley hopes to extend the lives of these works by making them available to future generations of statisticians, mathematicians, and scientists. "Survey Errors and Survey Costs is a well-written, well-presented, and highly readable text that should be on every error-conscious statistician’s bookshelf. Any courses that cover the theory and design of surveys should certainly have Survey Errors and Survey Costs on their reading lists." –Phil Edwards MEL, Aston University Science Park, UK Review in The Statistician, Vol. 40, No. 3, 1991 "This volume is an extremely valuable contribution to survey methodology. It has many virtues: First, it provides a framework in which survey errors can be segregated by sources. Second, Groves has skillfully synthesized existing knowledge, bringing together in an easily accessible form empirical knowledge from a variety of sources. Third, he has managed to integrate into a common framework the contributions of several disciplines. For example, the work of psychometricians and cognitive psychologists is made relevant to the research of econometricians as well as the field experience of sociologists. Finally, but not least, Groves has managed to present all this in a style that is accessible to a wide variety of readers ranging from survey specialists to policymakers." –Peter H. Rossi University of Massachusetts at Amherst Review in Journal of Official Statistics, January 1991

Measuring What We Spend
Measuring What We Spend

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2013-03-15

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 0309265754

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The Consumer Expenditure (CE) surveys are the only source of information on the complete range of consumers' expenditures and incomes in the United States, as well as the characteristics of those consumers. The CE consists of two separate surveys: (1) a national sample of households interviewed five times at three-month intervals; and (2) a separate national sample of households that complete two consecutive one-week expenditure diaries. For more than 40 years, these surveys, the responsibility of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), have been the principal source of knowledge about changing patterns of consumer spending in the U.S. population. In February 2009, BLS initiated the Gemini Project, the aim of which is to redesign the CE surveys to improve data quality through a verifiable reduction in measurement error with a particular focus on underreporting. The Gemini Project initiated a series of information-gathering meetings, conference sessions, forums, and workshops to identify appropriate strategies for improving CE data quality. As part of this effort, BLS requested the National Research Council's Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) to convene an expert panel to build on the Gemini Project by conducting further investigations and proposing redesign options for the CE surveys. The charge to the Panel on Redesigning the BLS Consumer Expenditure Surveys includes reviewing the output of a Gemini-convened data user needs forum and methods workshop and convening its own household survey producers workshop to obtain further input. In addition, the panel was tasked to commission options from contractors for consideration in recommending possible redesigns. The panel was further asked by BLS to create potential redesigns that would put a greater emphasis on proactive data collection to improve the measurement of consumer expenditures. Measuring What We Spend summarizes the deliberations and activities of the panel, discusses the conclusions about the uses of the CE surveys and why a redesign is needed, as well as recommendations for the future.

The Psychology of Survey Response
The Psychology of Survey Response

Author: Roger Tourangeau

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2000-03-13

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 9780521576291

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This valuable book examines the complex psychological processes involved in answering different types of survey questions. Drawing on both classic and modern research from cognitive psychology, social psychology, and survey methodology, the authors examine how survey responses are formulated and they demonstrate how seemingly unimportant features of the survey can affect the answers obtained. The book provides a comprehensive review of the sources of response errors in surveys, and it offers a coherent theory of the relation between the underlying views of the public and the results of public opinion polls. Topics include the comprehension of survey questions, the recall of relevant facts and beliefs, estimation and inferential processes people use to answer survey questions, the sources of the apparent instability of public opinion, the difficulties in getting responses into the required format, and the distortions introduced into surveys by deliberate misreporting.