TIME ORIENTATION AND ACTIVITY
PATTERN 0F SELECTED HOMEMAKERS

Thesis for the Degree of Ph. D.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
DOHA ABDEL-RAHMAN ELGIDAILY
1971

 

 

 

 

 

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Michigan State
at, University
This is to certify that the I
I
thesis entitled ‘

TIME ORIENTATION AND ACTIVITY PATTERN
OF SELECTED HOMEMAKERS

presented by
Doha Abdel—Rahman Elgidaily

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Ph.D. degreein Family Ecology

WW W
Major professor fl
Date June 9, 1971

04639

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABSTRACT

TIME ORIENTATION AND ACTIVITY PATTERN
OF SELECTED HOMEMAKERS

By
Doha Abdel—Rahman Elgidaily’

This study attempted to; first, identify the pattern of
activity and/or resource use of a selected group of home—
makers--the extent to which the activity pattern involved
conservation of resources——; second, to identify the tempor—
al value—orientation of the homemaker, past, present or
future time-oriented; third, to explore relationships between
the time—orientation and the activity pattern of the home—
maker. An accepted idea in home management literature is
that values direct activities. The degree to which the home-
maker's behavior in the home relates to her temporal values
and/or time—orientation has been a comparatively untapped
home management research area.

The sample consisted of thirty rural non-farm families
who reported income below the poverty level five years
earlier. The homemaker in‘each family was observed for
approximately four hours while performing her normal daily
activities. Verbal conversation was mechanically recorded.
Activity data were coded according to the nature of the activ—

ity, area in which the activity occurred, and materials and

 

 

 

Doha Abdel—Rahman Elgidaily

equipment used in the activity. Distinction was made between
activities which have a resource conserving function and
those with the ultimate.purpOSe of consumption. Two addi-
tional categories were identified as control activities, Which
were purposeful but did not serve the immediate function
either of resource conservation or consumption, and prepara—
tion-construction activities, which have the function of
augmentation or creation of resources.

Conversations were transcribed and then divided into
message units. Each message unit was coded on two dimensions,
the time reference which appeared to be intended by the home—
maker——past, present or future—-and the content of the message
unit, whether the homemaker referred to self, other persons
or materials.

Activity pattern of each homemaker was identified as being
higher or lower than the average mean frequency per minute
of the thirty homemakers with respect to resource conserving
activities (RCA) and the consumption activities (CA).
Since the two categories of activities-—RCA and CA——are com—
plementary to each other in the sense that a higher level of
RCA facilitates or is necessitated by a higher level of CA,
activity pattern was identified from both RCA and CA. Half
of the homemakers had mixed activity patterns characterized
by higher RCA and lower CA, or vice versa.

Percentages of each of the three time categories in rela—

tion to total number of message units were calculated and

 

 

 

 

 

Doha Abdel—Rahman Elgidaily

used as variables indicating the time—orientation of the
homemaker. The predominance of the present time reference
in the conversation of these homemakers was consistent with
studies relating time-orientation to social class which
found that lower class people are predominantly present
time—oriented. When each time reference was looked at
separately in the same manner as activities, thirteen home—
makers were classified as being more future time-oriented,
and sixteen and thirteen homemakers, respectively, as being
more present and more past timeroriented.

With respect to the content areas, these homemakers

could be classified as person-centered rather than material
centered people. The Chi Square Test of Independence indi—
cated that time-content categories were dependent on each
other. The homemakers were less future and less past time-
oriented under the "materials" category of content and less
present time—oriented under the "self" content category.

The relationship between the time—orientation of the
homemaker and her activity pattern was in the predicted
direction. Future time—orientation was associated with
higher mean frequency per minute of RCA, whereas past and
present time—orientation WEre associated with lower mean
frequency per minute of RCA.

Several hypotheses were suggested by this exploratory

investigation.

 

 

 

Doha Abdel—Rahman Elgidaily

Homemakers who are future time—oriented perform resource
conserving activities more frequently than those who are past
or present time-oriented.

A higher economic position is positively related to fre—
quency of performance of resource conserving activities
because (a) performance of RCA contributes to economic im—
provement and (b) families in a higher economic position have
more material resources requiring conservation.

A higher level of education is positively related to
frequency of performance of resource conserving activities.

Younger, more highly educated homemakers tend to be more
future time-oriented than those who are older or have less
education.

Homemakers who are highly self—centered perform resource
conserving activities more frequently than those who are
other person—centered.

Homemakers who are highly materials-centered perform
control activities more frequently than those who are highly
person-centered (self or other persons).

Homemakers who are future time—oriented and/or highly
other person—centered perform preparation—construction activi—
ties more frequently than those who are present or past

time-oriented and/or highly self—centered.

 

 

TIME-ORIENTATION AND ACTIVITY PATTERN

OF SELECTED HOMEMAKERS

BY
Doha Abdel—Rahman Elgidaily

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Family Ecology

1971

 

47/? 3/

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The writer wishes to express the most sincere appreci—
ation to Dr. Frances Magrabi, chairman of her guidance com—
mittee whose assistance, suggestions and generous help
throughout the study were a true learning experience. To
her, the writer wishes to acknowledge her indebtedness.

It has been very fruitful, as many previous Ph. D. candi—
dates have found, to associate and work with her.

Special thanks are also due to Dr. Beatrice Paolucci,
Dr. Margaret Jacobson and Dr. Carol Shaffer, members of the
committee for their interest and advice. Grateful appreci—
ation is expressed to Mrs. Jacqueline Wood and Miss Beverly
Braden who assisted in coding the data. Gratitude and
acknowledgment are also expressed to Dr. Harry Hoppe, in the
English department who gave of his time for editorial sug—
gestions.

A special note of thanks is due to the Egyptian Govern—
ment for making my graduate study possible and for financial
support. Sincere appreciation is also expressed to the
Institute for International Education (IIE) for the finan—
cial support. Grateful acknowledgments are due to the
Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of
Agriculture who supported the study.

Last but not least, my husband and my parents deserve

much credit for this presentation. Their faith and confi—
dence in my abilities were a great sustaining influence.

ii

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER P age
I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Statement of the Problem. . . . . . . . . 3
II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Resource Use in Family Activities . . . . 5
Role of resources in home management . 5
Family activity patterns . . . . . . . 7
Resource conserving activity: impor—
tance of the concept. . . . . . ll
Techniques for studying family activi—
ties° . . . . . 12
Values Underlying Family Activities . . . 14
Role of values in home management. . . 15
Values as directors of activities. . . 18
Related research . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Techniques for probing values. . . . 24
Temporal Values and/or Time- orientations: 27
Time— orientation as a form of value
orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Related research . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Time perspective. . . . . . . . . . 32
Time—orientation. . . . . . . . . . 36
Assumptions and Objectives. . . . . . . . 43
III. METHODOLOGY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Definition of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Selection of Sample: Criteria and
Rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Mechanics of Contacting Families and
Techniques for Obtaining Cooperation . 52
Collection of Data. . . . . . . . . . . 56
Means of establishing rapport. . . . . 56
Practice sessions. . . . . . . . . . . 56
Data collection. . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Interview schedules . . . . . . . . 57
Activity records. . . . . . . . . . 58
Verbal conversation . . . . . 62
Problems and difficulties encountered
in collecting data. . . . . . . . . 62

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS-—C0ntinued

CHAPTER

IV.

Coding of Data . . .

Coding activity records . . . . . . . .

Activity code.
Material code.

a u c - o o o a u o o

n a a . a c n u . u .

Space code . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Intercoder agreement on activity

coding. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Coding conversation . . . . . . . . . .

Time- orientation . . . . . . . . . .

Content. . . .

a u n a o o

Intercoder agreement on time refer—
ence and content. . . . . . . . .

Analysis of Data . .
Activity data.

0 o a o . o c . u u .

Conversation data. . . . . . . . . .

Relationships.

o o a o o a . u a o .

CHARACTERISTICS‘OF THE SAMPLE . . . . . . . .

Size and Composition of the Family . . . .
Formal Education of Husbands and Wives . .
Occupation of Husbands and Wives . . . . .
Income of Families . . . . . . . . .
Sources of Income in the Family. . . . .

Amount of Money Owed

Home Ownership . .
Mobility of Families
Years . . . . . .

Meal Planning Before

by and to the Family.
in the Last Five

Shopping. .

Equipments and Facilities Available for

the Family. . . .

o a o 0

Condition of the Home. . . . . . . . . . .

Summary. . . . . . .

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION.

9 a o a - a o a o o o

o a o o a a a o o a o

Activity Pattern of the Homemaker. . . . .
Distribution of activities. . . . . .
Frequency of observed activities in
' relation to area of the home . . . .
Frequency of observed activities in

relation to material of central
focus of the activity. . . . . . . .
Relationships among activities. . . . .

Identification of

the homemaker's

activity pattern . . . . . . . . . .

iv

96
101
103
105

105
105

110
120
126

130

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS—~continued

CHAPTER
Time Orientation of the Homemaker. . . . .
Distribution of message units . . . . .
Identifying the time—orientation of the
homemaker. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Content categories . . . .
Test of independence of content— time
categories . . .
Relationship Between Activity Pattern and
Time— orientation. . . . . . . . . .
VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION. . . . . . . . . . .
Limitations of the Study . . . . . . . .
Implications for Future Research . . . . .
LITERATURE CITED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
APPENDIX A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
APPENDIX B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
APPENDIX C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
APPENDIX D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Page
138
139

141
147

147
151
156

162
163

168
175
177
209

213

 

 

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE

1.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

Number of family members living at home five
years before, and at the time, data were
collected. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Distribution of family members by age, in
thirty families, at the time data were
collected. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ages of husbands and wives of thirty families.

Educational level of husbands and wives of
thirty families. . . . . . . . . . . .

Occupational level of husbands and wives of
thirty families. . . . . . . . . . . .

Income distribution of thirty families
Number of sources of income in thirty families

Amount of dollars owed by and to thirty
families . . .

Home ownership of thirty families.

Number of moves in the last five years by
thirty families. . . . . . . . .

Meal planning before food shopping

Types of equipment and facilities available
for thirty families. . . . . . . . . . .

