"Arts, Faculty of"@en . "Sociology, Department of"@en . "DSpace"@en . "UBCV"@en . "Bull, Christopher Neil"@en . "2011-08-04T22:36:42Z"@en . "1967"@en . "Master of Arts - MA"@en . "University of British Columbia"@en . "In two studies in the 1930's statistics were generated to show how people spent their time during a twenty-four hour period. These statistics provided information on the number of activities, the duration of such activities, and the people with whom these activities took place. The method of data collection was a diary or log of activities covering a day, which was filled out by the respondent, either during the day, or from his memory of his activities of yesterday. With the lack of any theoretical schema with which to approach the problem of how people spent their time, the present research was completed to put forward a theoretical model, the assumptions\r\nof which could be verified with the data we had collected. The data consisted of the Time-Records of 308 respondents interviewed during the summer of 1965 in an industrial community of twenty thousand.\r\nIt was suggested that persons who have in common certain social characteristics will also report a similar number of activities during a day. The characteristics looked at were work shift, work status, family size, and the company size in which people work. It was also proposed that the greater the number of activities reported in a day the less the variance\r\n\r\nof the time spent on such activities. We were able, therefore, to test five hypotheses on our data having explained our reservations of the restrictions put on the data by the Time-Record method of data collection.\r\nOur results show that persons who work at an \"off-phase\" time report a greater number of activities during a day than do persons who work a normal day. The effect of work status on the number of activities does not appear to be significant. With respect to family size no significant difference was found but there was a substantial drop in the number of activities reported by families of three or four persons. We also found that the persons who work for the largest company in the community report a greater number of activities than do persons who do not work for that company. With respect to the variance of the time spent on activities, we found in three different cases that the greater the number of activities reported in a day the less the variance of time spent on those activities.\r\nOur hypotheses derived from our theoretical schema allowed us to make certain predictions concerning the number of activities reported in a day. The findings outlined above were found to refute our predictions in that the significant differences were in the direction opposite to that of our predictions. It was therefore possible, because we had a theoretical schema, to go back to our assumptions and find out\r\n\r\nwhere we had gone wrong. In changing our assumptions we will now have a greater predictive power in our theory. The changes were based on further workings with the data, especially with the information we had on the persons with whom an activity was carried out. It appeared that an assumption was incorrect. The assumption stated that activities which required\r\na number of persons to be present would be of a shorter duration than those activities not requiring the presence of others."@en . "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/36517?expand=metadata"@en . "WORK: EFFECT ON NUMBER AND DURATION OF ACTIVITIES PER DAY by CHRISTOPHER NEIL BULL B. A., Un i ve rs i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1965 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology We accept t h i s thes is as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA A p r i l , 1967 In p r e s e n t i n g t h i s t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t of the requirements f o r an advanced degree at the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia,, I agree that the L i b r a r y s h a l l make i t f r e e l y ava l ]able f o r reference and s tudy, I f u r t h e r agree that p e r m i s s i o n - f o r extensive copying of t h i s t h e s i s f o r s c h o l a r l y purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by h i s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . I t i s understood that copying or p u b l i c a t i o n of t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l gain s h a l l not be allowed without my w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . Department of_Anthropology nnti .Snrinlngy The U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia Vancouver 8 , Canada D a t e_^gZAgriljl9&7 ABSTRACT In two stu d i e s in the 1930's s t a t i s t i c s were generated to show how people spent t h e i r time during a twenty-four hour p e r i o d . These s t a t i s t i c s provided information on the number of a c t i v i t i e s , the dur a t i o n of such a c t i v i t i e s , and the people w i t h whom these a c t i v i t i e s took p l a c e . The method of data c o l l e c t i o n was a d i a r y or log of a c t i v i t i e s c overing a day, which was f i l l e d out by the respondent, e i t h e r during the day, or from h i s memory of h i s a c t i v i t i e s of yesterday. With the lack of any t h e o r e t i c a l schema with which to approach the problem of how people spent t h e i r time, the present research was completed to put forward a t h e o r e t i c a l model, the assump-t i o n s of which could be v e r i f i e d w i t h the data we had c o l l e c t e d . The data c o n s i s t e d of the Time-Records of 308 respondents interviewed during the summer of 1965 in an i n d u s t r i a l community of twenty thousand. It was suggested that persons who have in common c e r t a i n s o c i a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s w i l l a l s o report a s i m i l a r number of a c t i v i t i e s during a day. The c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s looked at were work s h i f t , work s t a t u s , f a m i l y s i z e , and the company s i z e in which people work. It was a l s o proposed that the grea t e r the number of a c t i v i t i e s reported in a day the less the variance i i of the time spent on such a c