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Collecting time use data. Social and Housing Statistics Section United Nations Statistics Division International Workshop on Social Statistics, Bejing,22-24 November 2010. Collecting time use data. Goal of my presentation
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Collecting time use data Social and Housing Statistics Section United Nations Statistics Division International Workshop on Social Statistics, Bejing,22-24 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 • “Full” versus “light” diaries • 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 • “Full” versus “light” diaries • 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?