Sample Bias Related to Household Role
February 03, 2021
Summary
Exploring survey-based inference, the author of this working paper notes the importance of adjusting for discrepancies between the types of household members recruited and the target population. Researchers who rely on surveys should consider how variables of interest might vary within households and link to respondent selection.
View PaperWorking Paper 2021-9
Abstract: This paper develops a two-stage statistical analysis to identify and assess the effect of a sample bias associated with an individual's household role. Survey responses to questions about the respondent's role in household finances and a sampling design in which some households have all members take the survey enable the estimation of distributions for each individual's share of household responsibility. The methodology is applied to the 2017 Survey of Consumer Payment Choice. The distribution of responsibility shares among survey respondents suggests that the sampling procedure favors household members with higher levels of responsibility. A bootstrap analysis reveals that population mean estimates of monthly payment instrument use that do not account for this type of sample misrepresentation are likely biased for instruments often used to make household purchases. For checks and electronic payments, analysis suggests it is likely that unadjusted estimates overstate true values by 10 percent to 20 percent.
JEL classification: C11, C83, D12
Key words: survey error, Bayesian interference, Survey of Consumer Payment Choice, bootstrap, household economics
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.29338/wp2021-09
The views expressed here are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta or the Federal Reserve System. Any remaining errors are the author's responsibility.
Please address questions regarding content to Marcin Hitczenko, Research Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, 1000 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30309.
To receive e-mail notifications about new papers, subscribe. Under "Publications" select "Working Papers."