Design and implementation of an internet-based household activity scheduling survey in Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

This paper reports on the design and implementation of an internet-based survey that focuses on household activity scheduling in Cairo, Egypt. The survey is referred to as Internet-based daily activity scheduling of household activities (IDASHA). The main emphasis of the survey was on different types of household interactions and coordination over a multiple-day period. The survey also collected detailed information about information and communication technology (ICT) usage and the role that telecommunications play in household interactions in the planning and scheduling process. The survey was conducted over one week during the months of March to May 2009. The final sample size included 42 households of married couples (i.e., 84 adults). The survey was evaluated according to several criteria, and was shown to provide a rich source of data while minimizing the burden on the survey respondents. Moreover, statistical analyses were carried out to investigate several issues such as time allocation behavior, weekly household interactions in activity participation, and the development of a horizon index that shows how far ahead in time an event was planned. Basic need activities, work, and household obligation activities were found to have the highest portion of time at both the daily and weekly levels. However, there was a significant difference in the mean episode duration of these three groups of activities. According to the activity location, in-home activity episodes were found to be usually short, yet occupying a large portion of time per day. Out-of-home activities, however, had longer durations but were much less frequent than in-home activities. As for the companion type in joint activity participation, joint activities with only household members were shown to be more frequent than other participation types. In contrast, the activities performed with nonhousehold members were, on average, longer but much less frequent than those done alone or with household members.