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1 Time Use Research Andrew S. Harvey and Wendy E. Pentland

INTRODUCTION Time use methodology can provide a window on actual lifestyles, thereby permitting a rich, objective, and replicable basis on which to make empirical judgments. By providing contextual information about what people do (nature of tasks performed, social and physical environmental context, level of stress experienced, perceived satisfaction), the methodology can generate invaluable information for understanding human behavior problems and be used to guide planning and policy development. This chapter introduces the concept of time use studies and presents a brief overview of their historical development and application.

WHAT IS TIME USE RESEARCH? Time use studies show how people use their time. Minimally, they show what activities people do week to week or day to day. Maximally, they show what people are doing, where they are, who they are with, and how they feel minute to minute. Andrew S. Harvey • Department of Economics, St. Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3C3. Wendy E. Pentland • Division of Occupational Therapy, School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6. Time Use Research in the Social Sciences, edited by Wendy E. Pentland, Andrew S. Harvey, M. Powell Lawton, and Mary Ann McColl. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, 1999. 3


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