Rating of thirty families on home condition
with respect to five variables . . . .

Distribution of observed activities performed
by homemakers of thirty families .

Percentage of resource conserving activities

performed in different locations of the house
by thirty families . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

vi

Page

81

83

84

85

87
88

90

92

94

95

97

98

102

107

111

 

 

LIST OF TABLES——continued

TABLE

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

Percentage of activities with ultimate purpose
of consumption performed by thirty families in
relation to places of performance. . . . .

Percentage of control activities and activi—
ties that augment or create new resources per—
formed by thirty families in relation to

place of performance . . . . . . . . . .

Percentage of different activities performed
by thirty families in relation to material of
the central focus of activity. . . . .

Percentage of total activities performed by
thirty families in relation to material of the
central focus of the activity.

Correlation coefficients calculated among
different types of activities. . . . .

Number of homemakers identified for each of
the four activity patterns . . . . . . . .

Homemakers in the higher and lower groups of
mean frequenciesfminute of resource Conserv1ng
activities in relation to their educational
level. . . . . . . . . .

Homemakers in the higher and lower_groups of
mean frequencies/minute of resource conserv1hg
activities in relatibn to their occupations.

Family incomes of homemakers in the higher and
lower mean frequency/minute of resource con—
serving activities . . . . . . . . .

Percentage of message units spoken by thirty
homemakers in each of the three time
references . . . . . . . . . .

Time orientation of thirty homemakers. . .

Distribution of age of thirty homemakers in
relation to their time—orientation . .

Distribution of educational level of thirty
homemakers in relation to their time—
orientation. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Page

115

121

127

129

132

135

135

137

140

143

143

146

 

 

LIST

OF TABLES——continued

TABLE

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34

35.

36.

Percentages of message units spoken by thirty
homemakers in each of the three content areas .

Percentages of message units of thirty home—
makers' conversations during the performance of
daily household activities as related to time
content categories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Correlation coefficient calculated between
types of activities and time content cate-
gories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Percentage of different kinds of activities
performed in different locations of the house
by thirty families. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Percentage of total activities performed in
each location of the house by thirty families .

Resource conserving activities in relation to
material of central focus of the activity in
order from highest to lowest percentages. . . .

Utilization activities in relation to materials
directly utilized in the activity in order from
highest to lowest percentages . . . . . . .

Control activities and activities which augment
and/or create new resources in relation to_

material directly used in the activity in order
frOm highest to lowest percentages. . . . . . .

viii

Page

148

149

153

214

215

217

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Time plays a crucial role in our lives, serving to
integrate our behavior and mediate our adjustment to our
surroundings (10). It has long been an area of concern to
philosophers, biologists, physicists, and psychologists (64).
In recent years, however, the nature of "time—orientation“
as a personality variable has been the focus of more atten—
tion from psychologists in the form of either speculation
or research about the manner in which people orient themselves
to time. Evidence from several investigations (4,24,46,76,77)
suggests that different individuals and groups do differ with
respect to being past, present, or future time—oriented.
According to Teahan (76) one can conceivably characterize
individuals or groups of individuals by the kinds of temporal
orientations which dominate their lives.

The manner in which individuals perceive and orient them—
selves to time is thought to be an important determinant of
behavior. More specifically and as Fink (24) puts it, “The
effects of an individual's time perspective on his behavior
are dependent upon the differential importance he ascribes
to his psychological past, present, and future." Temporal
orientation thus seems to be an important area of study if

one is to better understand individuals. A quote from Frank

 

 

—§,, fir

 

cited by Smeltzer (70) may illustrate this point:
"... Probably the most important differentiating aspect of
these private worlds (each individual's) is the value we

give to the various constituents of the surrounding world,
according to our individual time perspective.”

If time perspective and time—orientation are of
importance to the understanding of man, then professional
people in the field of home management who are concerned about
the homemaker and her managerial practices in the home must
be interested in studying the homemaker's temporal value—
orientation which underlies her behavior in the family
setting. In current home management literature an accepted
idea is that values direct activities and behavior. The de—
gree to which the homemaker's behavior in the home relates
to her temporal values and/or time—orientation, whether she
is past, present, or future time—oriented, has been a compara-
tively untapped home management research area, and thus is a
question that remains largely unanswered. Very little is
known regarding the nature of the time—orientation of the
homemaker and its relation to her day—to—day activities and/or
behavior in the home.

Families achieve their goals through some type of be—
havior or activity. Hence, many activities performed by
the homemaker are directed toward goals. During the per—
formance of the activity the homemaker acts upon or utilizes

resources. It is through the use of resources in day—to—day

 

 

activities that families reach their goals. As homemakers
perform their normal daily activities, patterns which tend
to conserve the family's available resources and serve a
resource-conserving function, as well as patterns of activi—
ties which utilize materials with the ultimate purpose of
consumption, may be distinguished. Since the values which
an individual holds determine or direct his activities, one
expects a relationship between the temporal values of the
homemaker and the activities she performs. The differences
in the temporal value—orientations of homemakers may be
related to differences in their activity patterns. For
example, future time-orientation may be more strongly associ—
ated than past time—orientation with the performance of
activities which involve conservation of families' resources
because a future time—oriented homemaker may be more inter—
ested in ensuring that the material goods and resources

she has available will continue to fulfill their function

in the future, and therefore she may be inclined to perform
activities which conserve these resources. Past time—orien—
tation on the other hand implies that the homemaker lives in

the past and repeats what she has done in the past°

Statement of the Problem

The present study is concerned with an investigation
into the activity pattern of the homemaker, her time—

orientation, and the relationship between the two. In more

 

 

 

 

specific terms, the purpose of the study is three fold:

First, to identify the pattern of activity and/or
resource-use of the homemaker and the extent to which her
activity pattern involves conservation of resources. Such
identification of the homemaker's activity pattern in these
terms may be useful in helping families improve their
economic position and quality of life as dependent upon use
of resources.

Second, to identify temporal value—orientation of the
homemaker, past, present, or future.

Third, to explore relationships between time—orientation
of the homemaker and her activity and/or resource—use

pattern.

 

 

 

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter is designed to present a review of litera—
ture pertinent to the establishment of the theoretical
orientation developed and used in this research. Areas of
literature are presented in the following manner:

1) resource—use in family activities; 2) values underlying
family activities; and 3) temporal values and/or time—
orientations. Assumptions and objectives will be presented

at the end of the chapter.

Resource Use In Family Activities

1
Included in this section is a review of literature ‘
relevant to the role of resources in home management and the

way in which the concept is viewed by different investiga—

tors in the field, the concept of family activity patterns

and resource—conserving activities, and techniques of study-

ing family activities.

Role of resources in home management

Management is defined as the use of resources to achieve
some goals. Thus, management by definition implies that one
manages something, namely resources. This view is supported

by many writers (18,19,68,69). Deacon and Bratton (18), for

 

 

 

 

example, state that the functional nature of management is
accepted in its definition as a process by which means
(resources) are used to achieve ends. Paolucci and O'Brien
(68), consider resources as the tools of management,
indicating that increasing one's knowledge about resources
facilitates management since management is the way one pro—
ceeds from resources to goals. Resources are the tools
which make end results and goals possible.

Deacon and Maloch (19), in their proposed framework for
management, define resources as being anything (knowledge;
skills, abilities, or objects) which can be used or directed
toward achieving demands. Nickell and Dorsey (65), in dis—
cussing family resources, look at resources as consisting of
tools, assets, capabilities and ways and means possessed.

Several writers suggest the division of resources into
human and non—human resources. Gross and Crandall (34),
Paolucci and O'Brien (68) and Schlater (69), include energy,
skills, knowledge and attitudes under the human resources,
and tangible goods and facilities under the non—human
resources.

Gross and Crandall, however, consider time as a human
resource. Whether time is a resource or utility has been
questioned by Warren (78). Using as criteria that a resource
must have alternate uses, be scarce, and be transferable,
she points but that time meets only the first criterion of

having alternate uses. On the other hand time is not scarce

 

 

 

unless one believes that the world is coming to an end.
Time is not transferable in the sense that one cannot sell
or buy it, or give it to someone else. Time goes with each
individual.

From the previous discussion, one can see that decisions
in management determine how the resources will be used.
Family resources, whether human or non—human, are acted upon
to achieve goals. It seems that the most important charac—
teristic or quality of resources is their scarcity, and that
is where the need for management arises. As Schlater (69)
points out, resources of all families are limited and scarce;
if otherwise, no managerial decisions would need to be made.
The scarcity of resources implies that conservation and
preservation of resources are important if the family is to

use them efficiently to reach goals.

Family activity patterns

The focus of home management is on how families manage,
in other words how they use and organize the resources they
have in order to achieve their goals. In her study of
”Daily Activity Patterns of Peasant Homemakers," Nelson (63),
explored the concept of activity pattern as an approach to
understanding how time functions in home management. An
activity pattern was defined as the ordering of tasks which
is characteristic of a person or group of persons during
some specified time span. Two types of activities were

suggested as meaningful: behavioristic and ideational

 

 

 

 

activity patterns. Behavioristic activity patterns were
defined as those derived from what people do, while idea—
tional activity patterns were defined’as those derived from
what people say that they 6r others have done or will do.
Within the selected time_span, the indices of presence,
repetition, and sequence of activities were proposed as
specific indicators of activity pattern. The most important
result of this study was that it demonstrated the applic—
ability of the concept of activity pattern in a specific
cultura1.setting, namely Costa Rica. Nelson, however, did
not discuss the possibility of the applicability of the
concept “activity pattern“ in other cultures as well.

In another research study (84), activity patterns and
space needs of four types of American farm households were
investigated. The four types of families were identified
according to the age of children. The first type all had
children under six. The second type had some children under
six and some six or above. The third type had children 6—18
years of age and the fourth type had all children 18 or over
or no children living at home. The activity patterns of
individuals within the four family types were compared.

