The Federal Reserve Board published a research paper assessing the reliability of the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) by comparing its aggregate statistics with comparable measures from U.S. Census Bureau surveys, including the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the American Community Survey (ACS). Overall, the paper finds SHED aggregates benchmark well against these nationally representative surveys, particularly where questions are phrased nearly identically. The analysis highlights that differences in survey design, sampling methodologies, and interview modes do not prevent broad comparability in many indicators, but it also finds that subtle variations in question wording for similar concepts can produce moderate differences across data sources.
Federal Reserve Board 2025-02-24
Federal Reserve Board research finds SHED results largely align with U.S. Census Bureau CPS and ACS surveys
The Federal Reserve Board released a paper evaluating the reliability of the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) by comparing it with U.S. Census Bureau surveys like the Current Population Survey and the American Community Survey. The study finds SHED aggregates align well with these surveys, despite differences in design and methodology. However, minor variations in question wording can lead to moderate discrepancies in data.