Time Use Study

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The information you provide will be treated as confidential in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

You can complete this study on a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone. If you need to, you can stop and come back to the study later.

Your responses are saved automatically as you move through the diary. If you are not able to return to complete the survey, the information you have taken the time to share with us is still useful. Saved data will be submitted and where possible will be used for analysis.

What is this study about?

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is carrying out a new online pilot study on time use. The study is an opportunity to understand the amount of time that is spent doing different types of activities that count towards the delivery of vital public services such as education, healthcare, policing and justice. The information collected will also help to provide important insight into a part of the economy that is often difficult to measure.

How do I enter the study?

To begin the study, click the “Start now” button at the top of the page. This will take you to the Online Diary Tool. Here, enter your username and password that are on the letter we have sent you.

How do I complete the Initial questionnaire?

Click the “Start” button next to ‘Initial questionnaire’ in the ‘Your questionnaires’ box. This will ask you a series of questions about you, such as your sex, age and information about your work. We ask these so that we can understand how different types of people spend their time. Once you have answered all the questions, click “Submit”. This will return you to the Online Diary Tool home page.

How do I fill out a diary day?

There will be eight days to choose from in the ‘Your diary entries’ box, between Friday 2 February 2024 and Friday 9 February 2024. We would like you to fill out a diary for any two of these days in which you worked. Please note that each diary day will open at 4:00am on the day itself and must be completed within 72 hours. It is not possible to enter any times or activities in the future. Click “Start” to enter one of the available days.

Once you have started one of your selected working days, you will be able to enter a series of work and non-work activities that you did over the 24 hours, which begins and ends at 4:00am. You can select from a list of activities using the drop-down box and tell us how long you did these for.

Main activities are those that take up most of your attention, for example, treating a patient. They cannot overlap and need to account for all 24 hours of your time.

Main activities can be recorded in multiples of 10 minutes (10, 20, 30, and so on). If a main activity does not start or end exactly on a multiple of 10, you can round it up or down to the nearest 10 minutes, being careful not to leave any gaps. For some activities that you enter, you will be prompted to answer a few further questions, such as how much you enjoyed it.

Secondary activities are the things you do alongside or during main activities. For example, while treating a patient, a health professional may also record medical notes and write a prescription. Secondary activities can overlap with each other, as well as with the main activity. These can be recorded in multiples of 5 minutes (5, 10, 15, and so on).

After submitting a diary day, you can still go back and edit it from the home page until it closes. Once you have completed a diary, you will be asked to review your day and then complete some final questions before you click “Submit”. The Online Diary Tool will close at 4:00am on Monday 12 February 2024.

Please do not enter any information that could identify another person within your diaries or within your responses to the final questions.

What if I work part-time or in a shift pattern?

If you work part-time or in a shift pattern, we would still like to hear from you.

Each diary day begins and ends at 4:00am. If you work an overnight shift that covers two diary days (for example, 10:00pm to 8:00am), please complete diaries for two consecutive days.

Why are some diary days not available?

It is not possible to enter any times or activities in the future. Each diary day will be open for 72 hours and must be completed within that time. The diaries do not need to be completed in one go. You may leave and return to them as many times as needed.

The information we collect from this study will help inform and plan for future policy decisions. This is your unique opportunity to tell us about your experiences. Your responses will provide information not available from any other sources. Do not miss your chance to have your say.

The study will cover a range of topics, including:

• your demographic information and information about your work
• time spent doing different activities on two days that you work
• your views on different activities

The questions we ask can be based on both facts and opinions.

There are no difficult questions, and we have made sure you do not need any specialist knowledge to take part. There are no right or wrong answers – your honest responses are vital for us to produce reliable statistics.

We respect your right to a private life – the information you provide in this study will not be used to identify you in any way. If you are uncomfortable with any of the questions you are asked, you can always leave them out.

Do I have to answer all the questions?