Unlike Nelson's study, in the Northeastern study (84),
activity patterns were identified for any individual in the
family based upon the distribution of each class of indi—
viduals' time. The patterns for each family type were not

representative of any one family, yet the distinct differences

 

 

between types gave evidence of changing housing needs through
the life span of a family. The activity participation and
the use of locations by the different family members in the
different family types led the authors to make some generali—
zations about the activity patterns which were identified

in terms of the amount of time spent on each activity.

In Baker's study of Costa Rican families (1), she was
concerned with developing a conceptual framework and measure—
ment model for family—resource patterns as they relate to
the educability of preschool children. She classified family
resource patterns by nine resource categories: space, move~
ment, care and appearance, play, task and work, child's
learning, family learning, child's social contacts and family
social contacts. Educability referred to the goal of having
the child prepared for successful participation in school.
Four resource dimensions were used for each resource cate—
gory: availability—quantity, availability—quality, use—
quantity, and use—quality. The study offered implications
for theory of management in families, for cross—cultural
research, and action programs with families. Although Baker‘s
study was concerned with family resource patterns rather than
activity patterns, the two concepts are related in the sense
that resources are means of achieving goals and the use of
resources usually is involved in any type of activity.

Magrabi, Paolucci, and Heifner (58), developed a differ—

‘ent framework for studying family activity patterns.

 

 

10

These investigators conceptualized family activity patterns
as being characterized by a set of dimensions: the time
(duration and sequence) associated with the activity;
participants; communications (content and identity of message
receivers and sender); spacial areas in which the activity
takes place (identity of the space and index of interactive
space); and the materials utilized in the activity. If the
homemaker's pattern of activity and/or resource use is to be
viewed from the position of conservation of resources, such
dimensions as the time associated with the activity, house—
hold materials and equipment used in the activity may be
useful in classifying the activity.

There have been several studies done on the homemaker's
use of time in the United States. These studies were pri—
marily concerned with the amount of time allocated for dif—
ferent types of family activities. Some studies of the use
of time by homemakers showed that a full—time homemaker
averages about eight hours on a weekday for household work
(12,81).

Data collected by Steidl (73) in a study of three
groups of families (full—time farm and city homemakers, and
employed city homemakers) provided some information about
the distribution of activities between homemaking and non—
homemaking activities. She found that the pattern was
similar among the three types of homemakers. The propor—

tions of time allocated to the broad areas of food, housing,

 

 

11

clothing, marketing, and personal activities were the same
among them. However, the employed city homemakers allocated
slightly less time to homemaking activities, as compared to
the full—time farm and city homemakers. What Steidl. meant
by pattern in her study is the percentage of time allocated
for the activity.

Some of the studies on the use of time report that
activities may express the individual's values. Two studies
reported by Dyer (20) and Ketchum (42) suggest that values
of homemakers are expressed through the daily activities
performed by them. These two studies will be revieWed later
in the section on "values underlying family activities.“
Resource—conserving activities: importance
of the concept

The management of material goods in the household

presents one of the most complicated problems today. Material

goods, as Gross and Crandall (34) state, range from food
mixers to safety pins, from fabric rugs to linoleum, from
clothes to pens and pencils, and from highly perishable foods
to books. Within the family, goods are made available for
the life support of its members. In order for a family to
obtain goods, this can be done through the acquisition of

new goods from the market. Once these are made available for
the family and in order to regulate acquisition of new goods
from the market, the family needs to conserve these avail—

able resources owing to the fact that resources are in

 

 

w: fi=1== _—..

12

general scarce, and therefore need conservation and care.
For each article in the household, appropriate treat—
ment and care after use are necessary to preserve it if
this material good is to continue to function properly in
the future during a normally expected time period. By the
same token, avoiding waste will conserve the family's
resources. Family activities such as caring for durable
goods and avoiding waste tend to conserve and preserve the
family's resources and hence may be called resource—
conserving activities. Helping families conserve their
resources may be a useful means of improving their economic
position and environmental quality through organizing and
regulating their acquisition of new goods. Other activities
seem to utilize and use up the family's resources and may
be termed consumption activities, for example, moving things

away from storage for the purpose of consumption.

Techniques for studying family activities

Family activities studies within home management have
tended to be quantitative, i.e., focusing on the amount of
time spent in each activity. Studies of homemakers' activi-
ties and/or time use have usually been made using chrono—
logical records of activities for one or two days, more
specifically by means of personal diaries.

Diary studies have proven to be time—consuming and
require cooperative and intelligent subjects, and thus do

not adequately represent those homemakers with little

 

 

13

education, or with young children or other demanding
responsibilities. In studying daily activity patterns of
homemakers, Nelson (63), utilized the observational tech—
nique as a more accurate method for obtaining detailed
data. In the Northeastern study of household activities
home observations were also utilized (84).

Warren, back in 1940 (79), developed a method designed
to eliminate the limited representation which occurred in
diary studies. In Warren's study, selected homemakers were
asked to recall their activities for some days prior to the
interview. This method was based on the assumption that
the homemakers' recall was accurate enough so that results
were a valid representation of time use in the period which
was recalled. Its limitation is that recall may be a vari—
able factor, thus the validity of such data may be ques—
tioned. Such factors as the interval between the occurrence
of the event and the recall, homemaker variation in ability
to remember, and the relative importance of the events
themselves to the homemaker, can operate to make recall
data quite different from the actual time use which the
method aimed to reveal.

Ketchum (42) and Dyer (20) in their studies of the
homemakers' values as reflected in family activities both
used the open—ended question of how the homemaker used her
time the day before, and why. The homemakers recalled

yesterday's activities with reasons for doing each. The two

 

 

14

researchers were primarily interested in the value content
of the activities rather than the activities themselves.
Therefore, the recall method did not seem inappropriate,
since the reasons for doing activities were more important
than an accurate detailed record of the activities.

If activities performed by the homemaker are to be
analyzed in terms of whether or not they involve a resource—
conserving function, a detailed record of what the home—
maker does minute by minute for a certain period of time
is important so that each activity can be classified with
respect to whether it is a resource—conserving activity or
not. For example, while the homemaker is preparing food,
she may possibly turn on the stove, then turn it off, move
things from and to storage. If the homemaker kept a record
of her daily activities, she would probably include all
these activities under food preparation, since it is the
major activity going on. On the other hand if the home—
maker is observed while doing the same activities, the
observer can record each activity in detail so that activi—
ties such as moving things to storage which clearly imply

resource conservation, may be classified as such.

Values Underlying Family Activities

Included in this section is a review of literature

pertinent to the role of values in home management, values

 

 

 

15

as directors of activities, reIated research, and techniques

for probing values.

Role of values in home management
The importance of values in home management has been
perceived by several investigators. Malone and Malone (59)
strongly emphasize the idea that management is guided by
family values and goals, ."It cannot be emphasized too strong—
ly that good management strives to reach the largest total of
family desires but is guided by family values and goals.”
Hill (37) points out the fact that values are of first
concern to all of us. He emphasizes that this must be true
if we accept the fact that the purpose of home economics
is to promote the well being of individuals and families.
Paolucci (67) in pointing out the importance of values

I!"

in home management says ... becoming aware of the value
content in family living, recognizing that values can be
expressed and perpetuated through the performance of mundane
household tasks, and the ability to define those values

that underlie the choices and decisiOns individuals make is
the first concern of home management.”

In this connection, Frank (28) thinks that the most
effective opportunity to modify the practices of home man—
agement is to be found in the school and college, where
young people who are to be hememakers can be helped to dis—

cover not merely efficient practices and skills but more

importantly the ideas and concepts and the values which they

 

 

 

 

 

16

carry into their adult lives and attempt to realize as
members of a family and parents of children.

Emphasizing the responsibility of home management as a
source of human values, Frank believes that home management
is not merely a question of skills and standardized equip—
ment which are important to the conservation of human energy
and time. More specifically, he looks at home management as
a way of life for which the homemaker needs clarification
of aims and purposes, aspriations and values, a faith in the
supreme importance of the human relations that alone give
the home social justification.

It seems that the interest in and the importance of val~
ues in home management stem from their relation to decision
and goal formation. To emphasize the importance of values in
decision—making, Mockmore (61) says that in almost any situ—
ation which calls for decision, one is forced to evaluate
alternatives. What this means is simply to weigh alterna—
tives in terms of one's identified values. Gross (33) in
her article on "Impact of Certain Disciplines on Home Manage—
ment" also points out the important relationship of values
and decision—making. She says that in selecting one alterna—
tive out of several, one aspect is its probability of attain—
ing certain goals and the other is the desirability of those
goals and the latter comes from the decision—maker value
system. In Jacob, Flink, and Schuchman's (39) opinion,

”A value is the standard for decision—making." Geiger (30),

 

 

 

17

expresses the idea that man makes his decisions on the basis
of his values.

The relationship between values and decision—making
seems to be based on the process that involves among other
things, evaluation, choice, and elimination of possible
alternative courses of action in favor of that alternative
which in the mind of the decision—maker is the most desirable
course of action. Once the decision is made, a goal is
reached, since each alternative is made up of two elements,
resource and goal. The decision involves choosing specific
means (use of resources) to reach a goal.

As values play a vital role in the decision—making
process in management they also are the underlying force in
setting our goals. The three sources of motivation in
management reported by Gross and Crandall (34) are values, ;

goals, and standards. Although the three are closely related,

ivalues is the key term of the trilogy. From values stem the

function as the most basic underlying force in directing

two other aspects, goals and standards (34)° That values

managerial activity is an accepted proposition in management, '

Schlater (69) states. Examination of the underlying values

that prompt a family to select goals and make particular

decisions to effect these goals increases understanding of
management and should ultimately result in more effective
management (69).

