1 Reading Activity Method Time-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 5 th graders  Neuman (1982) 4 th, 5 th, 6 th graders  Anderson, Wilson, & Fielding (1988) 5 th graders  Taylor, Frye, & Maryuyama (1988) 5 th & 6 th graders  Smith (2000) adults

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

13 Day: ___ Hour SourceSettingAmt. Mins. Amt. Pages PurpseEffort 5-1 StratsEnjoy a – 7 a 7 a – 8 a 8 a – 9 a 9 – 10 a 10 – 11 a 11 – 12 a 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 ( ) 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

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