t i v i t i e s . We were abTe, t h e r e f o r e , to t e s t f i v e hypotheses on our data having explained our res e r v a t i o n s of the r e s t r i c t i o n s put on the data by the Time-Record method of data c o l l e c t i o n . Our r e s u l t s show that persons who work at an \"off-phase\" time report a greater number of a c t i v i t i e s d u r i n g a day than do persons who work a normal day. The e f f e c t of work status on the number of a c t i v i t i e s does not appear to be s i g n i f i c a n t . With respect to f a m i l y s i z e no s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e was found but there was a s u b s t a n t i a l drop in the number of a c t i v i t i e s reported by f a m i l i e s of three or four persons. We a l s o found that the persons who work f o r the l a r g e s t company in the community report a greater number of a c t i v i t i e s than do persons who do not work f o r that company. With respect t o the variance of the time spent on a c t i v i t i e s , we found in three d i f f e r e n t cases that the greater the number of a c t i v i t i e s reported in a day the less the variance of time spent on those act i v i t i e s . Our hypotheses derived from our t h e o r e t i c a l schema allowed us t o make c e r t a i n p r e d i c t i o n s concerning the number of a c t i v i t i e s reported in a day. The f i n d i n g s o u t l i n e d above were found to refute our p r e d i c t i o n s in that the s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e s were in the d i r e c t i o n opposite to that of our p r e d i c t i o n s . It was th e r e f o r e p o s s i b l e , because we had a t h e o r e t i c a l schema, to go back to our assumptions and f i n d out i i i where we had gone wrong. In changing our assumptions we w i l l now have a greater p r e d i c t i v e power i n our theory. The changes were based on f u r t h e r workings w i t h the data, e s p e c i a l l y with the information we had on the persons w i t h whom an a c t i v i t y was c a r r i e d out. It appeared that an assumption was i n c o r r e c t . The assumption sta t e d that a c t i v i t i e s which re-quired a number of persons to be present would be of a sho r t e r d u r a t i o n than those a c t i v i t i e s not r e q u i r i n g the presence of ot h e r s . i v TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ABSTRACT i i TABLE OF CONTENTS .. V LIST OF TABLES vi i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . v i i i CHAPTER I. THE PROBLEM OUTLINED 1 I I . SELECTED LITERATURE 5 I I I . METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS 14 IV. A THEORETICAL SCHEMA 20 Definitions 20 Postulates 23 Working Definitions 25 Hypotheses 28 V. DATA COLLECTION AND CODING 33 Codification of Time-Record 36 VI. RESULTS: TESTS OF HYPOTHESES kl Shift Work kl Work Status k3 Family Size kk Company S i ze kS Mean Number of Units and Their V a r i a b i l i t y . . . kS VII. EVALUATION: RESULTS AND THE THEORETICAL SCHEMA... 50 VIII. SUMMARY AND FURTHER RESEARCH 56 v PAGE 31BLI0GRAPHY - 'Time-Budget' Studies 50 BIBLIOGRAPHY - General 61 APPENDICES v i LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE I. MEAN NUMBER OF REPORTED UNITS BY WORK SHIFT 42 II . MEAN NUMBER OF REPORTED UNITS BY WORK STATUS 43 I I I . MEAN NUMBER OF REPORTED UNITS BY FAMILY SIZE 44 IV. MEAN NUMBER OF REPORTED UNITS BY EMPLOYER SIZE 45 V. VARIABILITY OF TIME SPENT ON UNITS BY SUBSAMPLES 46 VI. MEAN NUMBER OF REPORTED UNITS BY INTERVIEWER 47 VII. MEAN NUMBER OF REPORTED UNITS BY EDUCATION kS v i i .ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The v / r i t e r i s i n d e b t e d t o Dr. M. M e i s s n e r , t h e t h e s i s a d v i s o r , f o r h i s ti m e s p e n t i n c o n s u l t a t i o n , and the a d v i c e put f o r w a r d a t a l l s t a g e s i n t h e w r i t i n g o f t h i s t h e s i s . The w r i t e r a l s o w i s h e s t o thank P r o f e s s o r R. A. H. Robson f o r h i s a d v i c e on t h e o r y c o n s t r u c t i o n ; and Dr. T. A. Nosanchuk f o r h i s s u g g e s t i o n s c o n c e r n i n g s t a t i s t i c a l methods. S p e c i a l acknowledgement i s g i v e n t o t h e I n s t i t u t e o f I n d u s t r i a l R e l a t i o n s (U. B. C.) f o r the f e l l o w s h i p w h i c h a l l o w e d t h e w r i t e r t o spend t h e summer o f 1966 on t h i s p r o j e c t . The S t a t i s t i c a l C e n t r e f o r t h e S o c i a l S c i e n c e s (U. B. C.) made a v a i l a b l e t o the w r i t e r many o f i t s programmes. * * T V I I I CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM OUTLINED Man has many c o n c e p t i o n s o f t i m e as d u r a t i o n , t h e most s t a n d a r d d e v i c e f o r t h e measurement o f t h i s d i m e n s i o n b e i n g c l o c k t i m e . The s o c i a l s c i e n t i s t i n h i s s t u d y o f human b e h a v i o u r has found i t n e c e s s a r y t o use t h e d i m e n s i o n o f t i m e i n v a r i o u s ways; when o b s e r v i n g t h e \" s t r u c t u r e \" o f a b e h a v i o u r a l s i t u a t i o n a t a g i v e n moment i n t i m e ; and when o b s e r v i n g b e h a v i o u r a l changes o v e r a s p e c i f i e d t i m e d u r a t i o n . A l s o , g i v e n a f i n i t e d u r a t i o n o f t i m e , f o r example t w e n t y - f o u r h o u r s , s o c i a l s c i e n t i s t s have t r i e d t o d e s c r i b e t h e t y p e s , d u r a t i o n s , and i n t e n s i t y o f a c t i v i t i e s t h a t have been performed by s p e c i f i c groups o f i n d i v i d u a l s , w i t h i n t h a t g i v e n t i m e p e r i o d . One o f t h e methods used t o ob-s e r v e and measure b e h a v i o u r i n a l i m i t e d t i m e p e r i o d has been g i v e n t h e name \" T i m e - B u d g e t i n g \" by some s o c i a l s c i e n t i s t s where th e m e a s u r i n g i n s t r u m e n t i s a d i a r y o r l o g o f b e h a v i o u r s . I t i s t h i s method o f d a t a c o l l e c t i o n w i t h w h i c h t h i s r e s e a r c h i s p r i m a r i l y c o n c e r n e d . The q u e s t i o n t h a t has f i r s t t o be answered, however, i s why such r e s e a r c h s h o u l d be c a r r i e d o u t . I t might be s t