Telescoping Error in Recalled Food Consumption - Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Ethiopia

Jul 19, 2026

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Telescoping errors arise when survey respondents misdate events outside the reference period and include them in recall. Earlier Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) surveys used a two-visit format to bound food-consumption recall, but its effects were not evidence-tested. A survey experiment in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, randomly assigned households to bounded two-visit recall or unbounded single-visit recall to quantify telescoping bias. Unbounded recall reports 16% higher food consumption on average, driven largely by less frequent protein-rich foods, likely overstating diet-diversity based food security indicators.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

Introduction

Survey measurement and telescoping error

Experimental design and recall formats

Bias in food consumption and implications for food security indicators

Pub lic Disclosure Authorized Pub lic Disclosure Authorized The World Bank Economic Review, 36(4), 2022, 889–908 [https://doi.org10.1093/wber/lhac015](https://doi.org10.1093/wber/lhac015) Article Telescoping Error in Recalled Food Consumption: Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Ethiopia Gashaw T. Abate , Alan de Brauw , John Gibson , Kalle Hirvonen , and Abdulazize Wolle Abstract Telescoping errors occur if survey respondents misdate events from outside the reference period and include them in their recall. Concern about telescoping influenced the design of early Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) surveys, which used a two-visit interview format to bound food consumption recall. This design fell out of favor although not for evidence-based reasons. To measure the extent of telescoping bias on food consumption measures, a survey experiment was conducted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, randomly assigning households to either a two-visit bounded recall or a single visit unbounded recall. The average value of reported food consumption is 16 percent higher (95 percent CI: 7.4–25.9) in the unbounded single visit recall relative to the two-visit bounded recall. Most of the error is explained by difference in reported spending on less frequently consumed, protein-rich foods, so apparent food security indicators based on household diet diversity are likely overstated with unbounded recall. JEL classification: C81, D12, I32 Keywords: diet quality, food consumption, household surveys, recall, telescoping Gashaw T. Abate is a research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), 1201 Eye St NW, Washington, DC, 20005, USA; his email address [is g.abate@cgiar.org. Alan de Brauw](is g.abate@cgiar.org. Alan de Brauw) (corresponding author) is a senior research fellow at IFPRI; his email address [is a.debrauw@cgiar.org. John Gibson is a professor of economics at](is a.debrauw@cgiar.org. John Gibson is a professor of economics at) the University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand; his email address is [jkgibson@waikato.ac.nz. Kalle Hirvonen is a senior](jkgibson@waikato.ac.nz. Kalle Hirvonen is a senior) research fellow at IFPRI and a research fellow at the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Katajanolanlaituri 6B, Helsinki, Fl-00160, Finland; his email address is [k.hirvonen@cgiar.org. Abdulazize](k.hirvonen@cgiar.org. Abdulazize)[ ](k.hirvonen@cgiar.org. Abdulazize)Wolle is a graduate student in the Department of Economics at the University at Albany: State University of New York at Albany, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, NY 12222, New York; his email address [is abdulazize.wolle@gmail.com. The authors](is abdulazize.wolle@gmail.com. The authors)[ ](is abdulazize.wolle@gmail.com. The authors)thank the team at NEED for excellent survey coordination, particularly Abinet Tekle, Betelhem Lakew, Alemayehu Deme, and Abraha Weldegerima. The authors are also grateful for the survey supervisors and enumerators for their hard work in interviewing the respondents. None of this work would have been possible without the generosity of the households that took part in these surveys. The authors thank them all sincerely. Thanks also to Roy Van der Weide (the editor), three anonymous reviewers, Kibrom A. Abay, Kate Ambler, Kaleab Baye, Kathleen Beegle, Calogero Carletto, Joachim De Weerdt, Tesfaye Hailu, Sylvan Herskowitz, Vivian Hoffmann, Dean Jolliffe, Talip Kilic, Berber Kramer, Karen Macours, Otto Toivanen, and Alberto Zezza for comments that improved this manuscript. This work was undertaken as part of, and funded by, the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) . The opinions expressed here belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of A4NH or CGIAR. A supplementary online appendix is available with this article at the World Bank Economic Review website. © The Author(s) 2022 . Published by

FAQs

What causes telescoping errors in food consumption surveys?

Telescoping errors occur when respondents misdate events outside the reference period and include them in recall.

How was telescoping bias measured in the Ethiopia study?

Households in Addis Ababa were randomly assigned to either a two-visit bounded recall or a single-visit unbounded recall survey.

What is the size and source of the bias found in unbounded recall?

Unbounded single-visit recall reports average food consumption 16% higher; most error comes from differences in spending on less frequently consumed, protein-rich foods.

Jul 19, 2026

Upload by Liam