Time-Log Project For Observational Methods

TIME-LOG PROJECT FOR OBSERVATIONAL METHODS.

Name ______________________ Began at _____ am pm on _______ 200__.

Every 2 hours for 24 hours, record the number of minutes you estimate you spent during the previous 2 hours in each category. For example, if you

start observing yourself at 8 pm, you would make your first records at 10 pm in the 8-10 pm column and make your last records at 8 pm the next day

in the 6-8pm column. Each column must total exactly 120 minutes. To assure this, adjust estimates if necessary, ask whether there are “lost” minutes

to put in Other, and if more than one category applies to a given stretch of time, use the one that is higher in the list. Example: If you eat while on

duty at work, code as On the job, not as Eat. If you eat during your lunch break at work (or at home, restaurant, etc.), Eat would be the correct code.

Important exception for sleep category: Make your records for the current column when you go to bed, without waiting for the end of the interval.

You need not make any records while asleep, but when you wake up, record the time and fill in the intervening intervals. Example: you start a snack

at 11:55 pm, go to bed when you finish at 12:10 am, and awake at 8:00 am. At 12:10am you will write “Start 12:10am” and record 10 minutes of Eat

for 12-2am. At 8:00 am you will write “Finish 8:00am” and record 110 minutes of Sleep for 12-2am and 120 minutes for 2-4am, 4-6am, and 6-8am.

Category (* = defined below)

12-2am

2-4am

4-6am

6-8am

8-10am

10-12

12-2pm

2-4pm

4-6pm

6-8pm

8-10pm

10-12

Total

am

M

On the job (work for pay)

In transit *

Get exercise *

In class

Off-line

study/class assignments

On-line

study/class assignments

On-line (personal)

Tasks of daily living *

Eat

On the telephone/cellphone

Relax/socialize *

Sleep Start_____ Finish_____

Other * (optional to specify)

Total across categories

* In transit: examples include using a car, train line, public or campus bus to get from your dorm or home to your first class, get between classes, or get from campus to an off-

campus job. Note that time spent studying, socializing, etc. while in transit will count only towards the In transit category; the other categories will be underestimated.

* Get exercise: examples include walking your dog, walking between classes, biking to work, playing on the soccer team, exercising at the gym—almost any physical activity in

which you get exercise, regardless of whether getting exercise is the main purpose. However, exercise during work hours is coded as On the job, since that code has priority.

* Tasks of daily living: examples include brush teeth, fix dinner, do laundry, look at mail, buy batteries, make bank deposit.

* Relax/socialize: Can be alone or with others; examples include watching TV, drinking at a pub, talking with friends, listening to music, playing the guitar, playing games,

daydreaming, lying on the couch in a stupor. (Recreational activities that provide physical exercise, such as walking on the beach or playing on the soccer team, are coded under

the Get exercise category.)

* Other: anything that does not seem to fit in one of the preceding categories., e.g., biology research project for independent study credit, psychology practicum, philosophy club

meeting, volunteer work at a food pantry, shopping for clothes, getting a new audio system hooked up. Miscellaneous and “lost” minutes also go here.