WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Reserve Board announced Monday that it will soon begin a statistical study of household finances to update data collected at the outset of the economic downturn that began in late 2007.

The 2009 Survey of Consumer Finances will attempt to re-interview participants in the board's most recently completed survey, which was conducted in 2007, according to the Fed.

Normally, the SCF is undertaken on a purely cross-sectional basis every three years. But given the serious financial and economic problems of the past two years, this special study will gather a detailed picture of the effects of those events on households and their finances, officials explained.

The SCF will be conducted for the board by the National Opinion Research Center, a social science research organization at the University of Chicago. Data will be collected from July 25 through Dec. 31 of this year.

"I am writing to ask for your cooperation in another important Federal Reserve research project related to a survey in which you participated about two years ago regarding consumer finances," said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in a letter to potential respondents. "At that time, you very generously agreed to share your time and information, and we had no thought of asking you to do more.

"Since then, however, we have seen substantial problems in the economy that have affected virtually everyone. You can help us understand those effects more clearly by participating in a much shorter second round of the survey," he continued.

"It may seem that everything that needs to be known about recent economic changes is already known. But, we would benefit from a more detailed understanding of what has happened across the broad range of types of households. For that, we need to look directly at changes for individual households," he added.

The 2009 survey will attempt to secure interviews with all 4,422 participants in the 2007 SCF who are living in the United States. Because the re-interview will cover most of the topics included in the 2007 survey, it will be possible to look directly at changes in household finances.

In addition, the Fed said the re-interview will explore several topics particularly relevant for the time since the 2007 survey, including issues related to credit constraints, small business performance, housing, mortgages and expectations about the future for the economy in general and aspects of the household's finances in particular.

The re-interview will provide a representative picture of changes for U.S. households that were in existence two years ago. The original sample was chosen at random from 79 areas, including metropolitan areas and rural counties across the United States, using a scientific sampling procedure. A representative of NORC will contact each potential participant personally to explain the study and request time for an interview.

To view the results of the 2007 survey, click here.