The Routledge International Handbook of Time Use Data and Methods

This handbook, written by a collection of leading scholars, provides a comprehensive and up-to-date reference work on the burgeoning topic of time use data and research.

Stemming from the notion that how time is allocated is fundamental to processes of growth, equality and well-being, it demonstrates methodological possibilities and analytical best-practice for the investigation of activities such as raising children, sleeping, eating, civic participation and leisure pursuits, which are often overlooked in official measures in favour of market indicators that involve the exchange of cash. The first volume covers issues of methodology including collecting data and analysing the information gathered. Readers are introduced first to general methodology and design issues, then to major time use diary surveys that are already available worldwide for researchers to analyse, as well as to the innovations in design that are currently under development. Time use diary data is increasingly recognised as the foremost source of reliable information on the time dimension of daily life.

It will therefore be a valuable point of reference for students and scholars with interests in the methodological aspects of time use research and practical knowledge and understanding of how to collect, manage and analyse this type of data, from fields including sociology, demography, social policy, economics, gender studies, psychology, leisure and tourism studies, public health, and legal studies. The second volume of the handbook provides an authoritative outline of the contribution of time-use research to key contemporary scholarly and policy applications in both the Global North and the Global South, and is available at: [link]