Time Use Study
Who does what, when, where and how
The purpose of the Time Use Study is:
- to inventory how the inhabitants of Switzerland spend their days.
It is not highly detailed; it merely keeps track of the activities (such as sleeping, working, eating and leisure activities) that determine a day's basic structure and the possibilities for media use, which is our core interest. - to scrutinize any use of media during the day.
We look at media use from all angles and try to understand how it is integrated into people's daily lives. The study defines "media" very broadly, and therefore extends to social and other emerging media in addition to broadcast media. Media use may occur at any time, and several different media may be used simultaneously.
In addition to providing an inventory as described above, the Time Use Study should increase our understanding of what underlies and drives people's media budgets and behaviour:
- How much time does the Swiss population currently spend watching TV, listening to the radio, reading newspapers and surfing the Web? Has this changed over time? Would they spend more time using media if their daily schedules allowed them to?
- Which everyday activities tend to promote media use and which ones impede it?
- How is media use affected by emerging media and platforms? Does it increase or are conventional media simply superseded?
Last but not least...
The Time Use Study serves a practical purpose: It assesses the gaps in our three existing media panels (for TV, radio, and the Internet) - gaps such as Web radio and public and mobile viewing. In time, it will allow us to relate the panels to each other, measure the overlaps and fill the gaps.
