Need for a web mode for the American Time Use Survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) conducts the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) to collect nationally representative data on how Americans ages 15 and older spend their time. ATUS respondents complete a time diary with a phone interviewer and report their main activities for a 24-hour period from 4am the previous day to 4am of the current day.

Since its inception in 2003, ATUS has been a phone survey. However, due to declining response rates and increased desire by respondents to complete surveys via web, BLS seeks to develop a web version of the ATUS. Of concern to BLS was the potential for mode differences between time diary data collected via phone vs. web and impacts of mode on accurate reporting of activities and time spent on them.

Developing and testing a web mode.

NORC assisted BLS in developing and testing a web mode for the ATUS. Using a prototype web diary provided by BLS, NORC developed a functioning tool for use in testing. NORC tested whether respondents could report activities independently using the activities lexicon and examined differences in reporting between the web and phone modes. NORC conducted 45 online cognitive interviews with respondents, who completed both web and interviewer-administered (simulating phone mode) time diaries.