The accurate collection of unbiased behavioral data is an important component of theory building and ethnographic research. In this article, the authors review two approaches for the collection of behavioral data: time diary and instantaneous sampling. Time diary requires individuals to recall their behavior at specific time intervals; instantaneous sampling relies on researchers observing and recording the behavior of individuals. Each approach has specific strengths and weaknesses. The authors review recent methodological literature on both approaches, identify particular problems with both approaches, and contrast their respective methodological strengths and weaknesses.
Altmann, J.1974. The observational study of behavior. Behaviour48:1-41.
2.
Baksh, M.1989. Spot observations technique in time allocation research [Part 1]. CAM: Cultural Anthropology Methods Newsletter1:1-3.
3.
Baksh, M.1990. Spot observations technique of time allocation research [Part 2]. CAM: Cultural Anthropology Methods Newsletter2:6-7.
4.
Baksh, M., C. Neumann, M. Paolisso, R. Trostle, and A. Jansen.1994. The influence of reproductive status on rural Kenyan women’s time use. Social Science and Medicine39:345-54.
5.
Bernard, H.R., and P.D. Killworth.1993. Sampling in time allocation research . Ethnology32:207-15.
6.
Bianchi, S., M. Milkie, L. Sayer, and J. Robinson.2000. Is anyone doing the house-work? Trends in the gender division of household labor. Social Forces79:191-228.
7.
Bock, J., and D. Sellen.2002. Childhood and the evolution of the human life course: Introduction. Human Nature13:153-60.
8.
Borgerhoff Mulder, M., and T. Caro.1985. The use of quantitative observation techniques in anthropology. Current Anthropology26:232-62.
9.
Flinn, M.1988. Parent-offspring interactions in a Caribbean village: Daughter guarding. In Human reproductive behaviour, eds. L. Betzig, M. Borgerhoff Mulder, and P. Turke , 189-200. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
10.
Gravlee, C., S. Zenk, S. Woodos, Z. Rowe, and A. Schulz.2006. Handheld computers for direct observation of the social and physical environment. Field Methods18:382-97.
11.
Gross, D.R.1984. Time allocation: A tool for the study of cultural behavior . Annual Review of Anthropology13:519-58.
12.
Gurven, M.2004. To give and to give not: The behavioral ecology of human food transfers. Behavioral and Brain Sciences27:120-55.
13.
Gurven, M., and H. Kaplan.2006. Determinants of time allocation across the lifespan: A theoretical model and an application to the Machiguenga and Piro of Peru. Human Nature: An Interdisciplinary Biosocial Perspective17:1-49.
14.
Hames, R.1987. Relatedness and garden labor exchange among the Ye’kwana . Evolution and Human Behavior8:354-92.
15.
Hames, R.1989. Time, efficiency, and fitness in the Amazonian protein quest. Research in Economic Anthropology11:43-85.
16.
Hames, R.1992. Time allocation. In Evolutionary ecology and human behavior, eds. E. A. Smith and B. Winterhalder, 203-36. Chicago: Aldine de Gruyter.
17.
Hames, R.1996. Costs and benefits of monogamy and polygyny for Yanomamo women. Ethology and Sociobiology17:181-99.
18.
Hames, R. In press. Production decisions and time allocation. In Society and environment: Methods and research design, eds. V. Ismael, E. A. Smith , and S. Aswani.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
19.
Hames, R., and C. McCabe.2007. Meal sharing among the Ye’kwana . Human Nature18:1-21.
20.
Hawkes, K., K. Hill, H. Kaplan, and A.M. Hurtado.1987. Some problems with instantaneous scan sampling. Journal of Anthropological Research43:239-47.
21.
Hawkes, K., K. Hill, and J. O’Connell .1982. Why hunters gather: Optimal foraging and the Ache of eastern Paraguay. American Ethnologist9:379-98.
22.
Hewlett, B.S.1989. Multiple caretaking among African Pygmies. American Anthropologist. 91:186-88.
23.
B.S. Hewlett.1992. Father-child relations: Cultural and biosocial contexts . New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
24.
Hewlett, B.S., and M.E. Lamb.2005. Hunter-gatherer childhoods: Evolutionary, developmental, & cultural perspectives. New Brunswick : Aldine de Gruyter.
25.
Horrigan, M., and D. Herz.2004. Planning, designing, and executing the BLS American time-use survey. Monthly Labor Review October:3-19.
26.
Ice, G.2004. Technological advances in observational data collection: The advantages and limitations of computer-assisted data collection. Fields Methods16:352-75.
