ABSTRACT
Despite recent momentum in the employment and application of time-use data, this approach remains a mystery to the vast majority of social scientists. Anything new and somewhat different provides a touch of anxiety to the uninitiated. Time-use data, however, reflect an underlying organizational structure that differs significantly from conventional ways of gathering and analyzing data through more customary survey, observational, and textual methods. The logic is extremely straightforward, but carrying out time-use research nonetheless remains a black box to those without firsthand experience. Time-use data are often perceived as inevitably difficult and often expensive to obtain and manage. No dedicated software addresses all needs. The objective of this chapter is to make this black box transparent through an examination of the basic structure of time-use information and how researchers get it.
