Reading Activity Method Time-Use Diaries for Studying Reading Practices

1. Reading Activity MethodTime-Use Diaries for Studying Reading Practices M Cecil Smith Northern Illinois University

2. Time-use diaries • Widely used in sociological research • Method originated in the 1920s in the Soviet Union • Time-use diaries have been used to study: • Sexual activities • Leisure activities • Nutritional practices • Workplace productivity • Child-rearing • Distribution of household labor • Television viewing habits (Nielson ratings)

3. Time-use diaries • Time is a behavioral indicator of values and preferences • “Time diary data can be construed as evidence of the value people put on the activities in which they engage and in very real behavioral terms” • Time diary data show a clear relationship between general attitudes toward activities, such as reading, and time spent on these activities ▪ (Robinson, 1988)

4. Categories of time use • PRODUCTIVE functions • Contracted time (paid work) • Committed time (housework & family care) • MAINTENANCE functions • Personal time (sleeping, eating, grooming) • EXPRESSIVE functions • Free time (TV, reading, socializing) (Reading can be found across all of these)

5. Types of time-use diaries • Retrospective (recall) • “What do you do on a typical day?” • subject to recall error • “What did you do yesterday?” • more accurate recall • Prospective • Record activity as it occurs

6. Time-use studies • Multi-national time use study (Szalai, 1972) • 12 countries participated • Survey Research Center, U of Michigan (1965) • N = 1,244 adults; 24 hr. diary • (Robinson, 1977) • Survey Research Center, U of Michigan (1975) • N = 1,519 adults; 24 hr. diary • (Robinson, 1976)

7. Advantages of time-use diaries • More accurate and unbiased data • Participant recall problems diminished • Better for obtaining data on low-frequency events • Can capture a wide variety of behavioral and related (i.e., affective) data

8. Disadvantages of time-use diaries • Increased “participant burden” • Decreased cooperation • Participant reactivity • Yields missing data • when no behavior is recorded, does this indicate that no behavior occurred? • Huge volume of data increases labor and data processing / analyses costs

9. Alternatives to time-use diaries • Direct observation of behavior • Interviews • Paper-and-pencil surveys / questionnaires • Experience Sampling Method (ESM) • Electronic trackers • Telephone calls

10. Reliability & validity of time-use diaries • Reliability frequently determined with alternate-form diaries (including phone calls, mail-back diaries, and personal interviews) • Validity frequently determined with independent observations, degree of correspondence between spousal couples, “shadow” technique • In general, time-use diaries are reliable and valid

11. Time-use diaries in reading research • Greaney (1980) • Irish 5th graders • Neuman (1982) • 4th, 5th, 6th graders • Anderson, Wilson, & Fielding (1988) • 5th graders • Taylor, Frye, & Maryuyama (1988) • 5th & 6th graders • Smith (2000) • adults

12. The Reading Activity Method (RAM) • Notebook format (portable!) • Instructions (detailed) • Questionnaires • Multiple data-gathering sheets

13. RAM Diary Form

14. Research questions • What are the characteristics of adults’ everyday reading practices? • How does the setting and the purpose for reading interact to determine selection of reading material, reading effort and enjoyment, and uses of learning strategies? • What are the associations of age, occupation, and education with reading practices?

15. Sample characteristics • N = 154 adults • 20 – 84 years of age • 88 females, 66 males • 84% White • Occupations: 26% business; 24% clerical, sales, service, production; 23% disciplinary & health care; 23% crafts & trades; 4% not in labor force • Graduate students recruited one participant each • 5 participants had <HS diploma; 6 had doctoral degrees; median educ attainment of sample = 15 years

16. Design of study • Participants recruited in 5 waves over a period of 28 months (1993-1995) • Waves ranged from 26 – 40 persons each • Participants were asked to keep a RAM diary for 5 days (Time 1) • Three follow-up times over a 1-year period • recorded RAM diary for 3 or 5 days (over 1 or 2 weeks) • 90% of sample kept diary for requested number of days • 30% kept diaries for at least 2 times of measurement • Only Time 1 data have been analyzed

17. Role of theory and associated research literature • Readership studies • W.S. Gray & B. Rogers: Maturity in Reading (1956) • Surveys of adults’ reading habits • National Adult Literacy Survey (1992) • More reading associated with higher levels of literacy proficiency (Smith, 1996) • Practice engagement theory (Reder, 1994) • literacy skills develop within particular contexts of practice • literacy develops primarily through individuals’ participation in literacy activities, rather than through school learning

18. Design integrity • 12% of sample randomly phone interviewed • Estimate of actual amount of reading recorded • Diary at hand all, most, some, none of time • Difficulty of diary recording • Alternate form reliability study • 119 university students  1 day diary • 24 hour recall • RAM participants monitored for compliance • 2 phone calls during recording period

19. Limitations of RAM • Cannot compare reading to other activities that might support, undermine, or be unrelated to respondents’ reading (e.g., TV viewing, child-rearing, hobbies) • Biases respondents toward reading (R is aware that reading is focus of study; may over-report reading activity) • Robinson recommends open-ended rather than specific activity focus

20. Lessons learned • Less is more • Play close attention to the methodological literature • Don’t over-complicate the design and data collection procedures • Have a good data analysis plan in place • Time-use diaries are a useful tool for studying everyday literacy practices

21. Download this presentation • http://www.cedu.niu.edu/~smith/Conferences/2005/DiaryMethod.ppt