Time Diary Research

Basic Concepts of New Media

 

Dr. Philip N. Howard

Department Communication

University of Washington

 

 

Time Diary research is one of the most important methods we have for collecting data about our daily experiences.  If done carefully over a short period of time, you can create a great snapshot of the interactions in your life.  But because this is self-reported data, the trick is to systematize the way the observations are collected and catalogued.

 

One way of organizing such observations is to devote a small notebook to the entries you make.  A small legal pad, blue book (like you use for exams) would work well.  Alternatively, you can print off this form we have created for you, and use it to systematically collect observations in your 24-hour period.  If you print out several of these sheets you will have your own custom diary, and you are welcome to amend the form as you see fit.

 

For the Surveillance Diary, there are several kinds of datapoints you should consider collecting:  the location of surveillance, the time of day surveillance took place, the duration of exposure, the type of surveillance (video, audio, transaction, etc.), what you were doing and how your behavior changed under surveillance, and any interesting observations, feelings, encounters.  For the Cultural Consumption Diary, you should consider collecting similar kinds of information:  the location of exposure, the time of day, the duration of exposure, the type of media (TV, poster, radio, etc.), the content of the media (music genre, name of program, message on t-shirt), activity you were engaged while you were exposed (sitting at home, walking down the street), and any interesting observations, feelings, encounters.

 

Doing this data collection for more than a 24 hour period will be draining, so give it a good effort for a full 24 hours and you will definitely have enough data to ground your essays.

 

 

 

EXAMPLE 1.  Entry for Surveillance Essay

 

Location: Wells Fargo Bank ATM in Lake City            

Time: 10:25 AM      

Duration of Exposure: 5 min.    

Type of Media / Technology: Video, ATM card use                                                                                             

Activity: Withdrawing money from ATM                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                                           

Notes: I never noticed that the camera is 5 inches from you face. Felt self-conscious and caught myself adjusting my hair.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

 

 

 

 

EXAMPLE 2.  Entry For Cultural Consumption Essay

 

Location: Café Solstice on the Ave                      

Time: 11:30 AM      

Duration of Exposure: 3 minutes                        

Type of Media / Technology: T-shirts-NIKE, KEXP, Husky Logo, Free Mumia . Music- some kind of heavy metal.                                                                                                                                               

Activity: Standing in line to get coffee                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Notes: I never noticed how many people have clothing with messages on it. Realized I didn’t know what t-shirt I was wearing without looking at it. Looked, it was UW propaganda.