In this connection, Deacon and Bratton (18), believe

*that individuals or families who have developed or recognized

 

 

18

a system of values that provides a basis for selection

among goals will experience more satisfaction in management
of activities than those who have not. It seems that
regardless of the facility required in the other aspects

of management, satisfaction would be limited if there were
too much vacillation on goals or uncertainty about relative
importance of the values one holds. Schlater (69) also
elaborates on this point by stating that the success of

the family in making satisfying decisions depends upon under-
standing the values its members are attempting to realize
through decisions made. When values are consciously identi—
fied and expressed, they can more easily be translated

into goals and then through decision—making to realization.
Lee (51) thinks that one way to aid the individual in his
world of change is to help him become aware of the value
(content of his everyday life and to be aware of the values

1
l
at the base of his choices and decisions. ‘
I
1

Values as directors of activities

The idea that values are directors of behavior and
activities is reflected in the literature. From the previous
discussion one can see the role of values in selecting among
alternatives in a decision—making process and the role of
values in setting goals. The following review of litera—
ture illustrates and clarifies the relationship of values
to action, behavior and/or activity through their relation

to decisions and goal formation. The point of view of a

 

 

 

 

 

 

19

number of writers from different fields is presented; many
and varied interpretations are given.

Heenan (36), points out that the person's needs,
motives and values determine the choices he makes, steer
his behavior and give him a sense of direction. According
to Kluckhohn (45), "A value is a conception, explicit or
implicit, distinctive of an individual or characteristic of

a group, of the desirable which influences the selection

from available modes, means, and ends of action.“ Williams
(82), looks at values as ”... observable variables in human
conduct.... They (men) select particular objects and courses

of action out of a range of possibilities present in a situ—
ation. Some human behavior at least, is purposive: people
can and do state their goals in advance and can then be
observed to act as if they were in fact pursuing those
ends.”

Williams (83) in another one of his writings also in-
cludes the idea that values serve as a standard for action
by pointing out that values are meaningful and affectively
invested pattern principles that guide the human conduct.
Jacob, Flink, and Schuchman (39) also state that values are
the normative standards by which human beings are influenced
in their choice among the alternative courses of action
Which they perceive. Linton (56) illustrated the relation—
ship of values to behavior by defining the value as any
element common to a series of situations which is capable of

evoking overt respOnse in the individual.

 

 

 

 

 

 

20

While some of the writers discussed above see values
as standards for action, Fitcher (26) has expressed the
view that values influence actions as well as goals. He
believes people use values as norms and criteria that point
the way to goals and objectives.

Stein and Cloward (74), define values and their rela—
tionship to action in the following statements: "Values
determine the choices men make, and the ends they live by.
What is considered good and what is evil; what is right
and wrong; success and failure; what is important and unim—
portant; desirable and undesirable; beautiful and ugly, all
are value questions. Whether the values lie in the realm
of ethics, economics, aesthetics, or religion, they exist
as they are experienced in human minds and translated into
human action.“

In presenting these different points of views, one can

conclude that values are concepts of the desirable which

are important to the individual and assist him in selecting

(modes, means and ends of actions. They are the underlying

‘forces directing activities. From values stem goals which

in their turn are translated to some type of behavior or

‘activity. "Values are the original horizon from which stem

our peculiar pattern of goals through which we view the

Potentialities of our resources and even the management

‘process" (57). Each activity, therefore, is directed toward

a goal which is formulated according values. Values thus

 

 

21

underlie-behavior and direct activities through the use of
resources. The relationship between values and activities

can be illustrated in the following diagram.

 

 

 

F VALUES ""—

M

GOALS

M

ACTIVITIES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related research

Several studies in home management reported by Dyer (20),
Engebretson (22), Kohlmann (48) and Ketchum (42), have focused
on the homemaker's values, with homemakers as respondents.
And others have focused on family's values, with parents and
their children between the ages of 12 and 18 (60), or with
parents and one or more of their children of varying ages as
respondents (13,25). Although much has been written concern—
ing the idea that values underlie behavior and are directors
of activities, very little research is reported in this
regard. The two studies conducted by Dyer and Ketchum have
focused on the homemaker's values as they are reflected in

personal and family activities. Only these two studies will

 

 

 

22

be reviewed since they are more relevant to the present
study in that they focus on values in relation to home
activities.

Ketchum (42) studied the values of homemakers as they
were reflected in family activities. She compared the home-
makers' values as identified by the reasons given for the
daily home activities with their ranking of twelve selected
values. After making the comparison, she tried to see
whether the hierarchical arrangement is the same. The author
thought of values as the directors of the managerial choices.

The 50 homemakers who constituted her sample were volun—
teers from a Home Demonstration group. The data consisted
of background information, answers to open—ended questions
about activities performed and reasons for their performance,
the ranking of a list of 12 values, and forced—choice test
of the most important value in each of 66 pairings of values.
In each of the pairs, the homemakers selected the statement
representing the most important value.

In order to determine the relative importance of the
various values to each homemaker, the number of times each
value represented was chosen over the other values repre—
sented, was computed. The relationships between values
reflected in the reasons, and the rank order and the forced—
choice test were compared. A high correlation was found
between the rank order and the forced—choice test which made

the investigator assume that they may be used interchangeably.

 

 

 

23

The correlation coefficient calculated between values
reflected through reasons given for activities and values
selected in the forced choice test was much lower. This
perhaps may be due to the difficulty that Ketchum mentioned
in her classifying reasons according to the selected value
categories, and also to the limited ability of the home—
makers to verbalize reasons for performing activities.

It is possible that a higher correlation could have been
obtained between the categorized reasons and the other rank—
ings, if the homemakers had categorized them instead of the
researcher doing the categorization of reasons herself.
However, Ketchum's study was valuable in the sense that it
contributed knowledge and research techniques concerning
the study of family values.

Looking at Dyer's study (20), one finds it very similar
to Ketchum's. It upholds the idea that activities have
value COntent and that homemakers are to a certain degree
aware of the value an activity mediates. She attempts to
identify the values of homemakers through their expressed
reasons for their daily activities, and to compare the
hierarchy of their values by other research techniques.

She defines values in much the same way as Ketchum.

Different from Ketchum's study, however, the sample
consisted of a group of student wives. She had the home—
makers categorize the reasons they expressed for performing
activities. This perhaps overcame the limitation reported

by Ketchum. Dyer used 9 projective stories representing

 

 

24

each value in place of the forced choice test used by Ketchum;
she also used the ranking order of a set of 9 values, both
tests being constructed around the same values. The home~
makers categorized the reasons also around the same 9 values.
As the homemaker was asked to record her activities
with reasons for doing each, 9 envelopes were provided for
the 9 values and she was asked to place her activities and
their accompanying reasons in the envelope she thought each
belonged. The highest correlation was found between projec—
tive stories and categorized reasons, and the lowest corre—
lation between the rank order test and categorized reasons.
The researcher accordingly concluded that the more projective
the instrument is the more likely it is to reveal values

underlying the homemaker's behavior.

Techniques for probing values
Values are not tangible or observable. They have to be

inferred by means of some kind of research technique. No
two individuals or families hold the same values. Value
identification becomes a real problem because people have
difficulty verbalizing their values and goals, and they are
[not usually aware whether their actions or decisions are
achieving desirable ends. According to Straus (75)
”Unfortunately most people are rather non—plussed when
(asked what their goals are."
1 Different means for probing the values which particular

:groups hold have been suggested and used by researchers.

 

 

 

25

The idea that values can be effectively identified and
inferred through observed behavior is found in the litera-
ture (45,83). Kluckhohn (45) contended that ”Values can

be appraised by studying choice, preference or inference
from overt behavior, but the study of choice—behavior seems
to offer the nearest approach to a research method uniquely
adapted to the study of values."

Williams (83) also suggests looking at the choices made
in order to identify values. He points out that direct
observation, testimony of witnesses, self—reporting and
other indirect means can be used.

Clough‘s (11) classification of values is based upon

 

the aspect of human behavior to which they apply. He identi—
fies seven areas of activity in which values are apparent.
His classification of values according behavioral activity
lends support to the idea that a relationship exists between
values and behavior.

The rank—order test, the projective—story technique
and the forced-choice test fer identifying values were used
by several researchers in hOme management. Beyer (7), and
Kimball (43) used the rank order test to identify values
related to housing, values related to farm and home practices,
respectively. Dyer (20) and Ketchum (42) utilized the same
technique for studying homemakers' values.

Values related to housing needs were researched by

Cutler (13), and values of a group of homemakers were studied

 

 

 

26'

by Ketchum (42), and Kohlmann (48). All these researchers
used the forced—choice tests. Dyer (20), Engebretson (22),
and Martin (60), in probing homemakers' values utilized
the projective—story technique.

Summarizing the techniques used in studies conducted
on values, one can say that rank—order test seems to be
effective in bringing values to the level of awareness and
in identifying a hierarchy among values. Families need to
be made sufficiently aware of their values which underlie
their decisions and goals at least to know what they are
working toward. This awareness increases the managerial
ability of family members. The forced—choice tests suggest
the establishment of a priority of values. One needs to
keep in mind, however, that the choices must always be made
between two values even though neither of them may be held
to a very important degree. The projective story technique
showed effectiveness in the studies where it was used.

In the previous three ways of studying values, sets of
values are established by the researchers. This, however,
probably has the disadvantage that these pre—established sets
of values may not be all inclusive. In other words the
selection of the range of possible values may not fit into
a set of categories. This danger can prdbably be reduced
to some extent if each researcher is very careful in select—
ing and delineating those values that are to be studied.

Aside from the previous techniques, values may also

be inferred by other means. For example, what people say

 

 

 

27

in their words can reflect their values. Kluckhohn (45)
wrote under the heading “Operations For The Study of Values“
"... what a person says about his values is truer from a

long term viewpoint than inferences drawn from his actions
under specific conditions ... people often lie by their

acts and tell the truth with words."

Language used by people can also be an expression and
reflection of these people. According to Berlo (6), language
is one of the ways in which we express ourselves and our
ideas, and messages are the expression of what we think of.
One usually speaks as he thinks. What people value or see
as important is expressed in their vocabulary during their
conversations.

All humans have language. The language any group uses
is an expression of that particular group. What is
important in a culture, and in a family is shown in the vo—
cabulary. Language reflects attitudes, customs, feelings
and values of the group from which language originates.

One of the assumptions of this present paper therefore,
is that values are expressed through language and hence

can be inferred from the conversation of people.

Temporal Values and/or Time Orientations

Included in this section is a review of literature
relevant to: time—orientation as a form of value—orienta—

tion, and related research.