a t e d t h a t t h e s o c i a l s c i e n c e s a r e now d e v e l o p e d t o t h e s t a g e t h a t t h e y can s t a r t t o answer such p r a c t i c a l q u e s t i o n s as how wel1 p e o p l e a r e 1 2 spending their lives. This question is indeed important but it is so dependent on value judgements that the social sciences as such will rarely be in a position to make judgements of such a nature. The research we have carried out asks nearly the same question but without the value loading, that is: how do people spend their lives? From a methodological viewpoint, a valid, reliable, and feasible technique must be found which will allow the social scientist to portray time expenditures. The main task is to map out what is to be measured. There are no accepted or natural units, such as single physical objects, in which to measure the quantity of most behavioural activities (Homans, 1961). However, each unit of activity takes time to perform thus allowing us a common measure for a c t i v i t i e s . Such a measure leaves open the question of the intensity of the activities and the meaning of the activities for the individuals; although of real importance these are questions that cannot, at present, be integrated into our research. Therefore, time is the concept most readily available to us and will be the main measure used in this study. During a given time period some people will exhibit a greater number of act i v i t i e s , no matter how they are measured, than will other people. At the same time it can be observed that people spend different durations of time on any given activity, and many social scientists have measured such durations. Studies have been made on specific activities to look at the characteris-tics of persons participating in that activity and the durations 3 of such p a r t i c i p a t i o n . G. A. S t e i n e r (1963) reports that he used the d i a r y method of data c o l l e c t i o n , in a follow-up study by The American Research Bureau, t o look at the incidence of watching t e l e v i s i o n . A l s o , many studies have been done t o look at the time spent and by whom, in \"v o l u n t a r y o r g a n i z a t i o n s . \" See e s p e c i a l l y the work of Komarovsky ( 1933 , 1 9 ^ 6 ) . The problems on which t h i s research i s focused are of a more general nature than the problems p r e v i o u s l y studied by researchers who have focused on s p e c i f i c a c t i v i t i e s or on a s p e c i f i c moment in time. The f i r s t problem i s to di s c o v e r whether or not those persons who p a r t i c i p a t e in the same number of a c t i v i t i e s in the same given time period are randomly d i s t r i b u t e d among a given p o p u l a t i o n . That is to say, can we p r e d i c t that persons who have in common c e r t a i n s o c i a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s w i l l report the same number of a c t i v i t i e s in the same given time period? That persons who have in common c e r t a i n s o c i a l charac-t e r i s t i c s tend to p a r t i c i p a t e both in frequency and d u r a t i o n in the same a c t i v i t i e s has been already demonstrated by the s t u d i e s o u t l i n e d in the previous paragraph. However, to the best of our knowledge, the number of a c t i v i t i e s reported in a given time period has not been looked at with respect to groups who have in common s o c i a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . The second problem on which t h i s research w i l l focus is to p r e d i c t a r e l a t i o n s h i p between the number of a c t i v i t i e s reported in a given time period and the durations of such a c t i v i t i e s . Due to the f i n i t e q u a l i t y of a day (though t h i s i s not tr u e in a c t u a l i t y , people s t i l l look upon and act as i f a day is of f i n i t e duration) i f a person is to par t i c ipate in more a c t i v i t i e s than other people, then there w i l l be a necessary reduction in the time spent on such a c t i v i t i e s . This reduction in the dura-t ion would be necessary i f one wished to get a l l the a c t i v i t i e s completed in t ime. Both these problems are formulated into a theoret ica l schema from which several hypotheses are drawn to be tested on the data that were coded with these s p e c i f i c problems in mind. Previous s tud ies , to be out l ined in the next chapter, have been of a descr ipt ive nature. In contrast , we have attempted to formulate, in a l l i t s tentat ive g lory , a theoret ica l schema which would act as a guide for codi fy ing the data and for formulating the questions we wished to put to that data . The research is carr ied out s p e c i f i c a l l y to f i l l the theoret ical gap that e x i s t s . The problems are in the form of f i v e hypotheses which w i l l be drawn from th is theoret ical schema and tested to v e r i f y the assump-t ions in the schema. The main socia l character i s t i cs to be looked at are : the time at which worlc is carr ied out; the degree of status at work; the s ize of the fami ly ; and the s ize of the work organization to which a person belongs. V/ith the refutat ion or v e r i f i c a t i o n of the s p e c i f i c problems asked of the data then, in the space allowed, further re lat ionships that are found in the data v/i 11 be presented in descr ipt ive form. It is hoped that these empi r i ca l l y derived relat ionships w i l l modify and increase the pred ic t ive power of the theoret ical model. CHAPTER I I SELECTED LITERATURE The works to be outlined in this chapter do not represent a comprehensive review of al l the publications that have dealt with the concept and use of \"Time-Budgeting.