Parameters

Description of the parameters

The most common way to present time-use findings is by using three parameters:

• The duration per respondent (dpr): This is the mean of the time spent on a given activity in a given period for all the people who took part in the research (respondents). 
• The participation rate (part.): This is the percentage of respondents who did a given activity in a given time span.
• The duration per participant (dpp): This is the mean of time spent on a given activity in a given time span for all the respondents who participated in the activity.

The duration per respondent is the product of the duration per participant and the participation rate (percentage expressed as a number between 0 and 1):

 

Duration per respondent = duration per participant x participation rate

 

An example could help to interpret the results: in a weekday the respondents spend about 3h35’ on the activity 'work' (=duration per respondent).

However, not everyone in the population did perform paid work on the weekdays when they filled in their diary. 60,24% of the population registered work (=participation rate).

The mean working time of the respondents who were actually working on the registered days is 5h57'  for the activity 'work' (=duration per participant). 

Duration per respondent = duration per participant x participation rate 3h35’ = 5h57’ x 60,24%