27.
Jacobs, J., and K. Gerson.2004. The time divide. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
28.
Johnson, A.1975. Time allocation in a Machiguenga community. Ethnology14:301-10.
29.
Johnson, A., and O. Johnson.1976. Male/female relations and the organization of work in a Machiguenga community. American Ethnologist2:634-48.
30.
Johnson, A., and R. Sackett.1998. Direct systematic observation of behavior . In Handbook of methods in cultural anthropology, eds. H. R. Bernard, 301-30. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira.
31.
Kaplan, H.1994. Evolutionary and wealth flows theories of fertility: Empirical tests and new models. Population and Development Review20:753-91.
32.
Kimura, D.1992. Daily activities and social association of the Bongando in central Zaire. African Study Monographs13:1-33.
33.
Koster, J.2006. The use of the Noldus Observer 5.0 and Psion handheld computer in a remote fieldwork setting. Field Methods18:430-36.
34.
Kramer, K.L.2005. Children’s help and the pace of reproduction: Cooperative breeding in humans. Evolutionary Anthropology14:224-37.
35.
Martin, P., and P. Bateson.1993. Measuring behavior. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
36.
Minge-Klevana, W.1980. Does labor time decrease with industrialization? A survey of time-allocation studies. Current Anthropology21:279-98.
37.
Paolisso, M., M. Baksh, and J. Thomas.1989. Women’s agricultural labor, child care and infant diarrhea in rural Kenya. In Women’s work and child welfare in the Third World, eds. J. Leslie and M. Paolisso, 217-36. Boulder, CO: Westview.
38.
Paolisso, M., K. Hallman, L. Haddad, and S. Regmi.2002. Does cash crop adoption detract from child care provision? Evidence from rural Nepal. Economic Development and Culture Change50:313-33.
39.
Paolisso, M., and R. Sackett.1988. Traditional meat procurement strategies among the Irapa-Yukpa of the Venezuela-Colombia border area. Research in Economic Anthropology7:177-202.
40.
Paolisso, M., S. Gammage, and L. Casey.1999. Gender and household-level responses to soil degradation in Honduras. Human Organization58:261-73.
41.
Presser, S., and L. Stinson.1998. Data collection mode and social desirability bias in self-reported religious attendance. American Sociological Review63:137-45.
42.
Putman, R.2000. Bowling alone. New York: Simon and Schuster.
43.
Richards, A.1939. Land, labour, and diet in Northern Rhodesia. London: Oxford University Press.
44.
Robinson, J.P.1976. Changes in American’s use of time, 1965-1975. Cleveland: Communication Research Center.
45.
Robinson, J.P., and G. Godbey.1999. Time for life: The surprising ways Americans use their time. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press.
46.
Sandberg, J., and S. Hofferth.2001. Changes in children’s time with parents: United States, 1981-1997. Demography38:423-36.
47.
Sayer, L.2001. Time use, gender and inequality: Differences in men’s and women’s market, nonmarket and leisure time. Unpublished dissertation , College Park, University of Maryland .
48.
Sayer, L., S. Bianchi, and J. Robinson.2004. Are parents investing less in children? Trends in mothers’ and fathers’ time with children. American Journal of Sociology107:1-43.
49.
Scaglion, R.1986. Importance of nighttime observations in time allocation studies. American Ethnologist13:537-45.
50.
Schor, J.1991. The overworked American: The unexpected decline of leisure . New York: Basic Books.
51.
Schwartz, L., D. Herz, and H. Frazis.2002. Measuring intrahousehold allocation of time: Response to Anne E. Winkler. Monthly Labor Review February:53-9.
52.
Shelley, K.2005. Developing the American time use survey activity classification system. Monthly Labor Review June:3-15.
53.
Stinson, L.1999. Measuring how people spend their time: A time-use survey design. Monthly Labor Review August:12-19.
54.
Sugawara, K.1988. Visiting relations and social interactions between residential groups of the central Kalahari San: Hunter-gatherer camp as a micro-territory . African Study Monographs8:173-211.
55.
Szalai, A.1972. The use of time: Daily activities of urban and suburban populations in twelve countries. The Hague: Mouton.
56.
Weisner, T., G.W. Ryan, L. Reese, K. Kroesen, L. Bernheimer, and R. Gallimore.2001. Behavior sampling and ethnography: Complementary methods for understanding home-school connections among Latino immigrant families . Field Methods13:20-46.
57.
Winkler, A.2002. Measuring time use in multiple-person households. Monthly Labor Review February:45-52.
