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Consumer Expenditure Surveys
Bureau of Labor Statistics > Consumer Expenditure Survey > Home

2021 Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE) Combined Agenda: Symposium and Microdata Users' Workshop, July 20-23

Individual meetings with CE staff members can be scheduled throughout the workshop. To do so, please send an email to CE_WORKSHOP_HELP@bls.gov. Be sure to describe the topic that you would like to discuss, as well as times you are available to speak with staff.

WebEx login information will be provided in a separate email to participants.

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

(Online access to event opens at 12:45 pm)


1:00-2:00 p.m.Session I
  1:00-1:15 p.m.Welcome and CE Redesign Update ‐ Laura Erhard
  1:15-1:30 p.m.Navigating a Pandemic: Adjusting CE Field Data Collection During COVID-19 ‐ John Gloster and Alicia Walker, U.S. Census Bureau
  1:30-1:45 p.m.An Examination of Nonresponse Bias in the Consumer Expenditure Surveys During the COVID-19 Period ‐ Stephen Ash, Division of Price Statistical Methods
  1:45-2:00 p.m.Q&A
 
2:00-2:15 p.m.Break
 
2:15-3:15 p.m. Session II
  2:15-2:30 p.m.COVID-19's Effect on the Consumer Expenditure Surveys' Estimates ‐ Bryan Rigg and Brett Creech
  2:30-2:45 p.m.COVID-19 Protocol Changes and Consumer Expenditure Diary Reporting in 2020 ‐ Brett McBride and Nikki Graf, Ph.D.
  2:45-3:00 p.m.Consumer Expenditure Interview Survey: Data Quality Assessment Pre vs. Post COVID-19 ‐ David Biagas, Ph.D., Office of Survey Methods Research
  3:00-3:15 p.m.Q&A

Wednesday, July 21, 2021

(Online access to event opens at 8:45 am)

9:00-10:30 a.m. Morning Meeting: Introduction to CE Data and Files
  9:00-9:15 a.m.Welcome ‐ Scott Curtin
  9:15-9:30 a.m.Overview of the CE Survey ‐ Adam Safir
  9:30-9:45 a.m.Introduction to CE Public Use Microdata (PUMD) ‐ Bryan Rigg
  9:45-10:00 a.m.Microdata File Structure ‐ Grayson Armstrong
  10:00-10:15 a.m.Considerations While Working with the PUMD ‐ Aaron Cobet
  10:15-10:30 a.m.Q&A
 
10:30-10:45 a.m. Morning Break
 
10:45-12:00 p.m. Self-directed Practical Training Session I ‐ CE Staff*
  10:45-11:00 a.m.Overview and Concepts: Projects 1, 2, & 3 (CE Staff)
  11:00-12:00 p.m.Projects 1, 2, & 3 (Self-directed) ‐ CE Staff available via chat
 
12:00-1:00 p.m. Lunch Break (Staff availability may be limited)
 
1:00-2:00 p.m. Afternoon Meeting: Research Presentation Session I
  1:00-1:15 p.m.Larceny in the Product Market: A Hidden Tax? ‐ Osborne Jackson,F Ph.D., Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
  1:15-1:30 p.m.The Impact of State Sponsored Pre-K on Household Expenditures ‐ Emily Miller,F,A Graduate Student, Princeton University
  1:30-1:45 p.m.Estimating the Relations between Expenditures and Consumer Characteristics: An Application of Artificial Neural Networks to the Consumer Expenditure Survey Data ‐ Jules Buxbaum,F Ph.D., President, 2PiFinancial
  1:45-2:00 p.m.Discussion/Q&A
 
2:00-2:15 p.m. Announcements/Afternoon Break
 
2:15-4:30p.m. Self-directed Practical Training Session II ‐ CE Staff*
  2:15-2:45 p.m.Overview and Concepts: Projects 4 & 5 (CE Staff)
  2:45-4:30 p.m.Project 4 & 5 (Self-directed) ‐ CE Staff available via chat

Thursday, July 22, 2021

(Online access to event opens at 8:45 am)

