Consumer expenditure survey: Its new methodology is superior
India’s ministry of statistics and programme implementation (Mospi) recently released a full report on the results of the Household Consumer Expenditure Survey (HCES) along with unit-level data. A factsheet highlighting some key results had been released earlier this year. This survey has made a number of changes in methodology, which has caused some confusion among the commentariat.
We will briefly examine these changes and their rationale. Changes in Schedules of Inquiry: The HCES 2022-23 canvassed household consumer expenditure through four sub-schedules, three covering consumption, i.e. Food (FDQ), Consumables and Services (CSQ) and Durables( DGQ), and one covering Household Characteristics (HCQ).
The HCQ schedule was canvassed in the first visit, along with one of the three consumption schedules, the remaining two being canvassed over two separate visits later. As a consequence, each household was visited thrice over a three month period. The sequence in which the schedules were canvassed were randomized to eliminate any bias on account of schedule ordering.
These changes were introduced for a practical reason. The earlier approach was to canvass a single comprehensive Schedule of Enquiry covering all three baskets. Over time, the survey instrument became longer as new items of consumption were added.
This led to complaints of an excessively long interview. A questionnaire could last as long as 180 minutes. Further, the order of items was fixed for each interview.
Its length, along with a fixed order, created many different errors. Interviewer and respondent fatigue contributed to deterioration in data quality. Later items often got poor quality responses, leading to possible under-coverage.
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