Description
Definition 
Survey objectives
Survey Mechanism
Survey Methodology
Sample Design
Sample Design and Selection
Data collection method
Adopted Classification
Beneficiaries

Description

 Family expenditure and income survey is one of the basic surveys that help study social and economic levels of families, and measure the community welfare. Family expenditure and income patterns give      an accurate perception of the living standards of the study community.

Definition 

Family expenditure and income survey reflects patterns of spending on commodities and services by KSA families. It also reflects the level of income of the families, which provides beneficiaries with a large database

Survey objectives

1. To know the relative distribution of spending on commodities and services to be used in composing the cost of living index (consumer prices);
2. To measure consumer spending elasticity, through which to determine the amount of relative change in spending on commodities and services relating to each relative change in income, and to take advantage of it for planning purposes so as to meet the expected demand on such commodities and services in the future;
3. To study the relationship between population and housing characteristics of the families and their income, as well as studying the relationship between family spending and income;
4. To get estimates on family spending to contribute to compiling the national accounts; and
5. To identify the amount of current transfers of the family sector. 

Survey Mechanism

1. Drawing up the executive plan of the survey
2. Designing applications and forms
3. Designing survey tables.
4. Designing sample and choosing its vocabulary
5. Preparing the instruction manual (training manual)
6. Preparing records, publications and training lectures
7. Training supervisors and inspectors
8. Submitting work to supervisors
9. Field work and collecting full survey data
10. Sending records to the Authority
11. Revising data manually
12. Entering data into computer and automatically reviewing them
13. Analyzing survey data and preparing the bulletin
14. Publishing results

Survey Methodology 

The survey is carried out in a time-span of twelve months. Each month is dedicated to a different sample of families, so as to measure the change in spending patterns and levels as a result of seasonal, temporary, and periodical changes.
The researcher, during the survey period, after receiving the supportive daily and monthly records from families during the survey month, and after carrying out the final review, dumbs the data from the basic form of family expenditure and income survey as the starting point for data collection.
The survey Form consists of eight sections: 
Section I: The form cover 
Section II: Housing characteristics
Section III: Demographic characteristics 
Section IV: General questions & Family usual place for shopping. 
Section V: Daily spending 
Section VI: Monthly spending 
Section VII: Spending on durable goods
Section VIII: Income

Sample Design

The family expenditure and income survey sample was designed to realize the main objectives of the survey throughout the Kingdom and its administrative regions. It takes into account the special requirements to determine the items of consumer goods and services for future record of the cost of living, as well as the data needed for national accounts. 
To get highly efficient and effective estimates, research community was divided into parts that are non-overlapping and characterized by relative consistency in their units. Each part is considered a category, and each category is dealt with as an independent community. A random sample is drawn from each category independently, and eventually all drawn units  are integrated to form the total sample. For the purposes of preparing this framework, each administrative region has been divided into a number of categories ranging between 3-7 layers determined according to the population size, bringing the total to fifty-four categories Kingdom-wide. The optimum size of the main sample that fulfills the purposes of surveys and different family researches conducted by the Authority all over the Kingdom and the administrative regions was identified. After that, the primary sampling units of the main sample, represented by statistical regions distributed among all the administrative regions, were drawn. Before drawing the primary sampling units (counting areas) of the main sample, small or remote counting areas were merged, to be replaced in the framework by similar counting areas to guarantee proper representation of those categories and to get accurate estimates and results that represent all categories. 

Sample Design and Selection

 After determining the optimum size of the survey sample of families of each administrative region, there begins the drawing of the primary sampling units, i.e. counting areas, from the main sample framework. The units will be distributed among all categories in all the administrative regions using the suitable method to the size by considering number of Saudi families in them distributed among the administrative regions. Then, the final sampling units (families) are randomly drawn from the counting areas chosen in the first stage using regular random sampling method. A number of 12 families were chosen from each counting area, in addition to choosing an alternative sample consisting of 8 families in each statistical area to reduce the non-response percentage.
 

Data collection method

  For collecting survey data, the direct method was adopted, through face-to-face interviews. The researcher, during the survey period (the survey month), shall pay several visits to the family, detailed as    follows:

1. Identification Visit 
   During the five days preceding the survey month, the researcher shall register the geographical and identifying data of the form (Section I) of the targeted families of the survey in his work area, and completes the housing characteristics (Section II), and demographic characteristics (Section III) of the form, as well as Section IV.
2. Follow-Up Visits 
   The researcher, over the four weeks of the survey month, shall visit the family at least twice a week, as appropriate to the family, in order to make sure that the family records its daily spending in the assisting forms according to the instructions.  
3. Receipt and Delivery of Supportive Records 
   At the end of each week during the month of the survey, the researcher shall visit the family, receive the completed daily and monthly assisting record, and delivers a new daily record for the following week, along with reviewing the monthly assisting form and making sure that the family records its monthly spending in this record as required. The researcher shall keep following this way until the end of the survey month.
4. Last Visit 
   ​Over the three days following the survey month, the researcher shall pay a final visit to the family, with the aim to:
   1. Receive the daily supportive record of the last week.
   2. Receive the monthly supportive record of the family.
   3. Get data of spending on durable goods (Section VII) and income (Section III) of family members with incomes, during the year that ends by the end of the survey month.

Adopted Classification

In this survey, to classify the main spending groups, goods and services, Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose Groups (COICOP), issued by the United Nations Statistics Division, was used.

Beneficiaries

• Governmental sectors, most important of which are: Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), among others.
• Companies and private enterprises
• Regional and international organizations and institutions.
• Departments of the General Authority for Statistics (GAStat), most important of which are:  National Income General Department, Prices General Department, and the National Strategy for Social Development. Data relating to the items of consumer spending, according to the relative importance of each item, were provided and made available to the Prices General Department to be used for calculation of the records of consumer prices. Similarly, the National Income General Department was provided with data on family spending on commodities and services as being the item with largest proportion of the final spending in GDP. Moreover, the National Strategy for Social Development was provided with several tables including data on spending and income of families and individuals.
• Researchers.