Spot phone calls: A new method for measuring time use

Time-use research can provide important insights for different research questions. However, many time-use measures do not capture seasonal differences, qualitative dimensions of time use, and activities that are considered less ‘important’ or ‘desirable’. To address these issues, this article proposes spot phone calls as a new method for measuring time use. The spot phone calls methodology was piloted as part of a research project on time use of adults and children in northern Uganda. In different periods of the year, participants were called on their phones at different times of the day to be asked about their time use. The method was cost and time effective and made it possible to identify and understand seasonal differences in time use. It captured emotional and relational aspects of time use and accounted for activities that were undercounted in other measures, such as ‘doing nothing’ and men’s participation in unpaid care and domestic work. This article calls for the method to be tested with a larger sample.

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Application of an Improved Colored Petri Net Modeling Method in Certain Missile Training System

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.742.330 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 742 ◽

pp. 330-334

Author(s):

Chun Jian Wang ◽

Wei Yue ◽

Hai Yan Ji

Keyword(s):

Complex System ◽

Petri Net ◽

Time Use ◽

Training System ◽

New Method ◽

Mathematics Model ◽

Research Approach ◽

Complex Environments ◽

Training Simulator ◽

First Time

In allusion to the need of analyzing complex system, we have proposed a method named multi-grade color Petri net. We for the first time use this new method to analyze a missile training simulator system. This model can accurately reflect the complex environments of the system and avoid the difficulty occurring often in developing accurate mathematics model by using classical research approach.

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Advancing Health-Related Cluster Analysis Methodology: Quantification of Pairwise Activity Cluster Similarities

Journal of Physical Activity and Health ◽

10.1123/jpah.2014-0008 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 395-401

Author(s):

Katia Ferrar ◽

Carol Maher ◽

John Petkov ◽

Tim Olds

Keyword(s):

Cluster Analysis ◽

New Zealand ◽

Health Behavior ◽

Time Use ◽

Research Process ◽

Vector Length ◽

Analysis Methodology ◽

Health Related ◽

Activity Cluster ◽

Time Use Research

Background:To date, most health-related time-use research has investigated behaviors in isolation; more recently, however, researchers have begun to conceptualize behaviors in the form of multidimensional patterns or clusters.Methods:The study employed 2 techniques: radar graphs and centroid vector length, angles and distance to quantify pairwise time-use cluster similarities among adolescents living in Australia (N = 1853) and in New Zealand (N = 679).Results:Based on radar graph shape, 2 pairs of clusters were similar for both boys and girls. Using vector angles (VA), vector length (VL) and centroid distances (CD), 1 pair for each sex was considered most similar (boys: VA = 63°, VL = 44 and 50 units, and CD = 48 units; girls: VA = 23°, VL = 65 and 85 units, and CD = 36 units). Both methods employed to determine similarity had strengths and weaknesses. Conclusions: The description and quantification of cluster similarity is an important step in the research process. An ability to track and compare clusters may provide greater understanding of complex multidimensional relationships, and in relation to health behavior clusters, present opportunities to monitor and to intervene.

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Measuring Time Use in Surveys – How Valid are Time Use Questions in Surveys? Concordance of Survey and Experience Sampling Measures

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.1895307 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

Bettina Sonnenberg ◽

Michaela Riediger ◽

Cornelia Wrzus ◽

Gert G. Wagner

Keyword(s):

Time Use ◽

Experience Sampling ◽

Measuring Time

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2. An Assessment of Alternative Measures of Time Use

Sociological Methodology ◽

10.1111/j.0081-1750.2003.t01-1-00126.x ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 33 (1) ◽

pp. 19-54 ◽

Cited By ~ 87

Author(s):

F. Thomas Juster ◽

Hiromi Ono ◽

Frank P. Stafford

Keyword(s):

Labor Market ◽

Social Relations ◽

Time Use ◽

Sampling Method ◽

Market Work ◽

Measuring Time ◽

Social Scientists ◽

Historical Trends ◽

Absolute Level ◽

Alternative Measures

Although time use has received much attention by social scientists as an index of resource allocation and social relations across groups, only a few studies have carefully assessed the relative strengths and weaknesses of the existing methods of measuring time use: time diary (TD), stylized (S) respondent report, and experiential sampling method (ESM). We note the varying degree of biases that arise in part from the extent of detail in the information collected by the three methods. Using findings from our analysis of the structure of these methods, we hypothesize that there are empirical exceptions to previously reported common findings that TD provides less biased information on time use than does S—namely (a) when labor market workers report their time spent on labor market work, and (b) when the historical trend in time, rather than the absolute level, is studied. Empirical results confirm our prediction and show that, among individuals who work regularly, TD and S estimates of labor market work hours reported by the same persons correspond closely to one another. In addition, when assessing historical trends, TD and S values correspond closely to one another, although TDs yield some inexplicable deviations from the trend even when the sample and the codes are carefully standardized. We also provide notes on a strategy of standardization for diary codes that are distinct across historical or national contexts.

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Free Time as a Resource

Free Time ◽

10.23943/princeton/9780691163451.003.0003 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Julie L. Rose

Keyword(s):

Time Use ◽

Basic Needs ◽

Free Time ◽

Individual Responsibility ◽

Definition Of ◽

Egalitarian Justice ◽

Time Use Research

This chapter argues that free time—defined as the time not committed to meeting one's own or one's dependents' basic needs—is a resource to which citizens could plausibly have claims in a public and feasible liberal egalitarian justice. To develop the idea of free time as a resource, the chapter begins with the recognition that time itself is a resource. It then discusses three ways, drawn from time-use research, of defining free time: as time not engaged in typically necessary activities, as time not engaged in subjectively necessary activities, and as time not engaged in objectively necessary activities. It also considers how a formulation of free time might address issues of individual responsibility and asserts that the typically necessary and subjectively necessary definitions of free time are not appropriately understood as resources in the relevant sense. The chapter concludes by proposing a particular objective definition of free time.

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