    9:00-10:15 a.m. Morning Meeting: Topcoding, State Weights, and Variance Estimation
      9:00-9:15 a.m.Balancing Respondent Confidentiality and Data User Needs ‐ Aaron Cobet
      9:15-9:30 a.m.State Weights: Providing More Geographic Data ‐ Grayson Armstrong
      9:30-10:00 a.m.Variance Estimation ‐ The BRR Method ‐ Geoffrey Paulin, Ph.D.
      10:00-10:15 a.m.Q&A
     
    10:15-10:30 a.m. Morning Break
     
    10:30-12:00 p.m. Self-directed Practical Training Session III ‐ CE Staff*
      10:30-11:00 a.m.Overview and Concepts: Projects 6 & 7 (CE Staff)
      11:00-12:00 p.m.Projects 6 & 7 (Self-directed) ‐ CE Staff available via chat
     
    12:00-1:00 p.m. Lunch Break (Staff availability may be limited)
     
    1:00-2:00 p.m. Afternoon Meeting: Research Presentation Session II
      1:00-1:15 p.m.Generational and Demographic Factors that Influences U.S. Diary Demand ‐ Evidence from an AIDS Estimation with Household Data ‐ Agnieszka Dobrowolska Perry,F,A Ph.D., University of Missouri, Columbia
      1:15-1:30 p.m.Investigating the Domestic Travel Spending Trends during 2010-2019 ‐ Li-Chun Lin,F,A Ph.D., Montclair State University, New Jersey
      1:30-1:45 p.m.Household Transportation Spending ‐ A Detailed Analysis of Spending Patterns during the COVID19 Pandemic from the CEX ‐ Jonathan Peters,P Ph.D., Professor of Finance, The College of Staten Island, and David King,P Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Urban Planning, Arizona State University
      1:45-2:00 p.m.Discussion/Q&A
     
    2:00-2:15 p.m. Announcements/Afternoon Break
     
    2:15-4:30 p.m. Self-directed Practical Training Session IV ‐ CE Staff*
      2:15-2:45 p.m.Introduction to imputed income data ‐ Geoffrey Paulin, Ph.D.
      2:45-4:30 p.m.Project 8 & 9 (Self-directed) ‐ CE Staff available via chat

    Friday, July 23, 2021

    (Online access to event opens at 8:45 am)

    9:00-10:15 a.m. Research Presentation Session III: Panel on Consumption Moderator: Geoffrey Paulin, Ph.D.
      9:00-9:15 a.m.Weakened Wealth Effect ‐ Hyong se Yoo,F Brandeis University
      9:15-9:30 a.m.The Relationship between Luxury Consumption and Savings Behavior of the Middle Class ‐ Christina Lynn,F Ph.D. Student, Kansas State University
      9:30-9:45 a.m.Consumption Inequality: A Cross-Category Approach ‐ Sarah Gelper,F,A Ph.D., Associate Professor of Marketing Analytics, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands
      9:45-10:15 a.m.Q&A
     
    10:15-10:30 a.m. Morning Break
     
      10:30-10:45 a.m.Investigating the Imputation of Assets and Liabilities in the CE Interview Survey ‐ Geoffrey Paulin, Ph.D.
      10:45-11:00 a.m.Development of FINLWT21 and Related Variables ‐ Brian Nix, Mathematical Statistician, Division of Price Statistical Methods
      11:00-11:15 a.m.How the Consumer Price Index Program Uses CE Data in Cost Weight Estimation ‐ Chris Miller, Economist, Division of Consumer Prices and Price Indexes
      11:15-11:30 a.m.CE Source Selection ‐ Josh Klick and Brett Creech
      11:30-11:45 a.m.Q&A
     
    11:45-12:00 p.m. Sneak Peek: CE Now and into the Future ‐ Scott Curtin
     
    12:00-1:00 p.m. Lunch Break (Staff availability may be limited)
     
    1:00-1:45 p.m. Special Panel on Tools for Tabular Analysis
      1:00-1:15 p.m.Overview of LABSTAT ‐ Geoffrey Paulin, Ph.D.
      1:15-1:30 p.m.Storytelling with FRED® Graphs: CES Data at Your Fingertips ‐ Diego Mendez-Carbajo, Ph.D., Senior Economic Education Specialist, and Yvetta Fortova, FRED Manager, both of Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
      1:30-1:45 p.m.Discussion/Q&A
     
    1:45-2:15 p.m. Attendee Feedback Session ‐ Robin Kaplan, Research Statistician, Office of Survey Methods Research
     