 

 

 

28

Time—orientation as a form of value—
orientation

A major study of value-orientation was conducted by
Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck (46). They argue that the basic
values of people have direct effect upon their behavior and
thought. They classify value orientation into five cate—
gories, 1) Human nature (innate goodness and badness),

2) Man—nature (subjugation—to—nature, harmony-with—nature,
mastery—over—nature), 3) Time dimension (present, past,
future), 4) Activity (being, being—in-becoming, doing),

and 5) Relational (lineality, collaterality, individualism).
The researchers used this framework for the study of dif—
ferent cultural group communities in southwest U.S.A.,
namely a Spanish—American village, a Navaho Indian band,

and Anglo—Saxon. Primarily the study was concerned with the
exposition of a theory of variation in value—orientations.

The researchers defined the value—orientation as
"patterned principles resulting from transactional interplay
of three analytically distinguishable elements of the
evaluative process, the cognitive, the affective, and the
directive elements——which give order and direction to the
ever—flowing stream of human acts and thoughts as they
relate to the solution of common human problems.“

Time—orientation, as mentioned above, was one of the
five forms of value—orientation studied by them. They state
that the temporal orientation can break easily into the

three-point range of past, present and future. The three

 

 

29

fold division proposed by Kluckhohn and Strddtbeck for the
time value orientation schema has a similarity to Spengler's
(71) conception in its distinction between a relatively
timeless, traditionless, future—ignoring present and
realizable future, but it also differentiates from these
an orientation which places primary emphasis upon the main—
tenance, or the restoration of the traditions of the past.

Variations in temporal focus were illustrated by
Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck. They point out that Spanish
Americans who have been described as taking the view that
man is a victim of natural forces are also peOple who
place the present time alternative in first order position.
They pay little attention to what has happened in the past
and regard the future as both vague and unpredictable.
Planning for the future or hoping that the future will be
better than either the present or the past simply is not
‘their way of life (46). Historical China, these researchers
‘argue, was a society which gave first—order value preference
to the past time-orientation. Ancestor worship and a strong
family tradition were both expressions of this preference.
So also was the Chinese attitude that nothing new ever
happened in the present or would happen in the future; it
had all happened before in the far distant past.

Some of the chief differences between the people of the
’United States and England, Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck argue,

derive from somewhat varying attitudes toward time.

 

30

Americans have difficulty understanding the respect the

English have for tradition, and the English do not apprEci—

ate the typical American's disregard for it (46). Americans,
more strongly than most people of the world, place an empha—
sis upon the future——a future which is anticipated to be 1
bigger and better. This does not mean they have no regard
for the past or no thought of the present. But it certainly
is true that no current generation of Americans ever wants
to be called "old fashioned."

The previous discussion reveals that time—orientation
is a form of value—orientation. Kluckhohn's definition of
value—orientation, that it gives order and direction to E
actions and thought in solving the human problems, is con—
sistent with the earlier—stated definitions of values which
affirm that values are directors of activities. The
temporal value—orientation accordingly may be defined as
lthe direction——past, present, or future—-of the individuals'

(thoughts and feelings that affect their overt action.

Related research

 

The temporal value—orientation of the homemaker whether

lshe is past, present, or future time—oriented has not yet
\.

lbeen fully explored, but a review of pertinent psychological

(literature related to the concept of time—orientation is

1

iincluded. In a study of decision—making styles of Mexican
1

homemakers, Bustrillos (9), identifies the style as the

lcombination of the dimensions of the three elements, mode,

 

31

time reference, and decision making rule. This time refer—
ence base has three dimensions, past, present, and future.
The responses of the homemakers to three hypothetical
decision problems were examined and classified according to
the three elements of decision—making style and their
dimensions.

The criteria for coding statements under each of the
time—reference categories were as follows: For future
reference the criteria were predictive statements or explicit
expectations of fulfillment or a future state of affairs.
For past reference the criteria were statements about the
traditional, the habitual, or a reference to what had gone
before. For present reference the criteria were statements
which denoted the current conditions, that which was on—
going but not habitual, what was felt, or what was universal.
These are consistent with definition of time—orientation
as value. Bustrillos's results showed that the situational
characteristics as the homemaker perceived them at the time
she made the decision were most frequently the present time
reference. The past and future time references were domi—
nant in very few decisions.

Although Bustrillos considered time reference as an
element in decision—making styles, this so—called time
reference appears to represent in fact the temporal value—
orientation. For the present study, Bustrillos's study is
Valuable in the sense that it gives some clues about the way

time reference can be examined and coded.

 

32

Some work on the nature of time-orientation appears in
psychological literature. Several definitions and studies
of true—orientation have been reviewed and presented.

A number of workers have shown that different individuals
and groups do differ with respect to time—orientation.

Some researchers used the two terms time—orientation
and time perspective synonymously in the sense that their
definitions are almost the same. Some authors gave the two
terms varied definitions. It seems appropriate therefore,
to review the two terms separately.

Time perspective. Barndt and Johnson (5) studied time-
orientation in delinquents. To them the two terms time-
orientation and time perspective meant the same thing.

This study will be discussed later in the time—orientation
section.

Wallace (77) on the other hand, in investigating the
(phenomenon of time perspective in schizophrenia, differen—
(tiated between the two concepts of time—orientation and
:time perspective. Time—perspective referred to the span of
itime covered by the individual's thoughts, fantasies, feel—
(ings, etc., into the past and into the future, while time—
{orientation referred to the direction in time of the
‘individual's thoughts, fantasies, and feelings, into past
“present, or future (77). To him time—perspective, means the
ldistance into the future that the individual is able to

:project himself, and past—time perspective signifies the time

 

span
U7).
menti

or fl

that
orga
his

ofr

reL
and
log
fut

em

33

span into the past that the individual can conceptualize
(77). The term that Wallace has suggested for the distance
mentioned above is extension, which can refer to either past
or future time perspective.

By using the story completion technique Wallace found
that the length of future time span and the degree of
organization of its contents are significantly reduced for
his sample of schizophrenic patients as compared with a group
of normal controls.

According to Merrell (24) “time perspective is the
relative degree of extensiveness, specificity, clarity,
and emotional involvement with events (physical and psycho—
logical) occurring differentially in the past, present, and
future.“ This definition is somewhat similar to yet differ—
ent from Wallace's definition of time perspective. The two
definitions are similar in the sense that they both involve
extensiveness and/or distance reflected in the individual's
feelings. But they are different since Wallace considers
time perspective with respect to past and future only, while
Merrell looks at it in the three time dimensions, past,
present, and future. Wallace's definition seems to be more
precise and clearly stated.

Stated by Lewin (54), time perspective is defined as
"the totality of an individual's views of his psychological
future and psychological past existing at a given time.“

In another article Lewin (55) expresses the same idea, but

 

refe:
says
the

futu
give
con:

Alt?

W017

amt

fm

Es)

34

refers to both time orientation and time perspective. He
says that an individual's behavior may encompass more than
the present situation, and the psychological past and
future are part of the total life space existing at any
given moment. The individual's views of the past and future
constitute his time perspective or time orientation (55).
Although Lewin equated the two terms time perspective and
time orientation, his definition lacks clarity. The use of
words psychological past and future in the definition seem
ambiguous because these words need definition themselves.
The Lewinian concept of time perspective has been the
focus of several investigations, namely those reported by
Eson (23), and Fink (24). Eson in his analysis of time
perspective at five different age levels, was primarily
concerned with “temporal emphasis" or the stress given in
thought or conversation to the past and the future. To him,
time perspective means ”the emphasis given to the various
time dimensions.” His method was to have his subjects list
items that they had talked or thought about in the previous
two week period. Then, he analyzed these items according to
whether they referred to the past or future. Eson's findings
showed that all his group representing the five age levels
places more emphasis on the future. Contrary to the common
assumption that old people place less emphasis on the future
and more on the past, Lewin found that his 65 year old group

place more emphasis on the future than on the past.

 

spec
ques

orie

shi}

Act

35 3

According to the definition Eson used for time per—
spective and the methodology he employed, it may be
questionable whether his results revealed the type of
orientation which characterized his subjects.

Fink (24), on the other hand in his thesis "The Relation—
ship of Time Perspective to Age, Institutionalization, and
Activity," focused on the concept of time perspective which
he defined as "The psychological past, present and future
as they exist for and influence the individual." Fink's
primary tool for assessing time perspective was the Thematic
Apperception Test (TAT) from which he used pictures. He
also analyzed the subjects' daily conversations in terms of
the past and future references in their thoughts. Fink
found that aged people were more concerned with the past
and less with the future than younger people. However, he
also found that aged institutiOnalized people were more
past oriented than were their non-institutionalized age
equals.

A related but somewhat modified View of time perspec—
tive is given by Krech and Crutchfield (49), who suggest
that time perspective is ”the psychological past and future
as they exist for and influence the individual at the
present moment.” In the original formulation by Lewin (54)
as mentioned above, time perspective referred to ”The
totality of the individual’s views of his psychological

past and psychological future existing at a given time."

 

36

In fact the previous conceptions and definitions of
time perspective for the most part are confusing. One
would not know exactly whether each author was studying
time perspective or time—orientation since the authors
did not clearly define each concept. To a large extent,
the difficulty and confusion stem from the fact that some
of the terms included in the above definitions themselves
need definitions and clarification. For example, concepts
such as psychological past are subject to many interpre—
tations if used in a definition. Therefore the inclusion
of such terms in definitions lends ambiguity to the obtained
findings. It seems that Wallace’s definition of time per—
spective avoids much of the confusion since it precisely
differentiates between time—orientation and time perspective.

Time—orientation. Barndt (4), compared extensiveness
of time—orientation of two groups of 16 year old boys, one
of institutionalized delinquents and one of public school
pupils. He defined time-orientation as ”psychologically
experienced relationship with the time continuum.“ Story
completion method was used. He measured time—orientation
by having the subjects complete a story and then tell them
how long a time had elapsed from beginning to end of the
story. The results were placed into categories ranging from
"under an hour" to "three months or more.". Holding social
class constant, Barndt found that his delinquents projected

less future time into their stories and were more

 

pres e1

deiin

who i
adols

their

ver
tiv

ext

37

present—oriented than their more future—oriented non—
delinquent brethren.