\" Four works are picked for their contribution to the ideas which are presented later in the formulation of the theoretical schema. It should, however, be noted that these publications represent almost f i f t y per cent of the rather scant l iterature at present avai lable. A fu l l b ib l io -graphy of the publications known to us is given before the general bibliography. Also included in the reviews is a discussion of a work concerning the effects of different work shifts on non-work time. It was used to generate some of the conditions under which some of the hypotheses are tested. The f i r s t of the two oldest and most important studies carried out was Leisure: A Suburban Study (Lundberg, Komarovsky, and Mclnery, 1934). The authors' technique was to request people to complete a diary of their day-to-day act iv i t ies during as long a period as it was possible. One subject managed to keep a diary for a whole year, a few for seven days, but most for only a single day. The compilation of these records was done by the respondents recal l ing what act iv i t ies they had participated in \"yesterday.\" A 5 6 count of the number of items recorded t o t a l l e d approximately 100,000 from the 2,460 persons who f i l l e d out the 4,460 d i a r i e s considered completed. (If a person completed, say, three days, then a l l three d i a r i e s were used.) There was, t h e r e f o r e , an average of twenty-two e n t r i e s per day. The authors found i t impossible t o comply with the requirement of a random sampling of Westchester County due t o r e f u s a l rates as high as e i g h t y - f i v e to n i n e t y per cent. Of the t o t a l sample used, 1544, or s i x t y -three per cent of the respondents, were high school students who f i l l e d out the d i a r y in the classroom s e t t i n g . The scope of the f i n d i n g s is s e v e r e l y l i m i t e d by the i n c l u s i o n of such a large number of respondents from one s e t t i n g ; while at the same time another l i m i t i s the unweighted use of d i a r i e s which were completed by the same respondents over a period of time. A bias is given to those persons who persevered with the completion of t h e i r d i a r i e s . With respect to the c a t e g o r i z a t i o n of the d i v e r s e e n t r i e s found in the d i a r i e s , the authors do not s p e l l out, except in some footnotes^ what c r i t e r i a they used to c l a s s i f y the a c t i v i t i e s i nto the two cat e g o r i e s of l e i s u r e and n o n - l e i s u r e a c t i v i t i e s . It i s , t h e r e f o r e , d i f f i c u l t to make an assessment of t h e i r f i g u r e s concerning the time spent on the various sub-samples they used to look at these a c t i v i t i e s . It appears^ that l e i s u r e i s s p l i t i n t o nine c a t e g o r i e s which a l s o include a miscellaneous category. The ^George A Lundberg, M i r r a Komarovsky, and Mary M. Mclnery, L e i s u r e : A Suburban Study (New York: Columbia U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1934), pp. 92n 94n, 99n, 102n. 21 b i d . , Table I I I , p. 99. 7 c l a s s i f i c a t i o n , as stated by the authors, was ca r r i e d out: . . . by considerations of what was found objec-t i v e l y possible on the one hand and c e r t a i n p r a c t i c a l considerations on the other. In the l a t t e r connection we had in mind the possible value of the data to educators, s o c i a l workers, and other community leaders in indicat i n g the f e a s i b i l i t y and d e s i r a b i l i t y of proposed community programs.3 It is t h i s last set of c r i t e r i a which could c e r t a i n l y bias any c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of people's a c t i v i t i e s . It should be pointed out that the respondents in t h e i r study were asked to indicate the person (s) with whom the a c t i v i t i e s were ca r r i e d out. The authors have made some p a r t i a l analysis of t h i s type of data but only with respect to those a c t i v i t i e s categori-zed as \" l e i s u r e \" a c t i v i t i e s and only by a comparison between the sexes. The remainder of the book is a catalogue of the organiza-tions found in the community such as clubs, churches, schools, as well as the a r t s , adult education, and the amount of reading in the population. A good analysis is included of the suburban family and i t is when looking at th i s i n s t i t u t i o n that they make d i r e c t use of the data co l l e c t e d from t h e i r d i a r i e s . The second main study to be reviewed was car r i e d out a few years l a t e r and published under the t i t l e Time-Budgets of Human Behaviour (Sorokin and Berger, 1939). This study was to answer in purely d e s c r i p t i v e form, seven main questions, the most important being: (l) What a c t i v i t i e s occupy a twenty-four hour period; (2) How much time is spent on each of the a c t i v i t i e s ; and (3) What part of the twenty-four hours is spent with whom? Ibid., p. 89. T h e i r s a m p l e was drawn f r o m t h e B o s t o n a r e a and was s p l i t i n t o two s u b - s a m p l e s : t h e s e v e n t y - t h r e e r e s p o n d e n t s who c o m p l e t e d s c h e d u l e s f o r a t l e a s t f o u r w e e k s , and t h e 103 r e s p o n d e n t s who c o m p l e t e d s c h e d u l e s f o r a t l e a s t two w e e k s . The r e s p o n d e n t s w e r e : . . . r e l i e f w o r k e r s u n d e r t h e Works P r o g r e s s A d m i n i s t r a t i o n o r a s w h i t e - c o l l a r e d unemployed i n B o s t o n and i t s v i c i n i t y p r e -d o m i n a t e l y f e m a l e , w h i t e , s i n g l e and o f l o n g r e s i d e n c e i n and a b o u t t h e c i t y o f B o s t o n , 4 A p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 s c h e d u l e s were d i s t r i b u t e d o f w h i c h 1 0 , 0 0 0 were c o m p l e t e d w h i l e o n l y 4 , 0 0 0 t o 5 , 0 0 0 were used in t h e s t u d y . The i n s t r u c t i o n s were t o c o m p l e t e t h e s c h e d u l e s t h e same d a y and p r e f e r a b l y as soon a s p o s s i b l e a f t e r t h e a c t i v i t y was c o m p l e t e d . F i v e m i n u t e s was t a k e n as t h e s m a l l e s t t i m e p e r i o d t o be r e c o r d e d . S u n d a y , T u e s d a y , and S a t u r d a y were s a m p l e d i n e q u a l p r o p o r t i o n s . From t h e s c h e d u l e s used i n t h e s t u d y t h e a u t h o r s c l a s s i f i e d t h e i t e m s on t h e s c h e d u l e s i n t o f i f t y - f i v e c a t e g o r i e s o f b e h a v i o u r . The c r i t e r i a used t o f o r m t h e s e c a t e g o r i e s were t h a t The c l a s s i f i c a t i o n had t o be d e t a i l e d , y e t manage -a b l e (and) was made p r i n c i p a l l y a c c o r d i n g t o t h e o v e r t b e h a v i o u r i s t i c n a t u r e o f t h e a c t i v i t i e s . 