    2:15-2:30 p.m. Afternoon Break
     
    2:30-4:30 p.m. COVID-19 Data: Self-Directed Practical Training Session V ‐ CE Staff*
      2:30-3:00 p.m.Introduction to COVID-19 Data: Examples of Research Possibilities Using Variables Specially Collected During the Pandemic ‐ CE Staff
      3:00-4:30 p.m.Project 10 (Self-directed) on COVID-19 variables ‐ CE Staff available via chat
     
    4:30-5:00 p.m. Concluding Activities
     Closing announcements, including information on the 2022 workshop
     Self-directed practical training
     Meet with an expert (as scheduled)
    • * For a list of topics to be covered, see Self-directed Practical Training Sessions.
    • A Speaker has attended at least one previous workshop.
    • F First-time CE microdata user.
    • P Speaker has presented at previous workshop(s).

    Self-directed Practical Training Sessions (Tentative Schedule):

    The practical training projects at this workshop will be covered sequentially. Depending on the progress of each session, topics may start in one session and be carried over to later sessions. Tentatively, the topics to be covered each day are as follows:

    Wednesday, July 21, 2021

    Project 1: Generating annualized sample means by family type using the Interview FMLI files.
     
    • Introduction to summary income variables
    • Develop a baseline understanding of the sample data
    • Using data only from participants in all four interviews compared to treating quarters independently
     
    Project 2: Generating annualized sample means by number of children in the CU using the Interview FMLI and MEMI files.
     
    • Explore how we can use data from multiple sources to determine interesting cross tabs
     
    Project 3: Generating annualized sample means for tuition, test, book, and other education expenditures by number of children in the CU using the Interview FMLI, MEMI, and MTBI files.
     
    • Introduction to stub files
    • Introduction to expenditure summary variables (PQ/CQ)
     
    Project 4: Generating annualized sample means for a specific Diary survey item to be integrated with Interview survey data, creating a total education expenditure.
     
    • Review of source selection
     
    Project 5: Generating statistics for non-expenditure characteristics (school type) of education using the Interview survey EDA and FMLI files.
     
    • Using the EDA file to find more specific information about whether the expense was for someone inside or outside the CU

    Thursday, July 22, 2021

    Project 6: Generating a weighted average annual collection year education expenditure and standard error by the number of children in a CU, using the Interview survey files.
     
    • Using the weights
    • Comparisons of population versus sample means
     
    Project 7: Generating a weighted calendar year education expenditures by the number of children in a CU using the Interview survey files.
     
    • MO_SCOPE: How to adjust the weights to represent the "months in scope" of the interview
     
    Project 8: User's Guide to Income Imputation in the CE (Part 1)
     Calculating valid descriptive statistics for multiply imputed income:
     
    • Mean
    • Standard error
     
    Project 9:User's Guide to Income Imputation in the CE (Part 2)
     Regression analysis to find the relationship between food-at-home expenditures and income:
     
    • Compute the parameter estimates and their standard errors for the intercept and income in a simple linear regression.

    Friday, July 23, 2021

    Project 10: Introduction to CE Data and Analyses Related to COVID-19
     
    • Compute (unweighted) percent reporting receipt of Economic Impact Payment (EIP) in 2020Q2;
    • Compute average amount (unweighted) of EIP(s) received, for recipients only;
    • Compute and compare outlays on total entertainment before (2020Q1) and after (2020Q2) the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic for all consumer units (EIP recipients or not);
    • For 2020Q2 only, compute and compare outlays on total entertainment:
     
    • Those who did or did not receive an EIP
    • By use of EIP, according to values of REBTUSED (i.e., those who used the payment mostly for spending, saving, or paying off debt)

    CE Microdata Users' Workshop Staff

    The following CE staff members will lead or facilitate exercises during at least one practical training session. Several will be available at each session to assist you with your projects.

    • Grayson Armstrong
    • Lekhnath Chalise
    • Aaron Cobet
    • Brett Creech
    • Scott Curtin
    • Shane Meyers
    • Geoffrey Paulin
    • Bryan Rigg

    Questions?

    For general questions on symposium and workshop, please contact CE_Symposium_Workshop@bls.gov

    For any questions during the workshop, please contact CE_Workshop_Help@bls.gov

     

    Last Modified Date: July 20, 2021