This was also true of the subjects of Davids et al.'(l4)
who found that male and female juvenile delinquents of
adolescent age were present time—oriented as compared to
their normal group who were future time—oriented.

Some probing has been done into the relationship between
social class and time—orientation. Lewin for example,
thinks that the social environment in which an individual
lives affects his time—orientation. LeShan (53), attempted
to investigate the relationship between social class and
time orientation. His definition of time—orientation is
very similar to the previous definitions of time perspec—
tive. He suggests that time—orientation refers to the
extensiveness of the time span with which the individual
is concerned, the crucial time limit during which he will
frustrate himself in order to attain a goal. His subjects
were 74 lower class and 43 middle class children eight to
ten years old. Using the story projective technique, stories
were told by the subjects in response to the stimulus “Tell
me a story.” The stories were scored in terms of the length
of time covered by the action of the stories. LeShan found
statistically significant differences in the length of time
covered in the stories told by children of these two social
classes. The middle class children were more future time-

oriented than their lower class peers who seemed to be

I'.—";’7€vS;E“—‘gkrvr~j; 3.443;??? ...... .xl. , 1 7

 

 

38

predominantly present oriented. The middle class children
also told stories which involved a longer time span. Thus,
LeShan substantiated his hypothesis that there are different
time—orientations for different social classes. According
to LeShan's definition and method of scoring the data, one
is not quite sure whether LeShan measured time perspective
or time—orientation.

Fraisse (27) supports LeShan's findings by pointing
out that the temporal perspectives and orientations bear a
relationship to each of the groups to which one belongs and
in which his experiences have their origin.

Davis (17) and Kinsey (44) have also remarked on dif—
ferences in temporal orientations between members of dif-
ferent social classes. They both point out that lower class
groups are less likely to postpone present gratification in
favor of future gains. They believe that middle class
families place greater stress upon the future in the train—
ing of their children. Davis (16), while discussing the
socialization process, suggests that the class culture
largely determines the extent and kind of future orientation
for a given adolescent.

Murphy (62) speaks of differences in time perspective
or orientation between Hindus and Moslems. He attributes
these differences to differences in cultural backgrounds.
Frank (29) says "Whole social classes may be described by

the time perspective that dominates their lives."

 

 

 

39

Other workers report differences in time—orientation
according to socio—economic subcultural experiences. Gist
and Halbert (31) who worked in Australia, Davis (17) in
America, and Spinley (72) in England, agree that lower
socio—economic class members tend to be preoccupied with
the present and its problems and pay relatively little
attention to the future.

Teahan (76) studied the time—orientation of sixty
seventh and eighth grade parochial school boys, thirty of
whom were high achievers and thirty were low achievers.

He used pictures from the TAT to assess time orientation.
His results substantiated his main hypothesis that high
achievers are more future time—oriented than low achievers.
This c0nclusion was true for a number of other studies
relating time—orientation to achievement (15,32,4l,47).

Israeli (38) in a study concerned with the feelings
of undergraduate students about the various time—orientations,
found that while 13 percent of the students worried about
their past, 94 percent were hopeful about the future. He
used what now appears to be a rather naive questionnaire.
He simply has his subjects fill out a questionnaire with
statements such as ”Is the past more important than the
present?“I "Is the future more important than the past?" and
so on through the various combinations of past, present
and future. He also developed the future-biography tech—
nique which asks the subject to write on his personal

eXpectations on the future.

 

 

 

‘40

Smeltzer (70) studied time-orientation and time per—
pective in psychotherapy. The purpose of his research was
0 determine the changes in time—orientation and future time
erspective in the course of psychotherapy. His subjects
are nineteen (ten female and nine male) students who had
eceived treatment for emotional problems at Michigan State
niversity Counseling center. Time—orientation was deter—
ined by noting the time reference of each of the verbs used
y the subject (past, present, or future). According to his

findings, Smeltzer (70) concluded that the entire pattern of
decrease in past, increase in present, and increase in
future time—orientation may be the important factors in
successful psychotherapy.

Balken and Masserman (3) and Laffey (50) used the verb
tenses in their subjects’ TAT stories to indicate the domi—
nant time—orientation. Laffey, however, found that his
subjects (male prisoners) tended to use the present tense
predominantly even when referring to the past and the future.
He explained that the tendency was due to the social class
and status of his subjects. This would cause a difficulty
i-f the verb tense was used as an indicator to the time
reference. Laffey observed that this would probably not be
a problem in middle class or college subjects who have been
taught "proper" grammar. Eldred et a1. (21), Grummon (35),
Iaffe (40) and Weintraub and.Arronson(80) also have used

Jerb tenses as an indicator of time reference, in therapy—like

 

 

 

and t
ing t
subje
meth<
pitf;

avoi

ers

bet
sta
wri
ori

int

41

and therapy situations, with success. The method of indicat—
ing time-orientation by noting the verb tense used by the
subjects in their conversations seems to be a satisfactory
method if conversation of subjects is available and if the
pitfall that Laffey noted can be taken into consideration to
avoid bias due to improper uSe of grammar.

From the previous discussion, we perceive that research-
ers Who studied time-orientation did not neceSsarily define
it as different from time perspective. To differentiate
between the two concepts, time-orientation as Wallace (77)
stated and as the previous discussion of Kluckhohn's (46),
writings on the temporal value-orientation included, time—
orientation could refer to the direction in time of the
individual's thoughts and feelings—~past, present, and
future-~Which directs his actions. It is important if time—
orientation or time-perspective is to be studied that the ‘
definition be clear in the researcher's mind. He has to
select the apprOpriate definition and methodology for investi—
gating any of the two concepts. The great variety of
techniques used and discussed above for studying time—orien—
tation may raise some questions about the findings-reported.

The theoretical and empirical evidence presented sug—
gests the importance of the concept of temporal orientation
as a determinant of behavior. It also suggests that some
individuals are predisposed to "live in the present" and to

have either little appreciation for or awareness of the future

 

 

42

 

or the past. Such people may have a proclivity to act with
little apparent regard for the consequences of their behavior.
Others seem to be able to think ahead before acting and to
modify their behavior in terms of possible consequences.
People in this group are more concerned with the future as
the most important time period. They could be said to have
future time—orientation.

People who are past time—oriented always seem to glance
backwards. They shut themselves and live only with reference
to the past, they are tied to the past, and prefer to with—
draw into the past. This group of people seems to be unable
to meet realities of the present and despairs of the future.
To them, the future is an uncertain area of life and hence
they rarely look in that direction. They try to relive the
past and repeat what they have done in the past.

In light of the discussion presented in this chapter,
the author hypothesized the following relationships of the
homemaker's pattern of resource use and the three-point
range variation in her temporal value—orientation.

Homemakers who are future time—oriented see an objec-
tive and a purpose in what they are doing. Therefore, it
seems possible that the performance of activities which
involve conservation of the family's available resources
imply future time—orientation. More specifically, home—
makers who are future time—oriented, are likely to perform

activities which tend to conserve the family‘s resources

 

 

i
i
t
i
t
i

 

more
oriei
sis ‘
as a
and
and)
act
car:
the
fut

ori

43

more frequently than do both the past and the present time—
oriented homemakers. This can be supported by the hypothe—
sis that future versus past and present time—oriented people,
as a result of their ability to think ahead before acting
and to consider the possible consequences of their behavior
and/or activity might be expected to be more concerned with
activities which involve conservation of resources such as
caring for durable goods, since they are interested that
these goods continue to fulfill their function in the
future. Whereas people who have past or present time—
orientation, are less concerned with such activities since
present time—oriented people live in the present and have
little thought to the consequences of their behavior.
Likewise people who have past time—orientation are tied to
the past, and may be expected to repeat what they have done
in the past. The following diagram shows the possible
relationships between the time—orientation of the homemaker

and her pattern of resource use.

Assumptions and Objectives

Underlying the overall design of the study are the
following assumptions:
1. The homemaker uses all three time references in
normal conversation; that is, her conversation may
refer sometime to the past, present and future.

Yet, the most frequent time reference shows her

time—orientation.

 

 

 

 

44

DIAGRAM SHOWING POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN
THE TIME—ORIENTATION OF THE HOMEMAKER AND
HER PATTERN OF RESOURCE USE

PATTERN OF RESOURCE USE

 

HIGHER MEAN FREQUENCY/MINUTE
ON RESOURCE-CONSERVING ACTIVITIES

L FUTURE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PRESENT

   

 

LOWER MEAN FREQUENCY/MINUTE

OF RESOURCE—CONSERVING ACTIVITIES

 

 

 

PATTERN OF RESOURCE USE

 

 

 

45

2. Values are expressed through and inferred from

language;-therefore, they can be identified through
conversation.

The homemaker has an established pattern of daily
family activities which can be inferred from
observing her using the available family resources
during selected time periods.

Sufficient rapport can be established to reduce
excessive change of behavior during the presence of

the observer .

To give direction to the study, three objectives were

formulated:

1.

N
a

To identify from observed activities of the home—
maker, patterns of resource use involving conserva—
tion of resources with respect to use of equipment
and materials.

To identify the nature of the value orientation of
the hOmemaker with respect to the three—point range
of time—orientation, whether she is predominantly
past, present or future time—oriented.

To identify the relationships between the time
orientation of the homemaker and her activity pattern

of resource use, including conservation of resources.

Since the original project, data of which were used in

the present study, was not designed to test any hypotheses,

no statistical hypotheses were postulated. This area of

 

 

46

istudy is exploratory in nature and the research is expected
jto generate hypotheses as an outcome. The author, however,
Tis raising the following research question regarding the
‘relationship between the time—orientation of the homemaker
and her activity pattern:

Homemakers who are future time-oriented perform activi—
ties which have a resource conserving functionymore frequently
than do homemakers who are past and/or present time—oriented.

