Gemini Project to Redesign the Consumer Expenditure Surveys

In 2009, the Gemini Project was launched to research and develop a redesign of the Consumer Expenditure (CE) surveys, addressing issues of measurement error and respondent burden. In July 2013, a redesign proposal was approved, outlining the future direction of the CE survey. For more information on the history of the Gemini Project is available on this page under Gemini Background. Documents related to the Gemini project can be found at the CE library by filtering on the "Gemini" column.

Latest News on the Redesign

Information on design, related materials, and results for the following Gemini Field Tests are available on the Gemini Field Tests page: the Individual Diaries Field Test (August-December 2014), the Gemini Proof of Concept Test (July-September 2015), and the Incentives and Outlets Test (July-December 2016).
Archived News

The 2016 CE Survey Methods Symposium took place in July 2016. Workshop participants from BLS and other federal and private sector institutions shared their research and best practices on topics including incentives, record use, online diaries, and individual diaries. The agenda with links to the presentations can be found here.
A data quality section and preliminary prototype report was added to the CE methodology webpage. Measuring Data Quality is an important step in judging the effectiveness of the implemented redesign and the prototype report provides a baseline. Additional data quality measurement indicators will be added in future iterations of the data quality profile report.

Overview of Redesign

The proposed design is described in this section. For more detail, please refer to "Consumer Expenditure Survey: Redesign Proposal" prepared by the Gemini Design team.
Revisions to the redesign are made periodically based on field test findings and resource constraints.
The figure below gives an overview of the redesign. Click here for a text version of this graphic.

Comparison to Current Design

The figure below gives a comparison of the current design to the redesign. Click here for a text version of this graphic.

Mouse over the graphic to highlight corresponding changes between the current and new design.

Gemini Background

The Gemini project to redesign the CE survey was launched in 2009, and the redesign plan was approved in 2013. The documents below provide more information on the history of the Gemini project including the final report of the CNSTAT panel on redesigning the Consumer Expenditure Surveys. Other documents related to the background of the Gemini project can be found in the CE library.

1. Project Vision Document - Revised for 2015

2. OPLC Requirements for the Consumer Expenditure Survey

3. CNSTAT report: "Measuring What We Spend: Toward a New Consumer Expenditure Survey"

4. Gemini Research Agenda

CE Data Quality Definition Report

Several Field tests have been conducted since 2013 to test various elements of the redesign. Details on those tests can be found on the Gemini Field Test page.

Feedback

Questions or comments about the redesign? Contact us at GeminiOutreach@bls.gov.

Last Modified Date: March 20, 2018

Consumer Expenditure Survey