Collecting time use data

1. Collecting time use data Social and Housing Statistics Section United Nations Statistics Division International Workshop on Social Statistics, Bejing,22-24 November 2010

2. Collecting time use data • Goal of my presentation Overview of the different survey frameworks. Practices which prevail amid member countries. • Survey framework? • Type of survey • Mode of data collection • Type of survey instrument

3. Collecting time use data • Goal of my presentation Overview of the different survey frameworks. Practices which prevail amid member countries. • What do I mean by survey framework? • Type of survey • Mode of data collection • Type of survey instrument

4. Mode of data collection 2 main modes: • Recall interview • Self-reporting

5. Mode of data collection 2 main modes: • Recall interview • Self-reporting

6. Recall interview • Interviewing about time use during a previous period • Face-to face or over the phone

7. Recall interview General limitations: • Memory recall errors (Robinson, 1985) • “Normative editing” (Robinson, 1985) • Underreporting of quick activities

8. Face-to-face recall interviews Advantages: • Most common technique when low literacy rates • Higher response rate Limitations: • More costly

9. Computer-assisted telephone interviews Advantages: • High response rate compared to self-completed questionnaires • Lower costs than face-to-face • Controls from CATI software Limitations: • Limits of random digit dialing • Low response rate when more than one questionnaire or more than one respondent in the household • Variations in the classification • Development of cell phones

10. Mode of data collection 2 main modes: • Recall interview • Self-reporting

11. Self-reporting by respondents Respondents are asked to complete a “leave-behind” diary on an assigned day (or days)

12. “Leave-behind” diary Advantages: • Suitable for high literacy rates • May be considered less intrusive • Higher quality than recall data (≈ 10%) Limitations: • Not feasible when low literacy rates • Costs greater than recall because 2 interviews are needed • Data quality may be affected if the respondents are asked to fill in more than one day (Harvey and Taylor, 2000)

13. Type of survey instrument 2 main instruments: • “24-hour” diary • Stylized questionnaire

14. Type of survey instrument 2 main instruments: • “24-hour” diary • Stylized questionnaire

15. 24-hour diary 2 main issues • “Full” versus “light” diaries • Recording of time

16. “Full” diary Writing verbatim descriptions of activities that are coded later on to an activity classification

17. “Light” diary Restricts activity descriptions to a limited categorization of “pre-coded” activities

18. “Full” versus “Light” diary The choice depends on: • Analytical objectives • Cost • Literacy concerns • Misclassification of the activities

19. 24-hour diary 2 main issues • “Full” versus “light” diaries • Recording of time

20. Recording of time 2 main choices: • Fixed intervals: non-overlapping segments of uniform length • Open recording: the respondent reports start and finish times of each activity

21. Recording of time Issues to take into account: • The open method yields large variations in the quality of data and complications for editing and processing (Fleming, 1999) • But fixed intervals not suited to short duration activities • Length of fixed intervals

22. Type of survey instrument 2 main instruments: • “24-hour” diary • Stylized questionnaire

23. Stylized questionnaires The respondents need to recall the amount of time spent on activities. May target specific activities or be designed to be as exhaustive as possible as a 24-hour diary

24. Stylized questionnaire Advantages: • Less expensive • Preferable for a specific and short time period • Used to supplement 24-hour diaries

25. Stylized questionnaire Limitation: • High degree of error (Hofferth, 2000)

26. Conclusion • Analytical purpose=guiding principle • Advantages and limitations are essentially known • How multiple options in a single study? Combination of methods?