Additional exploratory questions were raised. Fraisse
(27), and Frank (29), have noted the possibility that an
individual can have more than one time orientation, each
applicable to a different aspect of living, or he may develop
a well—integrated time orientation applicable to all areas
of life. Since this possibility exists, it is necessary to
note the content with regard to time references. If differ—

(ences do exist, then some indication of these is available.
Time orientation, therefore, will be studied in relation to
gtwo main content areas developed by the author: person—
iversus material—centeredness. The content of the homemaker‘s
iconversation could predominantly center around either persons
ior materials. If the homemaker is predominantly person—
:centered in her conversation, she possibly can be either
Eself— or others-centered. "Thus, the analysis of the home—
imaker's conversation will be in terms of time—orientation,

:as well as the content of the conversation with respect to

iself—, others— and materials—centeredness.

 

inte
coni
the
2‘PP
see

hYE

 

 

 

47

It may be possible that the homemaker has just one
integrated time—orientation with respect to these three
content areas. On the other hand it is also possible that
the homemaker may have different time-orientations, each
applicable to one of the content areas. Therefore, it
seems worthwhile to explore this possibility. No specific
hypotheses were formulated in this concern since the idea
is exploratory in nature.

However, it is possible that if time—orientation
showed differences when considered under the three content
areas, these differences will be reflected in the relation-
ship of time-orientation and activity pattern. Consequently,
a relationship might be expected between the activity
pattern and the three content areas, which could be illus—

trated in the following diagram:

 

ACTIVITY PATTERN

 

P

 

 

 

TIME-ORIENTATION
(PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE)

 

 

 

 

CONTENT AREAS
(SELF, OTHERS, MATERIALS)

.___

 

 

 

 

 

 

48

Lennard and Bernstein (52) were found to have developed
similar content areas for analyzing the therapist's inter—
views with the patients in psychotherapy. Their content
areas were: a) Therapist—client relationships, b) Family
relationships, c) Other Social relationships, d) Self.

The last three content areas which are relevant to the
present study were defined below and the statements of the
patients were classified according them as follows:

Family relationships represented propositions regarding
the client's status and interactions in his family of origin
and, if he is married, with his present family. In—laws and
other relatives were also considered to be a part of this
category.

Social relationships represented all other social rela-
tionships outside the family.

Self represented reference to life experiences that

did not refer to other content than the person himself.

Smeltzer (70) in his study of time—orientation and time

perspective adapted the same content areas of Lennard and
Bernstein. At the same time his subjects' statements were
‘scored for time-orientation, they were also scored for con—
itent according to Lennard and Bernstein's system.
i The three content areas of the present study, self,

jother, and materials are defined and the coding system is

iexplained in the next chapter.
i

 

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

In this chapten, terms are defined and explained.
Also included are the following sections: selection of
sample; mechanics of contacting families and techniques for
obtaining cooperation; the collection, coding and analysis

of data.

Definitions of Terms

For the purpose of this study, the terms were defined
in this manner:

Temporal value-orientation and/or time—orientation:
the direction—-past, present, or future—~of the individual's
thoughts and feelings which affects his overt action and is
reflected in his conversation.

Content areap: the three categories of self, others,
and materials, which are expressed in the individual's
conversation.

Activity: the overt action which a person performs
alone or with others.

Pattern: a combination of COnsistent, distinctive
styles, forms or types of activities.

Resources: durable and non—durable goods which are

available for the family to act upon to reach desirable ends.

49

 

 

50

hey include all material things from pins to refrigerators.
.distinctive characteristic of resources is their scarcity.
The temn in this study refers only to nonhuman resources.

Resource conservation: the act of the preservation of

 

resources from loss, injury, decay, or waste. )
Homemaker: the wife—mother who has the responsibility

to manage the household and care for the rest of the family.

Selection of Sample: Criteria and Rationale h

The data analyzed in this study were collected in a %
Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station Project 3029.* E
The present study has its origins in the author's experience i
in working as a research assistant on that project.

The sample of families selected for the study was a non—
probability sample. It consisted of thirty rural-non—farm
families from an area in the vicinity of Lansing, Michigan.
The sample met the following specifications: At the time
data were collected, all families had both husband and wife
present and one or more children ten years of age or older

living at home. This decreased variability in this regard,

:hus increasing the homogeneity of the sample.

 

'The project was designed to investigate relationships

between family activities which conserve or augment re—
sources and patterns of communication among family members.
The project was directed by Dr. F. Magrabi, professor in

the department of Family Ecology, and supported by the
Agricultural Research Service USDA, Grant No. 12—14—100—9153
(62) administered by the Consumer and Food Economics Research
Division, Federal Center Building, Hyattsville, Maryland.

 

51

The total sample of thirty families selected also
reported income below the poverty level five years before
the data were collected and half of them reported that their
economic position had since improved. Daily activities
which tend to conserve the family's available resources can
be thought of as being part Of the process by which families
may improve their economic position.

Definition of poverty used in this study is consistent
with that used by Orshansky (66) at low cost levels. Her
definition of poverty was based on the income which was less
than three times the cost of the low—cost food plan for
families of three or more persons. She considered the
average income for poor rural non—farm families of different
sizes headed by the male as follows:

Number of Average Income
Family_Members Low Cost Level

3 $3,170
4 $4,010
5 $4,680
6 $5,255
7 or more $6,405
The thirty families of the sample were considered to be

at the poverty level 5 years before data were collected.

The poverty lines develoPed by Orshansky served to classify

a Bureau of the Census population sample as of March 1964

in terms of 1963 money income. Data collected for the present

study started Fall 1967 and lasted for two years. Average

incomes in families of different sizes were:

 

 

52

 

 

NUmber of Number of Average
Family Member* Families Income*
3 4 $3,412
4 3 $3,365
5 5** $3,936
6 5** $5,349
7 or more 11 $5,247
8

It may be observed that some of the averages of income
for the families are slightly higher than those considered
by Orshansky. Michigan prices and incomes may be somewhat
higher than other states. Therefore, Orshansky's definition
was considered to be too restrictive for the state of
Michigan.

Rural non—farm families were studied because rural
America affords a home for a substantial number of the
nation's poor. Rural non—farm residents outnumber those of
farms by about four to one (2). Because of the serious

problems in the rural non-farm population, focusing research

on this group was important.

Mechanics of Contacting Families and
Techniques for Obtaining Cooperation

Interviewers, all graduate students, canvased the three-

county area surrounding Lansing (Ingham, Eaton, Clinton) to

contact families and interview homemakers to identify the

families which would fit the requirements for inclusion in

 

T

*These figures are five years before data were collected.
**One family is excluded because of lack of data on income.

 

 

53

the sample for the study. Names and addresses of families
were obtained in different ways, e.g., by asking informants
in the community such as the editor of local newspaper or
others who knew about the community for names and addresses
of families who met the criteria, and by receiving sugges—
tions from some of the visited families.

Without any earlier appointments, the interviewer
stopped by the residence where the family lived. She intro—
duced herself to the homemaker, and explained that the pur—
pose of the study was to help families by providing teachers
with information about how different homemakers perform'
household activities. She handed the homemaker a letter of
introduction to read in order to confirm the validity of
the interviewer's presence. (See Appendix A, page 176 for
letter of introduction.)

If the homemaker agreed to cooperate, the interviewer
immediately obtained basic information from her about the
family on a two—page interview form. The basic information
was necessary to check whether the family met the required
specification of the study and to promote future interest,
for the sharing of information with the interviewer led to
a sort of commitment from the side of the homemaker. At
this point, no future date was set for collection of data
and this omission was later judged to be a weakness, for the
time was ripest when cooperation was elicited and the com—

mitment was made. However, when the respondents were

54

contacted 2 to 6 months later, many intervening family
disturbances made it impossible for some families to help
with the project, e.g., husbands“ attitudes toward the
study, personal illness, children's schedules.

The two—page form of the initial interview is included
in Appendix B, pages 178—180 (interview fOrm I). One of the
questions included in this form was ”How well off are you
compared with five years ago as far as your net worth is
concerned?

a) Better off b) Worse off c) About the same“

According to the homemaker's answer and how she per-
ceived her family's economic position, the family was
classified as either better off or not better off.

About 70 of the families who were first contacted met
the criteria required for the study and were again approached
several months after the initial interview. As the inter—
viewer did the first time, she introduced herself, showed
letter of introduction, and, if asked explained that the
study was to obtain first—hand information about families
which was possible only by visiting in homes and seeing how
homemaking activities; were performed. The objective was to
collect information which would help other families, not
to inspect, judge or criticize. The homemaker was told what
information was sought, how much time would be involved and
what inconvenience would be experienced, if any. Assurances

were made that all information obtained would be confidential

 

 

d
n 5 AV r
a C 0 c w a m

 

55

and not be identified with one's name but would be computed
as part of the study.

If the respondent appeared to hesitate in agreeing to
cooperate, the interviewer tried to keep her talking in
order to obtain her confidence, to make her feel that her
cooperation was needed, and to assure that her contribution
would be significant. If the homemaker agreed to cooperate,
a time was set to begin collection of data. Efforts were
made to fit into the homemaker's schedule and to make her
the interviewer's first consideration. The interviewer
became sensitive to each homemaker's moods and feelings and
uncomplainingly accepted unexpected schedule changes and
delays. If the homemaker decided to withdraw from the study
at any time, the interviewer respected this wish and thanked
her for allowing the interviewer to spend some time in her
home.

Some of the 70 families who permitted the initial inter—
view and who met the required criteria, refused when con—
,tacted again, to permit additional interviews and observations.
Data were collected from the rest of the families, and addi—
,tional families were contacted until complete data were
,obtained from 32 families out of which the 30 families in—
tcluded in the study were selected on the basis of having more

‘complete data.

r
i

 

esta?
bsfo

fict

@

56

Collection of Data

Included in this section is discussion of means of
establishing rapport with families, practice sessions
before actual collection of data, data collection, and dif—

ficulties encountered in collecting the data.

Means of establishing rapport

It was important that efforts be made to establish
rapport with families if they were to be observed while
performing their normal daily activities. This would help
families behave in the normal way without excessive altera—
tion due to the observer's presence. The previous tech—
niques for obtaining cooperation and confidence of the
homemaker helped to accomplish the establishment of rapport,

besides the several preliminary visits and interviews.

