1. www.kent.ac.uk/chss Centre for Health Services Studies The prevalence of multitasking and the influence of Internet use thereon Reshaping everyday life? The impact of new technologies on citizens time IPPR, London 21 November 2006 Dr Susan Kenyon

2. Centre for Health Services Studies www.kent.ac.uk/ chss 2 Overview What is multitasking… and why does it matter? Multitasking and Internet use Two datasets: Methodology Sample Results: diary study Results: questionnaire survey Discussion: the implications of the findings Future research direction These data Future studies – appropriate methods

3. Centre for Health Services Studies www.kent.ac.uk/ chss 3

4. 4 What is multitasking – and why does it matter? Multitasking is the simultaneous conduct of two or more activities, during a given time period. Implications of multitasking for: Definitions of time Understanding of time use Time use methodologies – and analysis

5. Centre for Health Services Studies www.kent.ac.uk/ chss 5 Why might Internet use influence time use? From clock time to real time to network time Real time – Castells – the death of clock time? Network time – Hassan – no longer governed by the rule and pace of clock time – return to task time? Time use – what is being substituted? Focus on social effects and effects for transport Polarisation – Internet good, Internet bad Time-space compression – the death of distance? Hagerstrand – time space prisms Kwan – time-space convergence is literally complete; activities are placeless and timeless But what about multitasking?

6. Centre for Health Services Studies www.kent.ac.uk/ chss 6 Why might Internet use influence multitasking? Preconditions for multitasking: Spatial co-presence Temporal co-presence Influence of Internet upon multitasking: Reducing locational dependence – in space and time Continuity of engagement – the fragmentation of activities Active/cognitive attention http://www.zonneheem.be/images/Dienstverlening/Grocery%20Shopping.g if, viewed 17/07/06

7. Centre for Health Services Studies www.kent.ac.uk/ chss 7 Hypothesis Internet use will lead to greater multitasking, because of the greater ability to multitask when we are online …with attendant implications for our understanding of the impacts of Internet use upon activity participation and time use.

8. Centre for Health Services Studies www.kent.ac.uk/ chss 8 One study, two datasets: the accessibility diary Sample: 96 participants; 3 waves, six months apart Theoretical sampling: income, Internet experience, location, transport mode

9. Centre for Health Services Studies www.kent.ac.uk/ chss 9 One study, two datasets: national questionnaire survey Sample: 1000, demographically representative of GB weekly Internet users aged 16+ BUT more Internet experience and spend longer online Influence of multitasking upon decision to conduct activities online/offline Can you multitask more online than offline? Qualitative responses – text box

10. Centre for Health Services Studies www.kent.ac.uk/ chss 10 Results: diary study (1) Multitasking is very common for this sample - +7.2 hours/day BUT high degree of variation What are people doing with this time? Table 4. Assessing the importance of multitasking: mean minutes per week spent in primary and secondary activities (n=96) Mean minutes per weekSecondary activity time as % of primary activity time ActivityPrimarySecondaryPrimary plus secondary Education160.310.4170.46.5 Info. search112.244.8157.039.9 Paid work1478.615.81494.41.1 Shopping153.832.3186.121.0 Social networks594.01152.91746.9194.1 All online activities215.5128.5345.059.6 All travel activities682.271.3753.510.5 Increases perception of time spent in all activities by 1 - 194% Not randomly distributed across activity types 60% increase in time spent online

11. Centre for Health Services Studies www.kent.ac.uk/ chss 11 Results: diary study (2) Different activities more amenable to having activities appended Tendency to multitask influenced by primary activity: Online activities more likely to be multitasked than offline activities Type of secondary activity influenced by primary activity Table 5. Percentage of primary activity time involving multitasking, by activity category and offline/online status (wave 1) (n=86) Total secondary activity time as a percentage of total primary activity time Primary activity typeTotal time % Primary is offline % Primary is online % Education23.020.863.3 Info. search42.538.845.3 Paid work28.4 - Shopping36.332.457.9 Social networks56.358.938.6 All online activities44.7- All offline activities (excl. sleeping) 42.8 - All travel activities60.0 -

12. Centre for Health Services Studies www.kent.ac.uk/ chss 12 Results: questionnaire Ability to multitask influences Internet use Between 33 and 52% of participants say that the ability to multitask influences their decision to participate in key activities online, rather than offline People can multitask more online than offline Qualitative data support these findings Table 7. Can you multitask more when doing the following activities online than when you do them offline? (%) n =YesNoSometimesDont know Grocery shopping116744220 Non-grocery shopping291814132 Communicating with family and friends 468813151 Formal education1125510323 Searching for information478852131

13. Centre for Health Services Studies www.kent.ac.uk/ chss 13 Conclusions and further research Multitasking is prevalent and important The Internet influences the ability and propensity to multitask The Internet influences the nature of multitasking Increased number of activities can be multitasked Increased activity participation Implications for study of Internet impacts Understanding of behaviour and behavioural change Implications for… Time use; travel; social exclusion/sociability Future directions These databases – soon to be available online Methodological development Theoretical/conceptual development – nature of time and time use

14. Centre for Health Services Studies www.kent.ac.uk/ chss 14 Acknowledgements and contact details EPSRC/DfT funded study within the FIT research programme Research undertaken as part of the INTERNET project at the Centre for Transport and Society, UWE, Bristol For further information: Dr Susan Kenyon Lecturer in Qualitative Research Methods Centre for Health Services Studies University of Kent Canterbury Kent CT2 7NF Tel: 01227 824908 Email: S.L.Kenyon@kent.ac.uk