Measuring Time Use

Theories of time posit that a mutually shared societal understanding of the meaning and measurement of time is a necessary aspect of interpersonal interaction. In modern Western societies, this common temporal framework is based on “clock time,” in other words the division of time into 24 one-hour daily segments nested within months and years (Zerubavel 1982). This temporal framework is “taken for granted,” by most individuals. If time is considered at all, its measurement in modern Western societies is perceived as the natural, inevitable way time should be measured. However, time is a socially constructed ordering mechanism that both reflects and regulates social life. As such, how time is measured and used to structure individuals’ lives is one way societal hierarchies of power are created and perpetuated (Adam 1990; Davies 1990; Nowatny 1975; Zerabavel 1982).

An increasingly digital world is providing new challenges for time use researchers interested studying temporal realities in this new cultural context (Duncheon & Tierney 2013). Technological advances provide new tools for researchers to develop innovative methods to measure and analyze time use data. For example, researchers studying how a convenient water supply can affect water carriers' pattern of time use in rural Ethiopia supplemented typical time diary methods with data from pedometers attached to respondents' water containers. The data from the pedometers, when combined with the traditional time diary, uncovered new data about time use and patterns of water collection from multiple sources (Chaudhri et al 2012).