Answering the questions and completing the diaries is voluntary. If you do not want to provide all of the information asked for, you do not have to. Please answer as many questions and complete the diaries as fully as you can, to ensure that your experiences and circumstances are counted.

It will only take around 25 minutes to tell us about each day, and five minutes to answer the questions about yourself.

Your personal information will remain confidential.

The details you provide will be combined with those of everyone else taking part so we can produce statistics. Any data we publish will never identify you or your employment information.

We do not sell on your data and you will not receive junk mail or marketing calls as a result of taking part in one of our studies.

If you want to know more, please see the section about our commitment to protecting your data.

You should have received a letter inviting you to take part and introducing the study.

Your letter will include all the instructions and login details you will need – this study is available for you to complete until 4:00am on Monday 12 February 2024.

We design our studies with you in mind and keep them as short as possible. We only collect the information we need to better understand our society. Your response is really important to us.

Once you have completed the study, we will combine the answers you give us with everybody else’s. We then use these data to produce statistics.

This study is being carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which is the country’s largest producer of statistics. The ONS also plan and run the census in England and Wales.

We are:

• independent, unbiased and impartial: we are separate from other organisations and do not allow anything to influence the statistics we publish
• the only organisation that produces official statistics as a primary role: we have no additional interest in the information we collect
• only interested in society as a whole, and not you as an individual: statistics represent groups of people; we remove your personal details as we are not interested in singling you out

We are not:

• a commercial or market research organisation: we do not work for profit and will not try to sell you anything
• associated with any political parties: we produce official statistics, no matter who the Prime Minister or political party in government is
• going to sell on your data under any circumstances: we value your involvement in our studies and do not profit from your data; you will not receive any “junk mail” as a result of taking part
• monitoring you, as the data you give are only used for producing statistics: we will not use your information to contact you about other matters such as your tax, income or benefits, and we will not provide your information to anyone else for them to do so either

Read more about what we do at the ONS.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has commissioned a trusted third-party service provider (Panlogic) to develop and host the Online Diary Tool that is used to collect data in this study. However, the ONS remains in control of all data collected from study participants and will store and process the data securely.

After the survey, we will be conducting a small number of interviews and focus groups to discuss experiences and views relating to different activities that are reported in completed diaries. If you have agreed to be contacted by email or telephone by a third party after taking part in a previous ONS survey, you will have been notified in your invitation letter that you may be contacted by our trusted research agency, the National Centre for Social Research, to ask for your availability to take part in this additional part of the study.

You have been selected for this study because you have either responded to the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey in the past year and agreed to be recontacted to take part in further research, or you volunteered to take part following a recent invitation received via your employer or workplace.

At the time of completing the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, our records indicate that you may have been working in a public sector role or organisation. If this was not or is no longer the case, please ignore the invitation to take part.

It is not possible to ask everyone to take part in our ongoing studies; instead, we invite a sample of individuals or households, which makes sure we represent everyone.

Where can I find my username and password to access the online study?

The username and password for completing the study online are printed on the invitation letter that you should have received. If you have not received this yet, you should receive it in the post shortly. Your username is a 7-digit code, and your password is a 12-digit code. After clicking the “Start now” button at the top of this page, enter your username and password when prompted.

Can I take a break part way through?

Yes, your progress saves automatically when completing the study. You can close the browser window containing the study whenever you like – your progress will be saved.

When you are ready to continue filling in the study, return to the study login page. Sign in with the same password and you will be returned to where you left off.

I do not have access to the internet, but I want to take part

At the moment, it is only possible to take part in this study online using a computer, tablet or smartphone.

Why have I not received an invite, and how do I get one?

Individuals have been selected or targeted to take part in this study and cannot be replaced with others. To ensure the study is valid, only those invited can take part.

When will I receive my voucher?

Once we have collected all survey responses, we will process the data and arrange for vouchers to be sent via email. You can expect to receive your voucher up to thirty days after the survey closes on Monday 12 February 2024.