5 The a u t h o r s l i s t t h e f i f t y - f i v e c a t e g o r i e s and e a c h o f t h e i tems used by t h e r e s p o n d e n t s , w h i c h a r e i n c l u d e d i n e a c h o f t h e c a t e g o r i e s . T h i s i n f o r m a t i o n i s v e r y u s e f u l i n t h a t we now have ^ P i t i r i m A . S o r o k i n and C l a r e n c e 0.. B e r g e r , T i m e - B u d g e t s o f Human B e h a v i o u r ( C a m b r i d g e : H a r v a r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1939), p p . 7-8. 5 lb i d . . p p . 27-32. explicit knowledge of the way each of the response items was actually categorized; although, the c r i t e r i a used can only be inductively arrived at. On examination of the f i f t y - f i v e cate-gories the authors decided to combine them into eight broad areas, two of which, for example, were: activities directly satisfying physiological needs, and activities of economic and chore nature. A l i s t is given of a l l the categories that are put into each of the eight areas but no c r i t e r i a are given as to why \u00C2\u00A3nd where each category f i t s . However, the authors do ex p l i c i t l y point out that categories can, and have been, placed into more than one area, and therefore there is some overlapping. The task the authors then set themselves is to look at each of these eight broad areas and to answer, using summary sta t i s t i c s , the questions they set out to study. A wealth of statistics is presented as well as a summary of the relationships between such variables as age, sex, day of the week, and the in-formation that they had gathered with respect to with -whom an activity occurred as well as the respondents'motives for carrying out that activity. A final chapter deals with their question of how well people feel that they can predict their behaviour for the next day. This study is very valuable due to the specific inclusion of the method Sorokin and Berger used to classify such diverse material into f i f t y - f i v e categories of activity. The statistics of the frequency of behaviour, the social contacts of behaviour, the motives of behaviour, and the predictabi1ity of future behaviour, a l l give a re a l i s t i c description of day-to-day 10 b e h a v i o u r s . The scope o f t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s i s l i m i t e d due t o sample r e s t r i c t i o n s but the sample o v e r d i f f e r e n t days o f t h e week g i v e s t h e r e a d e r a f u l l e r i d e a o f d a i l y v a r i a t i o n s i n be-h a v i o u r . The d a t a g i v e n a r e e x t r e m e l y u s e f u l and a r e a l m o s t the o n l y s t a t i s t i c s t h a t can be used f o r c o m p a r a t i v e p u r p o s e s , due m a i n l y t o t h e f u l l p u b l i c a t i o n o f the items i n t h e i r b e h a v i o u r a l c a t e g o r i e s . However, i t s h o u l d be noted t h a t t h e r e i s a complete l a c k o f any t h e o r e t i c a l s t a t e m e n t s . There i s i n s t e a d , a s m a l l e f f o r t t o s t a t e i n t h e i r summary o f t h e s t u d y a few e m p i r i c a l g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s t h e y f e e l would be u s e f u l i n s u g g e s t i n g f u r t h e r r e s e a r c h . The n e x t appearance o f \"Time-Budget\" s t u d i e s i s i n t h e p e r i o d f o l l o w i n g t h e Second World War. A r e p o r t appeared on t h e f i n d i n g s c o n c e r n i n g t h e work and l e i s u r e a c t i v i t i e s o f d a i r y f a r m e r s (Ross and B o s t i a n , 1 9 5 8 ) . In t h e i r s t u d y Ross and B o s t i a n c o l l e c t e d i n f i l l 2 , 6 1 7 r e c o r d e d d i a r y days w i t h t h e main emphasis o f t h e s t u d y b e i n g on how t o f i t t h e a c t i v i t i e s i n t o t h e two c a t e g o r i e s o f \"work\" and \" l e i s u r e . \" A g a i n , no e x p l i c i t c r i t e r i a a r e g i v e n t o t h e re s p o n d e n t s as t o how t o c l a s s i f y t h e i r b e h a v i o u r , but t h e y were r e q u e s t e d t o i n d i c a t e i f t h e y f e l t t h a t an a c t i v i t y was e i t h e r a l e i s u r e a c t i v i t y o r a work a c t i v i t y . I t i s , t h e r e -f o r e , w i t h t h e c r i t e r i a used by t h e r e s p o n d e n t s , t h a t t h e a u t h o r s p l a c e a c t i v i t i e s i n t o t h e i r two c a t e g o r i e s . The use o f t h i s s t u d y i s l i m i t e d but t h e a u t h o r s do p o i n t out f o r the f i r s t t i m e , t h e problem o f p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n more than one a c t i v i t y a t t h e same moment i n t i m e . T h i s problem i s r a i s e d but not d e a l t w i t h i n t h e i r f i n d i n g s . 11 The most recent use of \"Time-Budget\" methods t o be discussed here i s a report of a second study of Westchester County which was set up t o be comparable t o that done by Lundberg et a l ( 1 9 3 4 ) . The author (Foote, 196 ! ) set out to show some of the inadequacies of the Lundberg study. He used log sheets on which the minimum time period was f i v e minutes and which a l s o included a space t o i n d i c a t e with whom the a c t i v i t y was c a r r i e d out. As with the study by Sorokin and Berger (1939) the respondents were asked to complete the logs as the day progressed. The e f f e c t of t h i s procedure was t o ensure that the logs represented \"today\" data e x c l u s i v e l y and the average number of e n t r i e s per day was found t o be seventy-two. This number can be compared w i t h the Lundberg study which used \"yesterday\" data where the average number of e n t r i e s was twenty-three per day. We have no way of knowing that these f i g u r e s are comparable because n e i t h e r set of authors has sta t e d t h e i r methods of c l a s s i f i c a t i o n ; t h i s i s e s p e c i a l l y true of the study by Foote (1961) because, to the best of our knowledge, the f i n d i n g s have not been publi s h e d . However, i t is obvious that he has demonstrated that there is a great loss of d e t a i l in a record when we r e l y on r e c a l l f o r the