Using New Technologies for Time Diary Data Collection: Instrument Design and Data Quality Findings from a Mixed-Mode...

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Methodology
• Public Health

Background:

• Growing interest in time-use research for understanding population activity patterns and long-term outcomes.
• Need to move beyond traditional paper time diaries to reduce respondent burden, costs, and improve data quality.
• Emergence of new technologies for more efficient data collection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present and evaluate two novel digital diary instruments (web and smartphone app) for collecting time-use data from adolescents.
• To compare the data quality of web, app, and paper diary modes in a mixed-mode data collection approach.
• To assess the feasibility of using technology in large-scale cohort studies for time allocation.

Main Methods:

• Development of a web-administered diary and a smartphone app for time-use data collection.
• Implementation of a mixed-mode survey design offering digital options first, with paper as a fallback.
• Pilot survey of 86 adolescents to examine data quality indicators across the three modes (web, app, paper).

Main Results:

• Web and app diary modes demonstrated superior data quality compared to the paper mode, with more complete activity and contextual information.
• Digital modes (web and app) yielded a comparable number of activity episodes to the paper mode.
• The use of new technologies shows potential for improving the quality of time-use diary data.

Conclusions:

• Novel digital diary instruments (web and smartphone app) are effective for collecting adolescent time-use data.
• Technology-based data collection methods can enhance the quality and completeness of time-use data.
• Future research should explore selection and measurement effects in mixed-mode time-use surveys with larger samples.