This nationally representative survey investigates several household characteristics including income, spending, sociodemographic makeup, living conditions, and assets. This information is gathered through in-person interviews in the home. This survey is carried out by the Mexico National Institute of Statistics and Geography. In 2012, the survey reached 10,062 households in urban and rural areas throughout all of the states of Mexico. The data collection for this round occurred from August through December 2012.

This survey ran two modules at the same time, to the same population sample, using the same questionnaires. The modules were called Traditional and New Construction. The difference between the two was the construction of the variables and how they are presented in the results. The New Construction results segmented spending and income into tabulations that included monetary and nonmonetary incomes and expenditures.