completion of d i a r i e s . The f i n a l work to be reviewed does not use the d i a r y or log method of data c o l l e c t i o n but s t i l l touches upon the problem of time and i t s uses. The study (Blakelock, I960) was c a r r i e d out t o research the consequences of s h i f t work f o r the choice of a c t i v i t i e s outside of the work s e t t i n g . The author drew h i s sample from workers who were employed by a large o i l r e f i n e r y . He suggests that s p e c i f i c segments of time vary in t h e i r l i q u i d i t y 12 by the extent to which the a v a i l a b l e time can be \"exchanged\" for a c t i v i t i e s . U t i l i t y theory from the f i e l d of economics is seen to be relevant. Blakelock argues that seme parts of the day, e s p e c i a l l y 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., have a greater l i q u i d i t y value than do others, in that t h i s time can be exchanged f o r many a c t i v i t i e s . Therefore, persons who are on s h i f t work are often deprived of the parts of the day which have the greatest l i q u i d i t y . These persons do not, therefore, p a r t i c i p a t e in many a c t i v i t i e s such as voluntary organizations. The empirical findings of this study are very useful but the the o r e t i c a l formulation put forward is weak in that we find i t hard to conceptualize time as a commodity, nor can we see how time as such can be exchanged f o r anything. Rather i t would be more useful to view a c t i v i t i e s as d i f f e r i n g in t h e i r f l e x i b i l i t y due to the number of persons required to be present at a given moment in time so that that a c t i v i t y can in fact take place. To-gether v.'ith the f l e x i b i l i t y of an a c t i v i t y we can look at the ranges of time at which an a c t i v i t y can be performed. If work is a comparatively i n f l e x i b l e a c t i v i t y , then other a c t i v i t i e s must be foregone i f p a r t i c i p a t i o n in work is to be accomplished. In terms of exchange then, we must look at the mechanisms which affec 4: a person's choice to exchange, not time for an a c t i v i t y , but rather one a c t i v i t y f o r another. In the Time-Budget studies j u s t reviewed, there was very l i t t l e t h e o r e t i c a l preparation of e i t h e r the c o l l e c t i o n or the coding of data. It appears that the authors were interested in obtaining as complete and accurate a stetement as possible of 13 j u s t what p e o p l e do d u r i n g a s p e c i f i c time p e r i o d . To c r i t i c i z e t h e e a r l y works because t h e y produced o n l y s t a t i s t i c s o f a d e s c r i p t i v e n a t u r e would be u n f a i r . The a u t h o r s p i o n e e r e d in a f i e l d where l i t t l e i n f o r m a t i o n was a v a i l a b l e around which t h e y c o u l d b u i l d a t h e o r e t i c a l framework. However, the l a t e s t work by F o o t e (1961), even though o n l y a p r e l i m i n a r y r e p o r t , g i v e s no h i n t t h a t he has p r o g r e s s e d any f a r t h e r and produced some t h e o r e t i -c a l f o r m u l a t i o n s . It a p p e a r s t h a t F o o t e (1961) has c o n c e n t r a t e d h i s e f f o r t s on l o o k i n g a t t h e m e t h o d o l o g i c a l problems i n h e r e n t in t h e d i a r y o r l o g as a t e c h n i q u e o f d a t a c o l l e c t i o n and i t i s t o t h i s s u b j e c t t h a t we t u r n i n the next c h a p t e r b e f o r e o u t l i n i n g a t e n t a t i v e t h e o r e t i c a l schema. CHAPTER I 11 METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS It has been s t a t e d i n t h e f i r s t c h a p t e r t h a t t h e s o c i a l s c i e n t i s t must d e v i s e some t e c h n i q u e which can be used t o p o r t r a y t i m e e x p e n d i t u r e s o v e r some s p e c i f i e d time d u r a t i o n . V i r t u a l l y a l l t h e s t u d i e s which have attempted t o do t h i s have used some typ e o f d i a r y o r l o g as t h e most u s e f u l i n s t r u m e n t f o r c o l l e c t i n g such d a t a . The re v i e w o f t h e s e s t u d i e s has not f o c u s e d on t h e main reason why s o few s t u d i e s o f t h i s n a t u r e have been c a r r i e d o u t . The problem which we w i l l now t a c k l e l i e s i n t h e method o f d a t a c o l l e c t i o n and t h e in s t r u m e n t o f c o l l e c t i o n . The f i r s t main b a r r i e r t o be overcome in u s i n g t h e d i a r y method i s t h a t o f o b t a i n i n g a sample from some s p e c i f i e d p o p u l a -t i o n , such t h a t t h e sample may be c o n s i d e r e d a random sample. In t h i s r e s p e c t t h e -hurdle t h a t has t o be overcome i s t h a t o f resp o n d e n t c o - o p e r a t i o n . T h e r e a p p e a r s t o be a g r e a t r e l u c t a n c e t o keep a d i a r y which stems from t h e n e c e s s i t y o f s u s t a i n i n g some minimal amount o f e f f o r t o v e r a c o n s i d e r a b l e p e r i o d o f t i m e . In normal s o c i a l s u r v e y s a t e n per c e n t r e f u s a l r a t e i s o f t e n r e g a r d e d as a c c e p t a b l e . However, i n r e q u e s t i n g p e o p l e t o f i l l o u t a d i a r y o f t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s , t h e r e f u s a l r a t e s o a r s t o n e a r e r e i g h t y t o n i n e t y p e r c e n t . T h i s f i g u r e i s mentioned by 14 15 F o o t e (1961) and i s borne out by the number o f completed d i a r i e s r e t u r n e d t o S o r o k i n and B e r g e r (1939). F o o t e (1961) a l s o r e p o r t s a s t u d y done by a commercial s u r v e y f i r m i n T o l e d o in 1958 (un-p u b l i s h e d ) where a g a i n the r e f u s a l r a t e was s t a g g e r i n g l y h i g h . It h a r d l y needs t o be p o i n t e d out t h a t such a r e f u s a l r a t e p l a y s complete havoc w i t h any s a m p l i n g methods. A l s o , i f p e o p l e ar e g o i n g t o be asked t o complete a d i a r y then two c a l l s must be made: f i r s t t o d i s t r i b u t e and e x p l a i n the d i a r y t e c h n i q u e ; and s e c o n d , t o p i c k up compl e t e d d i a r i e s . Both t h e s e drawbacks a f f e c t t h i s