millennium multitasking: the impact (or otherwise) of technology on multitasking behaviour dr caro...

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.