Your name and email address will be shared with Sodexo to send your gift voucher and will not be used for any other purposes without your permission.

You will be able to pick from a range of retailers to spend your voucher. Please be aware that restrictions apply for some retailers and not all vouchers can be spent online. Please check the Sodexo website for more information.

Do I have to take part?

We hope we have explained just how important your response is to us and the value of your information in producing reliable statistics for decision-making. If you missed this, or need a refresher, see our section on Why should I take part?

It is your chance to have your voice heard. If you are still not convinced, you do not have to take part if you do not want to. For us to paint an accurate picture of our society, it is vital that we hear from as many people as possible, from all walks of life.

Can I complete the study in another language?

Currently, the study is only available in English.

I have completed the online study but I want to change my answers; what do I do?

If you have submitted your response but would like to change your answers, please call for free on 0800 085 7376 or email surveyfeedback@ons.gov.uk to let us know.

I have lost my login details needed to complete the study online. Can I have these again?

If you have lost your letter with your username and password to complete the study, please call our Survey Enquiry Line on 0800 085 7376 or email surveyfeedback@ons.gov.uk.

How can I tell whether my answers have been successfully submitted?

Access the study again using the username and password that you submitted your answers with. If you have successfully submitted your answers, the initial questionnaire and diary entry status boxes will say they are complete.

If you have a question about how we process your personal data or want to find out more about your rights under data protection legislation, please see our data protection page.

Will I be identifiable in the results?

No, the information you submit will be treated as confidential as directed by the Code of Practice for Statistics. Any statistics or results produced will not identify you.

How will we use the information you provide?

Your personal information will remain confidential.

The details you provide will be combined with those of everyone else taking part so we can produce statistics. Any data we publish will never identify you or your place of work.

We do not sell on your data, and you will not receive junk mail or marketing calls as a result of taking part in one of our studies.

What precautions for data protection and confidentiality have been taken?

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) adheres to the Code of Practice for Statistics and data protection legislation, and processes all personal information with respect, keeping it secure and confidential. Any personal data collected are processed in systems that have been accredited by the United Kingdom Civil Service, designed to uphold the security of the data and that are subject to regular assessment. Once the study is completed, we will destroy all personal data securely, by the end of 2025 at the latest.

How do we ensure your personal information is held securely?

We take our responsibilities to keep your personal information secure very seriously. As such, we take every reasonable precaution to ensure your information is protected from loss, theft or misuse. These precautions include appropriate physical security of our offices, controlled access to computer systems, and use of secure, encrypted internet connections when collecting personal information.

Cookies

Only essential cookies are used in this online survey. These are called session cookies. Session cookies cannot be used to identify you personally. These pieces of information are used to improve services for you through, for example, recognising that you may already have given a username and password, so you do not need to do it for every web page requested. No analytical or marketing cookies are used in the Online Diary Tool.

You can read about the commitments the Office for National Statistics (ONS) makes to those taking part in its surveys in our ONS respondent charter for surveys of households and individuals.

If you have a question about how we process your personal data or want to find out more about your rights under data protection legislation, please see our data protection page.

At the ONS, we take seriously our responsibility to the public. It is our policy that we will tell the appropriate authority if we believe there is a serious risk to someone’s safety.

We would appreciate your suggestions on how we can improve any of our studies. It would also be great to hear from you if you are happy with the service you have received. You can email us at surveyfeedback@ons.gov.uk.

If you have queries, please call our Survey Enquiry Line on 0800 085 7376.

Minicom users should dial 18001 before this number. The opening times are:

Monday to Friday 8:00am to 7:00pm

Saturday 8:00am to 1:00pm

Useful links

Information Commissioner’s Office

We sometimes share selected information with our service providers to help us run our surveys. We only share the personal details they need to know. To find out more about each service provider’s commitment while they are handling your information, please visit their websites.