Time Use in the

USA

By: Hannah Schmidt, Julia Milcoff, Isabella

Myles, Austin Mele, Jacob Shaffer
What are we studying? by: Hannah Schmidt

● The data we decided to study is a continuous survey containing information on the

amount of time (in minutes) that people spent doing various activities between
2003 through 2018
● This particular study focuses on solely upon the time spent on a given day in all
types of activities
● Only one respondent per household, aged 15 or older, was randomly selected to
participate
● They were interviewed one time about how they spent their time on the previous
day starting at 4:00 a.m. and ending at 4:00 a.m. on the interview day
● We had gotten this data from the ICPSR, which maintains a data archive of more
than 250,000 files of research in the social and behavioral sciences
 A Bit of Research by: Hannah Schmidt

● An individual spends about sixteen years sleeping in there life which is equal to 9,490 days or

227,760 hours

● As for there time spent at work, an individual spends 13 years on average in there lifetime.

That's 24% of a typically working period of 50 years

● On an average day, nearly everyone age 15 and over (95 percent) engaged in some sort of

leisure activity, such as watching TV, socializing, or exercising.

● On average, adults age 75 and over spent 7.7 hours engaged in leisure activities per day--more

than any other age group; 35- to 44-year-olds spent 4.0 hours engaged in leisure and sports

activities per day--less than other age groups.

Research Question One by Julia Milcoff

● Is there a relationship between the amount of time (in minutes) the

individuals work their main job and the amount of time (in minutes) the
individuals spend sleeping in a 24 hour period?
○ Independent variable: main job
○ Dependent variable: sleeping
Hypotheses for Question One by Julia Milcoff

● Null: The time the individuals spend sleeping is not related to the time
they spend at their main job. (rho = 0)
● Alternative: The time the individuals spend sleeping is related to the
time they spend at their main job. (rho not = 0)
Criteria by Julia Milcoff

● We will run a Correlation test

○ The level of measurement:
■ Main Job: Ratio
■ Sleeping: Ratio
○ In a correlation test, we are trying to find the relationship between
two variables that are generally interval/ratio level data.
● p value set by alpha to determine significance = 0.05
● Degrees of Freedom: 201151 - 2 = 201149
Conclusion by Julia Milcoff

● We reject the null hypothesis at an alpha = 0.05 level. There is a

significant relationship between the time the individuals spend sleeping
and the time they spend at their main job.
● Pearson Correlation = - 0.335 (negative correlation, weak)
● p value = 0.000
● Degrees of freedom = 201149
● Further Interpretation: effect size = ( - 0.335)2 = 0.1122 = small
Research Question Two by Julia Milcoff

● How related is the amount of time (in minutes) the individuals work their
main job and the amount of time (in minutes) the individuals spend
sleeping in a 24 hour period?
○ Independent variable: main job
○ Dependent variable: sleeping
Hypotheses by Julia Milcoff

● Null: The variance in the amount of time individuals spend sleeping (y) is
not related to the amount of time they spend working their main job (x).
● Alternative: The variance in the amount of time individuals spend
sleeping (y) is related to the amount of time they spend working their
main job (x).
Criteria by Julia Milcoff

● We will run a Regression test

○ The level of measurement:
■ Main Job: Ratio
■ Sleeping: Ratio
○ In a regression test, we are trying to establish how one group
causes the other group to change.
● p value set by alpha to determine significance = 0.05
● Degrees of Freedom:
○ Regression Variation = 1
○ Residual Variation = 201151 - 2 = 201149
Conclusion by Julia Milcoff

● We reject the null hypothesis at an alpha = 0.05 level. The time the
individuals spend sleeping (y) is significantly related to the time they
spend at their main job (x).
● y = 453.318 - 0.576 x
● F (1, 201149) = 25367.907
● p value = 0.000
● Degrees of freedom = 201150 (total)
● Further Interpretation: R2= 0.112 (small)
○ The time the individuals spend at their main job explains 11.2% of
the variance in the time the individuals spend sleeping.
Research Question Three By: Hannah Schmidt

● Is there a relationship between age and relaxing/thinking (in minutes)?

○ Independent variable: age
○ Dependent variable: relaxing/thinking time
Hypotheses by: Hannah Schmidt

● Null: There is no significant relationship between age and

relaxing/thinking time. (rho=0)
● Alternative: There is a significant relationship between age and
relaxing/thinking time. (rho not=0)
Criteria By: Hannah Schmidt

● We will run a correlation test

○ The level of measurement:
■ Age: Ratio
■ Relaxing/Thinking time: Ratio
● A correlation test is used to evaluate the association between two or
more variables
● P value to determine significance: 0.05
● df= (n-2) = (201151-2)= 201149
Conclusion By: Hannah Schmidt

● We will reject the null hypothesis at an alpha level of 0.05. There is a

significant relationship between age and the amount of time individuals
spend relaxing/thinking.
● P value: .000
● Pearson's Correlation: .123 (positive correlation, weak)
● Degree of freedom: 201149
● Further Interpretation: effect size=(0.123)^2 = 0.01513 = small
Research Question Four By: Hannah Schmidt

● How related is the amount of time (in minutes) the individuals are
relaxing/thinking in a 24 hour period and their age?
○ Independent variable: age
○ Dependent variable: relaxing/thinking
Hypotheses By: Hannah Schmidt

● Null: The variance in the amount of time individuals spend

relaxing/thinking (y) is not related to their age (x).
● Alternative: The variance in the amount of time individuals spend
relaxing/thinking (y) is related to their age (x).
Criteria By: Hannah Schmidt

● We will run a Regression test

○ The level of measurement:
■ Age: Ratio
■ Relaxing/Thinking: Ratio
○ In a regression test, we are trying to establish how one group
causes the other group to change.
● p value set by alpha to determine significance = 0.05
● Degrees of Freedom:
○ Regression Variation = 1
○ Residual Variation = 201151 - 2 = 201149
Conclusion By: Hannah Schmidt

● We reject the null hypothesis at an alpha = 0.05 level. The time the
individuals spend relaxing/thinking (y) is significantly related to their age
(x).
● y = -2.973 - 0.458 x
● F (1, 201149) = 3092.084
● p value = 0.000
● Degrees of freedom = 201150 (total)
● Further Interpretation: R2 = 0.015 (small)
○ The individuals’ age explains 1.5% of the variance in the time they
are relaxing/thinking.
Overall Conclusion by Julia Milcoff

● In each of the questions asked, we found either:

○ significance in the relationship between the two groups
○ the one group was significantly related to the other group
● Other notes:
○ Attached with the SPSS file, there was a codebook
Comments or Questions?
Link to the Study

American Time Use Survey:

https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/36268#
Citations

“American Time Use Survey Summary.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of

Labor Statistics, 25 June 2020,

www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.nr0.htm#:~:text=Leisure%20Activities%20in

%202019%20%2D%2D,%2C%20compared%20with%204.9%20hours).

“Your Life In Numbers.” The Sleep Matters Club, 28 Apr. 2021,

www.dreams.co.uk/sleep-matters-club/your-life-in-num

bers-infographic/.