The dynamics of time use: Context and meaning

In this article, earlier work on the organization of the household day is revisited to bring a sociological perspective to the study of household time. There is much to be gained from elaborating the conceptualization and measurement of time use to acknowledge and the employment of its dynamic qualities and meanings. That is, analysis of household time use must become far more than a longitudinal accounting process. In this article, no roadmap to such a destination can be provided but perhaps movement in a new direction. The practical application of insights from research on household time use requires conceptual frameworks that allow household time to be depicted as it unfolds and as participants experience it. That is, serious attention might be lent not only to studying where time is spent but also to how activities are situated and experienced in time to realize human affairs.She is the author ofThe Gender Factory: The Apportionment of Work in American Households, and in 1995 she coeditedindividual Voices, Collective Visions: 50 Years of Women in Sociology, published by Temple University Press. Her current work focuses on the theoretical articulation of race, class and gender in women's work.This paper required a good deal of reflection on a project I undertook with Richard A. Berk in 1975. I am grateful for his comments and suggestions.