Collecting time use data Social and Housing Statistics Section United Nations Statistics Division International Workshop on Social Statistics, Bejing, November 2010

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

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

Mode of data collection 2 main modes:  Recall interview  Self-reporting

Mode of data collection 2 main modes:  Recall interview  Self-reporting

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

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

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

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

Mode of data collection 2 main modes:  Recall interview  Self-reporting

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

“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)

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

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

24-hour diary 2 main issues 1.“Full” versus “light” diaries 2.Recording of time

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

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

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

24-hour diary 2 main issues 1.“Full” versus “light” diaries 2.Recording of time

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

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

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

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

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

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

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