• Component Description
• Eligible Sample
• Interview Setting and Mode of Administration
• Quality Assurance & Quality Control
• Data Processing and Editing
• Analytic Notes
• Codebook
  • SEQN - Respondent sequence number
  • CBD071 - Money spent at supermarket/grocery store
  • CBD091 - Money spent on nonfood items
  • CBD111 - Money spent on food at other stores
  • CBD121 - Money spent on eating out
  • CBD131 - Money spent on carryout/delivered foods

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

2017-2018 Data Documentation, Codebook, and Frequencies

Consumer Behavior (CBQ_J)

Data File: CBQ_J.xpt

First Published: April 2021

Last Revised: NA

Component Description

The Consumer Behavior questionnaire (variable name prefix CBQ) section provides interview data on food expenditures at the family level as part of the Flexible Consumer Behavior Survey (FCBS) module.

The FCBS module has been included in NHANES since 2007. This module was developed in collaboration with the Economic Research Service (ERS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It was designed to collect information on respondents’ knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs toward nutrition and food choices. The FCBS module has two elements: a core set of questions asked in the household interview, and a supplementary module asked as a telephone follow-up interview with focuses specifically designed for each 2-year data collection cycle.

The core set of the FCBS module collects information on dietary-related consumer behavior in participants’ families. For example, family monthly income and family assets, food expenditures, as well as family’s participation on federal food assistance programs. The family food expenditures data are released in the present CBQ section, while the monthly income and family assets data are included in the Income (INQ), and food program participation data are included in the Food Security (FSQ) sections.

The core set of the FCBS module also includes questions on individual participant’s food choices, such as getting meals prepared away from home, meals from fast food or pizza places, use of convenience foods or ready-to-eat meals bought in stores, and participant’s awareness on federal nutrition programs. These individual-level questions, in the core set of FCBS module, are included in the Diet Behavior and Nutrition questionnaire (DBQ) section and released in a separate file.

Data from the phone follow-up FCBS supplementary module are to be released in separate files and made available on the NHANES website. Similar to other datasets in the NHANES 2017-2018 release cycle, all FCBS related data files can be linked by the respondent sequence number (SEQN). For more information on the other FCBS related data refer to the documentations accompanying the datasets.

Eligible Sample

All participants were eligible.

Interview Setting and Mode of Administration

These questions were asked as part of the NHANES Family Questionnaire in the home, using the Computer-Assisted Personal interview (CAPI) system. Hand cards showing response categories were also used for some questions. One respondent in each family answered these questions.

Quality Assurance & Quality Control

The CAPI system is programmed with built-in consistency checks to reduce data entry errors. CAPI also uses online help screens to assist interviewers in defining key terms used in the questionnaire. All data was reviewed by the NHANES field office staff for accuracy and completeness.

Data Processing and Editing

Frequency counts were checked, "skip" patterns were verified, and the reasonableness of question responses was reviewed. Edits were made to some variables to ensure the completeness, consistency, and analytic usefulness of the data. Edits were also made, when necessary, to address data disclosure concerns. When a variable was modified globally, as part of the editing process, the third letter in the variable name was changed from a Q (i.e., CBQ) to a D (i.e., CBD). For example, some data were collected using two variables (a number variable and a unit of measure variable), but were combined into a single variable for data release purposes.

CBD071, CBD091, CBD111, CBD121, and CBD131
(Food expenditures – Money spent on food in the past 30 days).

This information was collected using two-part (number and unit) questions to allow respondents to report the amount of money as either per week or per month. The released variables were edited to standardize the reported amount to number of dollars in the last 30 days. Reported expenditures at or more than $8,400 in the past 30 days were coded as “$8,400 and over” due to disclosure concerns. This cut-point is consistent with the top category used in reporting family monthly income.

Analytic Notes

Please refer to the NHANES Analytic Guidelines and the on-line NHANES Tutorial for further details on the use of sample weights and other analytic issues. Both are available on the NHANES website.

Codebook and Frequencies