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Consumer Expenditure Surveys
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Incentives and Outlets Test
The incentives and outlets test as proposed in the Gemini Redesign Project, has two purposes:
The incentives portion of the Incentives and Outlets Field Test was designed to test the effects of different incentive delivery procedures and incentive amounts on survey costs, response rates, and data quality for the CE Interview Survey (CEQ). The results of the 2016 Incentives Field test are being used to inform the Large Scale Feasibility test as well as the overall Gemini Redesign project.
The outlets portion of the Incentives and Outlets Test was designed to test the integration of outlet questions into the CEQ survey. Outlet data are currently collected by the Telephone Point of Purchase Survey (TPOPS). The results of the integration of outlet questions into the CEQ survey are being used to inform future Consumer Price Index (CPI) initiatives.
This page includes a description of the test design, and links to materials used during the test.
OMB Clearance | OMB Clearance No: 1220-0050 Expiration: 06/30/2019 |
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Incentives and Outlet test Lead Contact (BLS) | |
Full Design Overview |
Below are links to a brief overview of the Incentives and Outlets Test design and related material. For a detailed overview of the design, click on the above PDF link for the Incentives and Outlets Field Test Detailed Overview.
Incentives
The incentives portion of the Incentives/Outlets Field Test consisted of three treatment groups that were offered an incentive option. Households were randomly assigned to one of the treatment groups or the control group. All monetary incentives, except for the token cash incentive, were offered in the form of a debit card.
Advance Letters
Letter sent via first class mail, one week prior to each month of interviews, that described the interview and the incentive, if any, the household would receive.
Treatment Group 1 (All Incentives)
- Monetary survey incentive of $40 conditional on completion of the first interview.
- Monetary unconditional token incentive of $5.
- Monetary records use incentive of $20, distributed by mail after completion of the interview, conditional on the use of at least one receipt, paper record, or electronic record.
- Debit Card and token distributed with Advance Letter mentioning incentive.
Treatment Group 2 (No Token Incentive)
- Monetary survey incentive of $40 conditional on completion of the first interview.
- Monetary records use incentive, distributed by mail after completion of the interview, conditional on the use of at least one receipt, paper record, or electronic record.
- Debit Card distributed with Advance Letter mentioning incentive.
Treatment Group 3 (No Record Incentives)
- Monetary survey incentive of $40 conditional on completion of the first interview.
- Monetary unconditional token incentive of $5.
- Debit Card and token distributed with Advance Letter mentioning incentive.
Control Group
Standard CEQ first interview
Results
A detailed report of the final results of the Incentives Test is forthcoming.
Outlets
The outlets portion of the Incentives and Outlets Field Test consisted of one test group that was asked questions about the outlets that they bought select items at. These questions were included as part of the test at CPI's request to inform future CPI initiatives.
Outlets Test Group
During the fourth wave of the survey, households in the test group received questions from an alternate questionnaire to specify where an item was purchased and where the outlet is located. Outlet questions were added to five sections in the instrument. Click on the links below for sections from the 2015 questionnaire where additional outlet questions were added for the test.
Results
Based on the findings of the Outlets portion of the test, the CE and CPI program have expanded research on this topic.
Last Modified Date: April 13, 2018