method o f d a t a c o l l e c t i o n due t o t h e l a r g e c o s t i n v o l v e d w i t h o f t e n l i t t l e r e t u r n . T o overcome such c o s t s a method can be used where o n l y one c a l l on the respondent i s n e c e s s a r y and t h e r e f o r e a p r e f e r a b l e method i n terms o f time and money. However, w i t h the o n e - c a l l t e c h n i q u e , we a g a i n run i n t o f u r t h e r drawbacks. F o o t e (1961), i n comparing h i s s t u d y w i t h t h a t o f Lundberg e t a l (1934), shows the s u p e r i o r i t y o f making r e s p o n d e n t s f i l l out a d i a r y d u r i n g t h e day o f the a c t i v i t i e s t h e y a r e t o r e c o r d , r a t h e r than a s k i n g them t o r e c a l l a p r e v i o u s day's a c t i v i t i e s . As has been p o i n t e d o u t , the comparison o f the number o f e n t r i e s on the d i a r i e s in the two s t u d i e s shows a sub-s t a n t i a l l o s s when memory i s r e l i e d on. The o n e - c a l l t e c h n i q u e has t o l i m i t i t s e l f t o c o l l e c t i n g d a t a which has been r e c a l l e d and we can e x p e c t a subsequent l o s s o f d e t a i l . The p r e s e n t r e s e a r c h used the o n e - c a l l i n t e r v i e w t e c h n i q u e , thus a l l e v i a t i n g t h e problem o f random s a m p l i n g . The Time-Record we used was an i n t e g r a l p a r t o f a l a r g e r q u e s t i o n n a i r e and was f i l l e d out by the 16 i n t e r v i e w e r as t h e respondent r e c a l l e d h i s a c t i v i t i e s o f a s p e c i f i c p a s t d a y . The l o s s o f d e t a i l from t h e r e l i a n c e on memory w i l l , t h e r e f o r e , have a d e f i n i t e e f f e c t on t h e d a t a we c o l l e c t e d . V/e a r e u n a b l e t o compare, a t the p r e s e n t , our d a t a w i t h t h a t o f e i t h e r F o o t e o r Lundberg because we have no s t a t i s -t i c s on the number o f e n t r i e s p e r T i m e - R e c o r d . It i s a l s o n e c e s s a r y t o p o i n t out t h a t when u s i n g t h e Time-Record method some a c t i v i t i e s w i l l n e ver be r e c o r d e d . T h e r e a r e two main reasons f o r t h e s e o m i s s i o n s . F i r s t , r e s p o n d e n t s w i l l be u n w i l l i n g t o t e l l an i n t e r v i e w e r , o r r e c o r d t h e m s e l v e s on a d i a r y , c e r t a i n a c t i v i t i e s which a r e f e l t t o be e i t h e r o f a p r i v a t e n a t u r e , such as sex o r d e f e c a t i o n , o r a c t i v i t i e s a g a i n s t which s e v e r e s o c i a l d i s a p p r o v a l w i l l be g i v e n , f o r example, i l l e g a l a c t s . The time spent on such a c t i v i t i e s has t o be a c c o u n t e d f o r and must t h e r e f o r e get shunted i n t o o t h e r c a t e g o r i e s , p r o b a b l y \" l o a f a r o u n d , smoke, o r r e l a x , \" f o r example. Second, a day can be seen as p o s s e s s i n g an i n f i n i t e number o f p a r t s d e p e n d i n g on how one wishes t o p a r t i t i o n i t . U s u a l l y t h e s e p a r t s a r e d e f i n e d as d i v i s i o n s o f t i m e , hours o r m i n u t e s . It i s r a r e t h a t a s t u d y w i l l be done o f a c t i o n s which t a k e l e s s than one m i n u t e . As i n the p r e v i o u s s t u d i e s we have reviewed we used f i v e m inutes as th e s m a l l e s t i n t e r v a l o f t i m e . T h e r e f o r e , we have a l o s s o f a l l a c t i v i t i e s which t a k e l e s s than f i v e m inutes and a t the same ti m e we have i n some c a s e s p r o l o n g e d t h e d u r a t i o n s o f a c t i v i t i e s o r in some c a s e s p r o t r a c t e d t h e d u r a t i o n s o f a c t i v i t i e s . Thus an a c t i v i t y o f a s i x - m i n u t e d u r a t i o n was p r o b a b l y r e c o r d e d as f i v e m i n u t e s and an a c t i v i t y o f e i g h t minutes was p r o b a b l y 17 r e c o r d e d as t e n m i n u t e s . The e f f e c t s o f b o t h t h e s e two major problems on the a c c u r a c y o f a Time-Record cannot be measured but we s h o u l d be f u l l y aware o f them. A n o t h e r problem t o be overcome i s the manner o f how a c t i v i -t i e s a r e t o be r e c o r d e d on the T i m e - R e c o r d . T h a t a Time-Record s h o u l d be s i m p l e t o c o m p l e t e and c l e a r l y l a i d o u t as t o the time i n t e r v a l s , t h e space f o r the d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e a c t i v i t y , and the space f o r t h e i n c l u s i o n o f w i t h whom the a c t i v i t y was c a r r i e d o u t , i s a r e a l n e c e s s i t y . The c l a r i t y o f t h e m e a s u r i n g i n s t r u m e n t i s d o u b l y i m p o r t a n t i f the r e s p o n d e n t s t h e m s e l v e s a r e t o complete a Time-Record as a d i a r y , w i t h c l e a r i n s t r u c t i o n s g i v e n as t o how t o i n d i c a t e t he d u r a t i o n o f an a c t i v i t y . T h i s l a t t e r p o i n t i s important t o e n s u r e t h a t t h e r e i s no a m b i g u i t y when the d u r a t i o n s a r e t a b u l a t e d . The main problem c o n c e r n i n g the r e c o r d i n g o f a c t i v i t i e s i s , however, whether o r n o t each a c t i v i t y i s t o be d e s c r i b e d by t h e respondent as he sees i t and wishes t o d e s c r i b e i t , o r whether the respondent s h o u l d be r e q u i r e d t o d e s c r i b e h i s a c t i v i t i e s i n a p r e - c a t e g o r i z e d form o n l y . It c an be argued t h a t any d e s c r i p t i o n o f an a c t i v i t y i s i n f a c t a c l a s s i f i c a t i o n , but t h e r e i s a d i f f e r e n c e between a respondent d e s c r i b i n g h i s a c t i v i t i e s i n h i s own terms and d e s c r i b i n g h i s a c t i v i t i e s u s i n g o n l y c a t e g o r i e s g i v e n t o him by t h e i n v e s t i g a t o r . It would seem a t p r e s e n t i m p o s s i b l e t o deduce a p r i o r i i s e t o f c a t e g o r i e s from some t h e o r e t i c a l p r i n c i p l e s . As i n the s t u d i e s o u t l i n e d i n the p r e v i o u s c h a p t e r , c a t e g o r i e s a r e a r r i v e d a t by i n d u c t i v e i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f