Time Allocation: A Tool For the Study of Cultural Behavior

Abstract

Time allocation studies diffuse rapidly among anthropologists as the problems they treat require an accurate , detailed technique for observing and recording human behavior in context (74, 152). Time-allocation (henceforth TA) techni­ ques are well established in other social science disciplines as well as in engineering and management science (48, 161, 218, 228). Sociologists have relied heavily on self-kept time diaries on relatively large samples to build up time-budget data. Anthropologists who have explored the technique tend to rely more often on observation . T A studies provide a tool with which to examine a multitude of questions. TA measures the behavioral output of decisions, preferences, and attitudes. It provides a measure of role perform­ ance. It measures the rates at which goods are produced. TA provides primary data on many kinds of social interaction and provides the basis for defining social groups by behavior. T A can provide important data in studies of atti­ tudes, values, cultural style, and emotions. Any kind of behavior with an observable environmental effect can be observed using T A techniques, includ­ ing speaking, working, repose , leisure , etc . TA is useful in many kinds of comparative studies: cross-cultural , interethnic cross-sectional, and longitu­ dinal (see 100). It provides a basis for describing and analyzing intracultural variation--even individual variation-seasonal , diurnal , ecological, and other kinds of variation . Because it is replicable, the TA approach allows ethno­ graphers to achieve the same reliability as empirical techniques in the other natural sciences . T A provides for a microscopically detailed behavioral record from which to construct higher order cultural units (115) including social units, ethnic units, modes of production, and evolutionary stages. The observational rules implied