U.S. Consumer Spending in December Highest in Four Years

Author: Gallup, Inc.

Article Title: “U.S. Consumer Spending in December Highest in Four Years”: Average daily spending up $10 from November

Publication Title: Gallup Economy

Date: January 4, 2013

Link: http://www.gallup.com/poll/159707/consumer-spending-december-highest-four-years.aspx

1. This study was conducted by Gallup, Inc. based on telephone interviews with more than 13,000 American adults.

2. The sponsor of the survey was undisclosed.

3. If this study were sponsored by a group that would benefit from increased consumer spending, such as a retail store or restaurant chain, they would definitely have an interest in finding that Americans are spending more, which could affect the results of the survey.

4.  Information on methodology was included. Results were based on self-reported spending given in telephone interviews, with participants selected through random sampling. Samples were weighted by gender, age, race, ethnicity, education, region, and type of phone owned. Participants were asked how much money they spent the previous day, excluding the purchase of a home, car, or normal household bills. The study has a margin of error of $4 in daily spending.

5. The results were communicated in a clear, informative manner. The article summarizes the data and gives several implications that these results could have for the U.S. economy.

6. Graphs were used in a clear, informative manner to show average self-reported monthly spending since December 2008 and average self-reported monthly spending by income group since December 2008