Income and Expenditure Survey 2005-2006

The IES 2005/2006 based on the diary method was the first of its kind to be conducted by Stats SA. Previously IESs were conducted by Stats SA every five years using the recall method. In the recall method a single questionnaire was administered to a household at a selected dwelling unit in the sample. The responding households were required to recall expenditure and sources of income for 12 months prior to the survey.

Stats SA decided to change the survey methodology, in line with international best practice, from the recall method to a combination of the recall and the diary methods. A fieldworker administered a main questionnaire to a selected household over five separate visits during which households were required to account for all income and for acquisitions of goods and services over the 11 months prior to the survey. During the four weeks of the survey month, households were also given diaries and were required to record their daily acquisitions in a diary on a daily basis. The diaries were collected on a weekly basis for a period of a month. The purpose of the diary was to try to minimise or eliminate the recall problem over the four weeks of the survey month so that the information collected was as accurate as possible