t h e d a t a c o l l e c t e d . The d i f f i c u l t y w i t h t h i s l a t t e r p r o c e d u r e i s t h a t o f r e l i a b l y \u00C2\u00BB8 c l a s s i f y i n g d i a r y e n t r i e s w r i t t e n by r e s p o n d e n t s o r T i m e-Record e n t r i e s w r i t t e n by the i n t e r v i e w e r , and t o o b t a i n c o m p a r a b i l i t y between s t u d i e s . However, as F o o t e ( 1 9 6 1 ) has p o i n t e d o u t , s u c c e s s i v e s t u d i e s which keep t h e method o f c a t e g o r i z a t i o n open and use the i n d u c t i v e method o f c l a s s i f i c a t i o n , w i l l i n f a c t a l l o w f o r a g r e a t e r r e f i n e -ment i n f u t u r e s t u d i e s such t h a t c o m p a r a b i l i t y w i l l be i n c r e a s e d . It s h o u l d a l s o be noted t h a t t h e a ppearance o f new a c t i v i t i e s and the d e c r e a s e in the o c c u r r e n c e o f o l d a c t i v i t i e s w i l l be overcome. If the q u e s t i o n o f u s i n g p r e - c a t e g o r i z e d a c t i v i t i e s i s f o r e c l o s e d t h e n we l o s e o v e r a p e r i o d o f time those new a c t i v i t i e s t h a t have appeared i n t h e meantime and keep those a c t i v i t i e s which have become o b s o l e t e . Even w i t h a l l the m e t h o d o l o g i c a l problems which we have o u t l i n e d above, the Time-Record does have c e r t a i n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s which recommend i t s u s e f u l n e s s as a m e a s u r i n g d e v i c e . F i r s t , t h e Time-Record r e q u i r e s o f the respondent c o n s i d e r a b l e d i s c i p l i n e i n e n t e r i n g i n t h e c o r r e c t p l a c e the u n i t o f a c t i v i t y . In t h i s r e s p e c t t h e respondent i s r e q u i r e d t o r e c o n c i l e the time s p e n t among v a r i o u s a c t i v i t i e s e i t h e r when he c o n s t r u c t s the d i a r y , as t h e day p r o g r e s s e s , o r when t h e day i s r e c o n s t r u c t e d from memory. T h e r e f o r e , the a c c u r a c y o f t h e d u r a t i o n s o f t h e e n t r i e s i s g r e a t l y i n c r e a s e d o v e r the t e c h n i q u e o f a s k i n g the respondent t o r e c a l l t h e d u r a t i o n o f time s p e n t on s e l e c t e d a c t i v i t i e s . Second, the Time-Record a l l o w s the r e s e a r c h e r t o s t u d y the sequence o f e v e n t s and t h e r e s p o n d e n t ' s g r o u p i n g o f e v e n t s . With the i n -c l u s i o n i n the d a t a o f w i t h whom the a c t i v i t i e s were c a r r i e d o u t , 19 t h e r e s e a r c h e r has a t hand a method o f s e e i n g how a c t i v i t i e s and p e r s o n s become s y n c h r o n i z e d d u r i n g a g i v e n time p e r i o d . T h i s a s p e c t would be o f g r e a t i n t e r e s t , and seems t o be t h e reason why F o o t e (1961) chose husband and w i f e p a i r s t o keep h i s d i a r i e s i n the s e t t i n g o f t h e f a m i l y . T h i r d , the Time-Record a l l o w s f o r the p o s s i b i l i t y o f i n d i c a t i n g whether o r not more than one a c t i v i t y was t a k i n g p l a c e a t the same time and how c e r t a i n a c t i v i t i e s can o v e r l a p s e v e r a l o t h e r a c t i v i t i e s . A l l o f t h e s i m u l t a n e o u s a c t i v i t i e s w i l l , o f c o u r s e , not be l i s t e d but a t l e a s t some i n -c l u s i o n w i l l o c c u r , a f a c t which i n i t s e l f i s o f i n t e r e s t . In t h i s c h a p t e r we have t r i e d t o r a i s e seme o f the methodo-l o g i c a l problems which o c c u r when a d i a r y o r Time-Record i s used t o c o l l e c t d a t a . Some o f t h e s e problems a f f e c t e d the c o l l e c t i o n o f d a t a used i n o u r r e s e a r c h . How some o f t h e s e problems were t a c k l e d w i l l be o u t l i n e d i n a l a t e r c h a p t e r d e a l i n g w i t h t h e c o l l e c t i o n and c o d i f i c a t i o n o f d a t a . Even w i t h t h e number o f p r o b l e m s to overcome, i t i s f e l t t h a t the d i a r y method o f d a t a c o l l e c t i o n i s u s e f u l i n p r o v i d i n g answers t o b a s i c q u e s t i o n s c o n c e r n i n g t h e o c c u r r e n c e and n a t u r e o f d a y - t o - d a y a c t i v i t i e s . CHAPTER IV A THEORETICAL SCHEMA We have i n d i c a t e d i n p r e v i o u s c h a p t e r s t h a t l i t t l e has been done i n t h e way o f p r o v i d i n g a t h e o r e t i c a l f o r m u l a t i o n w i t h which t o s t u d y t h e d i v e r s e m a t e r i a l s g a t h e r e d when u s i n g a Time-Record as the method o f d a t a c o l l e c t i o n . It i s n e c e s s a r y , t h e r e f o r e , t o have a t h e o r e t i c a l schema from which c o n c l u s i o n s a r e drawn by means o f l o g i c a l d e d u c t i o n s . ' With the p r e d i c t i o n s deduced from t h e t h e o r y we may t e s t i f the t h e o r y can be c o r r o b o r a t e d . If t h i s s h o u l d not be the c a s e the e x a m i n a t i o n o f the e m p i r i c a l g e n e r a l i t i e s i n the d a t a s h o u l d a l l o w us t o throw up new and t e n t a t i v e t h e o r e t i c a l i d e a s . These new ideas w i l l then m o d i f y t h e t h e o r e t i c a l schema which w i l l a l l o w f o r t h e f o r m u l a t i o n o f new s i n g u l a r s t a t e m e n t s w h i c h c a n be v e r i f i e d o r f a l s i f i e d by new d a t a . The schema o u t l i n e d below t a k e s the form o f a s e t o f d e f i n i t i o n s f o l l o w e d by c e r t a i n p o s t u l a t e s from which a r e drawn f i v e e m p i r i c a l h y p o t h e s e s i d e n t i f i e d w i t h a s e t o f w o r k i n g d e f i n i t i o n s . Def i n i t i ons D e f i n i t i o n 1: Time i s e q u a t e d w i t h c l o c k t i m e . \ "Thesis/Dissertation"@en . "10.14288/1.0104502"@en . "eng"@en . "Sociology"@en . "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en . "University of British Columbia"@en . "For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use."@en . "Graduate"@en . "Work: effect on number and duration of activities per day"@en . "Text"@en . "http://hdl.handle.net/2429/36517"@en .