Millennium Multitasking: The impact (or otherwise) of technology on multitasking behaviour
Dr Caro Partridge
Chimera, University of Essex
www.essex.ac.uk/chimera
eSociety project
• Investigating the impact of technology on six areas of society– Shopping– Travel– Indoor leisure– Outdoor leisure– Media use– Social life
• Using time use studies to investigate change
www.essex.ac.uk/chimera
Home Online dataset
• Longitudinal study; 3 waves
• Time-use diary and household survey
• 303 households completed time use diary in all three waves
• 35 categories of time use
• Aggregated variables of interest to eSociety project
www.essex.ac.uk/chimera
Primary activities
• Before considering multi-tasking, consider primary activities
• How people spend their time according to socio-demographic variables– Male / female (n=125m, 176f)– Children / no children (n=106 with, 107 without)– (Age group; n = too small )
• Consider results over the course of a day (normal waking hours) to examine trends.
www.essex.ac.uk/chimera
Sample results: Social life (1)
Primary time spent on social life: Gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
0700-0800
0800-0900
0900-1000
1000-1100
1100-1200
1200-1300
1300-1400
1400-1500
1500-1600
1600-1700
1700-1800
1800-1900
1900-2000
2000-2100
2100-2200
2200-2300
Time period
Me
an
min
s p
er
ho
ur
Male Female
www.essex.ac.uk/chimera
Sample results: Social life (2)
Primary time spent on social life: Children
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
0700-0800
0800-0900
0900-1000
1000-1100
1100-1200
1200-1300
1300-1400
1400-1500
1500-1600
1600-1700
1700-1800
1800-1900
1900-2000
2000-2100
2100-2200
2200-2300
Time period
Me
an
min
s p
er
ho
ur
Have kids No kids
www.essex.ac.uk/chimera
Sample results: TV viewing (1)
Time spent watching TV as a primary activity: Gender
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
0700-0800
0800-0900
0900-1000
1000-1100
1100-1200
1200-1300
1300-1400
1400-1500
1500-1600
1600-1700
1700-1800
1800-1900
1900-2000
2000-2100
2100-2200
2200-2300
Time period
Mea
n m
ins
per
ho
ur
Male Female
www.essex.ac.uk/chimera
Sample results: TV viewing (2)
Time spent watching TV as a primary activity: Children
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
0700-0800
0800-0900
0900-1000
1000-1100
1100-1200
1200-1300
1300-1400
1400-1500
1500-1600
1600-1700
1700-1800
1800-1900
1900-2000
2000-2100
2100-2200
2200-2300
Time period
Mea
n m
ins
per
ho
ur
Have kids No kids
www.essex.ac.uk/chimera
Multitasking: The problem with numbers.
• 303 completed diaries – but a lot of missing survey data.
• Pooled data to increase n– Those who went online between W1 and
W2, or between W2 and W3.– Those who got a mobile phone between
W1 and W2, or between W2 and W3.
www.essex.ac.uk/chimera
Hypotheses
• Consider:– Impact of going online for the first time– Impact of getting a mobile phone
• H1: Going online will show increased multitasking in home-based activities (e.g. social life, indoor leisure), but have no impact on outdoor activities
• H2: Getting a mobile phone may show increased multitasking in any activity. – “The mobile phone fits into the folds of everyday
life” (Ling, 2004)
www.essex.ac.uk/chimera
Multitasking during outdoor leisure and shopping:
• Very little secondary activity on these variables regardless of ICT presence or absence.
Secondary activities during outdoor leisure / Net ownership.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0700-0800
0800-0900
0900-1000
1000-1100
1100-1200
1200-1300
1300-1400
1400-1500
1500-1600
1600-1700
1700-1800
1800-1900
1900-2000
2000-2100
2100-2200
2200-2300
Time of day
Me
an
min
s p
er
ho
ur
About to get net Just got netAge:20-59
Secondary activities during outdoor leisure / Mobile ownership.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0700-0800
0800-0900
0900-1000
1000-1100
1100-1200
1200-1300
1300-1400
1400-1500
1500-1600
1600-1700
1700-1800
1800-1900
1900-2000
2000-2100
2100-2200
2200-2300
Time of dayM
ea
n m
ins
pe
r h
ou
r
About to get mobile Just got mobile
www.essex.ac.uk/chimera
Multitasking during indoor leisure (net)
Secondary activities during indoor leisure / Net ownership.
