Americans' Use of Time Series

collection: series

Investigator(s): Thomas F. Juster, Paul Courant, Greg J. Duncan, John P. Robinson, Frank P. Stafford

Studies

6

Variables

9,175

Publications

87

About this Collection

The Americans' Use of Time series data were gathered as part of a multinational time budget project and consist of several datasets: AMERICANS' USE OF TIME, 1965-1966 (ICPSR 7254), TIME USE IN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ACCOUNTS, 1975-1976 [ICPSR 7580], AMERICANS' USE OF TIME, 1965-1966, AND TIME USE IN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ACCOUNTS, 1975-1976: MERGED DATA [ICPSR 7796], AMERICANS' USE OF TIME, 1985 (9875), TIME USE LONGITUDINAL PANEL STUDY, 1975-1981 (9054), and FAMILY INTERACTION, SOCIAL CAPITAL, AND TRENDS IN TIME USE (FISCT), 1998-1999: [UNITED STATES] (ICPSR 3191). They contain single-day time personal diary, mail-back, and telephone interview data. The diaries consist of primary and secondary single-day activities. The files contain data on the estimates of daily time use by Americans, comprising work and nonwork leisure activities, as well as sociodemographic data. The FISCT 1998-1999 study contains data from 24-hour time diaries probing several indicators of social capital and life quality, gathered to update prior time series on how Americans spend time. The studies partly represent an attempt to apply recent methodological developments in the measurement of time use to a national probability sample of United States households in order to facilitate development of a fully articulated system of economic and social accounts. The time budget project focus included the following substantive and methodological areas: (1) time spent in social interaction, particularly parental time with children, (2) measurement problems in time estimates, (3) activity and social interaction patterns of elderly Americans, and (4) time spent on the Internet and effects on social isolation and other media usage.

Studies

6 results

Family Interaction, Social Capital, and Trends in Time Use (FISCT), 1998-1999: [United States]

For this project, data from 24-hour time diaries probing several indicators of social capital and life quality were gathered to update prior time series on how Americans spend time. Data were collected to be consistent with time-diary collections prepared in 1965, 1975, and 1985 (see ICPSR 7254, 7580, and 9875) to allow cross-time comparisons. The survey was conducted by the Survey Research Center at the University of Maryland between March 1998 and December 1999 (effectively covering each season of the year and each day of the week) with a representative sample of 1,151 respondents aged 18 and older. Using established time-diary procedures with Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI), respondents were asked to complete "yesterday" time diaries detailing their primary activities from midnight to midnight of the previous day, their secondary activities (e.g., activities that occurred simultaneously with the primary activities), and when, with whom, and where they engaged in the activities. The project focus included the following substantive and methodological areas: (1) time spent in social interaction, particularly parental time with children, (2) measurement problems in time estimates, (3) activity and social interaction patterns of elderly Americans, and (4) time spent on the Internet and effects on social isolation and other media usage. In addition to the estimates of time use obtained from the time diaries, the project elicited information on (1) marital and parental status, education and employment status of the respondent and spouse (if married), age, race/ethnicity, and family income, (2) weekly and previous-day recall estimates of time spent on paid employment, housework, religious activities, and television viewing, (3) feelings of time pressure, and (4) use of the Internet, e-mail, and home computers.

Time Use Longitudinal Panel Study, 1975-1981

The 1975-1981 TIME USE LONGITUDINAL PANEL STUDY dataset combines a round of data collected in 1981 with the principal investigators' earlier TIME USE IN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ACCOUNTS, 1975-1976 (ICPSR 7580), collected by F. Thomas Juster, Paul Courant, et al. This combined data collection consists of data from 620 respondents, their spouses if they were married at the time of first contact, and up to three children between the ages of three and seventeen living in the household. The key features which characterized the 1975 time use study were repeated in 1981. In both of the data collection years, adult individuals provided four time diaries as well as extensive information related to their time use in the four waves of data collection. Information pertaining to the household was collected, as well as identical measures from respondents and spouses for all person-specific information. Selected children provided two time diary reports (one for a school day and one non-school day), an academic achievement measure, and survey measures pertaining to school and family life. In addition, teacher ratings were obtained. For each adult individual who remained in the sample through the 1981 study, a time budget was constructed from his or her time diaries containing the number of minutes per week spent in each of some 223 mutually exclusive and exhaustive activities. These measures provide a description of how the sample individuals were currently allocating their time and are comparable to the 87 activity measures created from their 1975 diaries. In addition, respondent and spouse time aggregates were converted to parent time aggregates for mothers and fathers of children in the sample. To facilitate analyses on spouses, a merged data file was created for 868 couples in which both husband and wife had complete Wave I data in either 1975-1976 or 1981.

Americans' Use of Time, 1985

For this data collection, respondents were asked to record in single-day time diaries each activity they engaged in over a 24-hour period. The time diary data were gathered through three different data collection methods: mail-back, telephone, and personal interviews. Respondents were instructed to describe in the diaries when the activity began, the time the activity ended, where it occurred, and who was present when the activity took place. Demographic variables include household type, respondent's sex, marital status, age, educational level, occupation, and work hours, number of children in the household under 5 and 18 years of age, and household income. Other variables focus on total work time, total time for meals at work, total minutes at work engaged in nonwork activities, total work break in minutes, and total time traveling to and from work. Data are also provided on total time spent on meal preparation and cleanup, housecleaning, outdoor chores, laundry, ironing, clothes care, home repair, baby care, child care, shopping for food, and traveling to and from food shopping. Respondents also reported total time spent on personal care, medical care, family financial activities, and sleeping, as well as time spent attending school, classes, seminars, special interest group meetings, religious meetings, sports events, and other social activities.