Diary Data
This is part of a revealing, detailed study of Internet use during the week of Jan. 12-19, 2001, by 24 upper-middle-class families in a small-town neighborhood. The information here was gathered through interviews and the completion of time-use diaries by individual family members in two dozen Elon, N.C., households. Details from the families’ diary data are included on this page. A few people in some of the families (mostly younger children) did not complete individual diaries of Internet use.
Many methodology and quantitative details are included on this page, but to see more statistical breakdown please go to the following links:
(To return to the homepage of this site go here: https://www.elon.edu/u/imagining/time-capsule/one-week/)
Study participants
- 65 people in 25 families filled out the diaries
- 25 men
- 23 women
- 10 girls and 7 boys under age 18
- Median adult age: 43; Median child age: 12
- Adult age range: 31-68
- Children age range: 7-17
Access method
- 22 families use modem
- 3 families use cable/high-speed
Location of use
- Home: 360 Internet sessions
- Work: 244 Internet sessions
- Other/unreported location: 46 Internet sessions
Time of day
- 6 a.m. – 9 a.m.: 109 sessions
- 9 a.m. – noon: 122 sessions
- Noon – 3 p.m.: 118 sessions
- 3 p.m. – 6 p.m.: 132 sessions
- 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.: 98 sessions
- 9 p.m. – bedtime: 60 sessions
Time spent online
- Web: 14,072 minutes
- 216 minutes per person
- 31 minutes per person each day
- E-mail: 8,728 minutes
- 134 minutes per person
- 19 minutes per person each day
- Instant Messenger: 1,056 minutes
- 16 minutes per person
- 2 minutes per person each day
- Total Internet Time: 23,856 minutes
- 367 minutes per person
- 52 minutes per person each day
E-mail
- Used by 52 of 65 participants during this week
- E-mail reading/sending sessions: 635
- 10 per person
- 1.4 sessions per day
- E-mails received: 2,508
- 39 per person
- 5.5 per person each day
- E-mails read: 2,053
- 32 per person
- 4.5 per person each day
- E-mails sent: 841
- 13 per person
- 2 per person each day
- Time reading e-mail: 5,224 minutes
- 80 minutes per person
- 11 minutes per person each day
- Time sending e-mail: 3,504 minutes
- 54 minutes per person
- 7.7 minutes per person each day
World Wide Web
- Used by 61 of 65 participants during this week
- Web work time: 3,788 minutes in 89 sessions
- 43 minutes per session
- Web information time: 3,417 minutes in 161 sessions
- 21 minutes per session
- Web fun time: 2,431 minutes in 83 sessions
- 29 minutes per session
- Web news time: 1,902 minutes in 126 sessions
- 15 minutes per session
- Web other time: 1,458 in 81 sessions
- 18 minutes per session
- Web shopping time: 1,076 in 60 sessions
- 18 minutes per session
Instant Messaging
- Used by 12 of 65 participants during this week
- 6 adults and 6 children
- 1,056 minutes in 47 sessions
- 22 minutes per session
Entry and exit interviews plus the family members’ daily diary entries have also been woven into the individual magazine feature-style stories on each family that you can find by clicking here.
To return to the homepage of this site go here: https://www.elon.edu/u/imagining/time-capsule/one-week/