0
1
2
3
4
0700-0800
0800-0900
0900-1000
1000-1100
1100-1200
1200-1300
1300-1400
1400-1500
1500-1600
1600-1700
1700-1800
1800-1900
1900-2000
2000-2100
2100-2200
2200-2300
Time of day
Mea
n m
ins
per
hour
About to get net Just got netAge:20-59
Total time spent on indoor leisure as a primary activity
0
24
6
810
12
14
1618
20
0700-0800
0800-0900
0900-1000
1000-1100
1100-1200
1200-1300
1300-1400
1400-1500
1500-1600
1600-1700
1700-1800
1800-1900
1900-2000
2000-2100
2100-2200
2200-2300
Time period
Mea
n m
ins
per h
our
www.essex.ac.uk/chimera
Multitasking during TV-viewing (net)
Total time spent watching TV as a primary activity
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
0700-0800
0800-0900
0900-1000
1000-1100
1100-1200
1200-1300
1300-1400
1400-1500
1500-1600
1600-1700
1700-1800
1800-1900
1900-2000
2000-2100
2100-2200
2200-2300
Time period
Mea
n m
ins
per h
our
Secondary activities during TV: Net ownership.
0
1
2
3
4
0700-0800
0800-0900
0900-1000
1000-1100
1100-1200
1200-1300
1300-1400
1400-1500
1500-1600
1600-1700
1700-1800
1800-1900
1900-2000
2000-2100
2100-2200
2200-2300
Time of day
Me
an
min
s p
er
ho
ur
About to get net Just got net Age:20-59
www.essex.ac.uk/chimera
Multitasking during social life (mobile)
Total primary time spent on social life
0
1
2
3
4
5
0700-0800
0800-0900
0900-1000
1000-1100
1100-1200
1200-1300
1300-1400
1400-1500
1500-1600
1600-1700
1700-1800
1800-1900
1900-2000
2000-2100
2100-2200
2200-2300
Time period
Mea
n m
ins
per h
our
Secondary activities during social life / Mobile ownership.
0
1
2
3
4
5
0700-0800
0800-0900
0900-1000
1000-1100
1100-1200
1200-1300
1300-1400
1400-1500
1500-1600
1600-1700
1700-1800
1800-1900
1900-2000
2000-2100
2100-2200
2200-2300
Time of day
Mea
n m
ins
per
hour
About to get mobile Just got mobile
www.essex.ac.uk/chimera
Multitasking during travel (mobile)
Total time spent travelling as a primary activity
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
0700-0800
0800-0900
0900-1000
1000-1100
1100-1200
1200-1300
1300-1400
1400-1500
1500-1600
1600-1700
1700-1800
1800-1900
1900-2000
2000-2100
2100-2200
2200-2300
Time period
Mea
n m
ins
per h
our
Secondary activities during travel / Mobile ownership.
0
1
2
3
4
5
0700-0800
0800-0900
0900-1000
1000-1100
1100-1200
1200-1300
1300-1400
1400-1500
1500-1600
1600-1700
1700-1800
1800-1900
1900-2000
2000-2100
2100-2200
2200-2300
Time of day
Mea
n m
ins
per
hour
About to get mobile Just got mobile
www.essex.ac.uk/chimera
But…
Secondary activities while watching TV
0
1
2
3
4
5
0700
-080
0
0800
-090
0
0900
-100
0
1000
-110
0
1100
-120
0
1200
-130
0
1300
-140
0
1400
-150
0
1500
-160
0
1600
-170
0
1700
-180
0
1800
-190
0
1900
-200
0
2000
-210
0
0700
-080
0
0800
-090
0
0900
-100
0
1000
-110
0
1100
-120
0
1200
-130
0
1300
-140
0
1400
-150
0
1500
-160
0
1600
-170
0
1700
-180
0
1800
-190
0
1900
-200
0
2000
-210
0
Time of day
Mea
n m
ins
per
ho
ur
Reading Housew ork Incoming calls Eating at home Using PC Being visited Caring Making calls Eating out Cooking
Just got net About to get net
www.essex.ac.uk/chimera
Conclusions
• Going online & getting a mobile phone have a small but noticeable impact on amount of multitasking for certain variables.
• But secondary activities on these variables account for only 2-3 minutes per hour.
• Multitasking is taking place but difficult to assess the impact of ICT when considering different times of day.
• Data (1998-2001) preceded mobile phones and broadband becoming ubiquitous, and did not include a variable for texting.
• Next step: Aggregating secondary activity over time slots.