Guidelines for Time Use Data Collection and Analysis

Abstract

Time diaries provide the opportunity to carry out a wide range of studies, explore a wide variety of issues, and present temporal and activity information in many different ways. This chapter has only touched on some of the many interesting ways the time use data can be analyzed and presented. Above all, in the collection and storing of time-diary data, it is important to preserve as far as possible the precise detail attendant with the activity as recorded in a diary. While the aggregate times and participation rates are interesting and useful, the real value of time-diary studies is in their ability to provide insight into the very fine grain of human activity and to link objective and subjective states. There is no area of human behavior for which time use studies cannot provide valuable and interesting data. As such, they provide any researcher a complex and fascinating opportunity and challenge.