Practice sessions

 

Some trial observations in two outside families were
carried out before the actual research data were collected,
for the purpose of providing practice in observing and
recording activities. These practice sessions were helpful
in familiarizing the interviewers with the equipment used,
e-g., clipboard and pencil for writing down activities

iobserved, tape recorder for recording the conversation among

family members.

gafiifrf 74.? a ..r . _ ‘_~

=é—l—‘w V iri¥xpfm,u1 1:

 

 

 

57

Data collection

Five trained graduate students collected the data over
a two—year period. Data collected consisted of the follow-
ing:

I. Interview schedules. Interview appointments were
made with the homemaker of each family by one of the graduate
students in order to get background data from the homemaker
concerning biographical information and information about
household routine and equipment. While filling out the
forms with the needed infbrmation, the interviewer tried to
create a friendly atmosphere so that the homemaker would not
feel embarrassed. The four interview forms are included in
Appendix B, pages 181—207 (Interview Forms II, III, IV and V).

Interview form II included questions which elicited
information about family composition, educational and occupa—
tional status of both homemaker and husband, the different
communities in which the family lived for 6 months or more,
some of the hobbies and activities in which the family
members participated, and the physical condition and the
general health of the homemaker. Questions included in
interview form III concerned information about buying and
use of different types of food and planning meals before
food shopping. In the last few pages of the form an equip—
ment checklist was filled out including major appliances,
small appliances, utensils, etc. Interview form IV was

filled out by the interviewer after the visits were completed.

 

 

58

The interviewer rated the condition of home as she saw it
according to 5 factors——cleanliness, state of repair of
building and permanent fixtures, state of repair of fur-
nishings and equipment, and shabbiness. She used the l to
5 scale for rating, with 1 indicating extremely poor and 5
indicating extremely good.

Economic information was elicited by questions in inter—
view form V. Such questions as numbers of sources of income
in the family, jobs held by husband and homemaker or any
other family member during the past five years prior to the
interview, as well as income associated with each job were
included. Other incomes received from any other source,

e.g., bonus, overtime, or tips were also listed. Other
questions elicited information about whether the family owed
money on any loans or mortgages, the assets and savings of
the family and whether the home was owned or rented.

II. Activity records. 'The observational teChnique was
utilized for collecting data on activities. Like any other
research method, the observation technique has some problems
encountered in using it. A major problem that must be taken
into consideration is that the presence of the Observer
usually changes the situation being observed. This prOblem,
however, can be reduced if sufficient rapport is developed
by visiting the family a number of times before recording
any actual observational data. This may help the family

members become accustomed to the presence of the Observer,

 

 

 

 

59

and presumably behave normally when the data are actually
collected. The main concern was that the Observer's presence
would not cause excessive alteration of the homemakers'
pattern of resource use. It was assumed in this paper that
the procedures stated earlier, which were carried out for
establishing rapport, were sufficient to accustom the family
members to the presence of the observer, and did not them—
selves change the behavior of the family.

Another problem encountered in planning and carrying out
observational studies as Stated by Borg (8) is obtaining
both objective and valid information from the Observation.
Usually in the process of Objectification there is some loss
of validity. This means that the experimenter has the altern—
ative that he can either objeCtively observe, in which case
-his observation will be slightly related to the complex
behavior he wishes to study, in other words the data will be
less valid; or he can get data more closely related to the
complex behavior he is studying but will find it of more
limited value because of its subjectivity.

The homemaker in each family was observed While perform—
ing the normal daily activities by the same graduate student
who did the interview. If any other person participated in or
performed any activity, it was also reported, but the home—
maker was the primary focus of the observation. The following
data were recorded minute by minute by the observer for each
sperson present during the observation: activity in which

engaged, person or materials acted upon, area of the home,

 

 

 

 

and other equipmental materials used. For recording activi-
ties the observer had a clipboard and a pencil for writing
down activities as she was observing. She had also a stop
watch by means of which records of activities were divided
into one minute segments while she was observing. Forms for
recording observations are presented in Appendix B, page 208
(activity record sheet).

Observers were instructed to give special attention to
activities which have implications for resource conservation,
e.g., turning lights or water on and off, storage of materials
and the like. The homemaker as a person performing the
activity received primary attention of the observer. Some
homemakers spent some of the observation time visiting with
neighbors or watching TV which was probably what they would
normally have done at that time, but this did not provide
much data about resource conserving activities.

The observations were performed at times convenient to
the family and were usually arranged in advance. The fre-

quency distribution of the number of minutes observed was as

follows:
Time in Minutes Number of Families
Less than 200 1
201—250 15
251-300 11
Over 300 3
30

The aggregate time period ranged from 156 to 350 minutes with

an average of 255 minutes. In one instance the entire period

 

61

 

of observation, which was four hours, was done in one day.
But in other families the observations were dOne on 1, 2,

3 or 4 different days with varying intervals between and

with varying number of minutes in each observation.

No attempt was made to specify a uniform time of the
day or a uniform number of minutes for observing each family.
Instead, arrangements with homemakers were made to allow for
observations in which other family members, particularly the
children, were at home engaged in activity in the same area
as the wife—mother, and a variety of major household activi—
ties were taking place, namely food preparation, cleaning,
and laundry. This seemed reasonable, not only because the
flexibility made it easier to obtain cooperation from
families, but because it placed the emphasis on obtaining
data about a variety of typical activities. The daily and
weekly schedules for performing activities varied from house—
hold to household, hence observing at the same times of the
day and week in each family might have resulted in less
c0mplete coverage of activities than the plan actually
followed.

The actual activities observed included food preparation,
cleaning, laundry, ironing, tidying, eating, resting and
watching TV, and caring for children. These activities were
performed by nearly all families. However, the frequency of

the performance of an activity varied from family to family.

 

act

 

bat

th

FT).—

62

III. Verbal conversation. The conversation going on
in each family during the observation period and while the
activity was being performed was tape recorded by using a
battery-powered tape recorder supported by a strap from
the observer's shoulder. The equipment allowed the observer
to be very mobile. It meant that the homemaker could be
followed throughout the house as she engaged in the different
activities.

Problemsand difficulties encountered
in collectinggdata

In the course of data collection, there were some prob—
lems and difficulties encountered. Occasionally the equipment
did not function properly. It was disappointing to both the
homemaker and the observer to begin observation and discover
it could not be completed because of improperly working
equipment or because the observer had forgotten some needed
materials. In some cases the tape ran out while the observer
was busy writing the activities she was observing. In such
instances the observer tried to exclude that part of the
observation when the tape ran out and set a new time for
another observation.

Sometimes the quality of the conversation recorded was
impaired by a loud radio or TV or by the sound of the vacuum
cleaner While the mother was using it. This resulted in
recordings of poor quality, which were difficult to trans—

cribe. Another difficulty encountered was that after setting

 

 

 

 

 

63
i
i

appointments with some homemakers for data collection,

 

‘interviewers were faced with schedule changes and delays
which were not accounted for and which each interviewer
iuncomplainingly accepted. In some cases some homemakers
iwithdrew from the study after part of the data was collected.
, Coding of Data

In this section the coding system used for classifying
activities and materials in order to determine the pattern
of activity and/or resource use of the homemaker and pro—
cedures for coding conversation to determine the time—
orientation of the homemaker will be explained. Data on
activity records and conversation were coded by different

persons from those who collected them.

Coding activity records

Data concerning activities observed while being per-
formed were coded by the writer and another graduate student.
With each activity were coded the participants in the activ—
ity, the equipment and materials or persons acted upon, other
materials used, area of the home, and time of occurrence.

The activity record code'sheet as well as the activity record
code form are found in Appendix C, pages 210,211. The activity
record code sheet contains activities, materials, and space

codes. Each of the three categories will be explained.

 

 

 

64

Activity code. Activity categories for coding were
developed to satisfy the following requirements: a) that
the categories distinguish resource conserving activities
from thOSe that utilize materials with the ultimate purpose
of consumption, b) that the categories be independent of
materials utilized in the activity. The classification
system developed, was not a comprehensive one in the sense
that it included only home activities.

The classification system distinguished four categories
of activities which were considered to serve a resource—
conserving function:

Cleaning: included activities such as removing dirt
or waste, sweeping, etc.

Applying protective materials: included such activities
as floor waxing, placing hot pad under pans, etc.

Conditioning—for—storage: included activities such as
wrapping food before storage, folding clothes, unplugging
equipment, etc.

Moving—to—storage: included such activities as putting
cans away in cabinet, turning off water, lights or stove, etc.
The previous four categories of activities seemed to
satisfy the definition of resource conservation. Each activ—
ity in one way or another involves preservation of resources

either from loss, decay or waste.

The following three categories of activities were used
in distinguishing activities which had consumption as an

ultimate purpose:

ym‘r'

 

65

Moving—from—storage: included such activities as
taking things from storage place to place of use, turning
on water, lights or stove, etc.

Conditioning—for—use: included such activities as
laundry, ironing, plugging in equipment, etc.

Service: this category included activities such as
eating, feeding a child, smoking, etc. Activities coded
under service were service to self or to others.

The previous three types of activities each seemed to
use up some kind of resource. Therefore, they can be com—
bined under one single category knOWn as consumption activi—
ties.

Two categories of activities——preparation and con—
struction——seem to result in an increase in the family's
resources and the creation of new resources from available
ones. Household production, e.g., activities involving
fOOd preparation from ingredients or construction of cloth—
ing from yard goods, could be termed as activities which
augment resources or create new resources from available
ones. These two types of activities were:

Preparation or construction from basic materials:

included such activities as food preparation from raw 1n-

gredients or construction of clothing from yard goods, etc.
Preparation with partially prepared materials: similar,

to the previous category except that partially prepared ma-

terials, e.g., preparing cake from cake mix, etc., are used.

66

Control: One additional category, control, was used
to classify activities which appeared to be purposeful but
did not serve the immediate functions either of consumption
or of resource conservation. This included activities such
as moving materials from one location to another, checking
on food being prepared or checking on children or mail,
looking in storage areas. Such activities were known as

control activities.

Material code. Materials commonly used in households

 

were classified into categories which were roughly similar

in terms of function, Operation, and/or structure. They were

grouped in 14 categories.

Built-in or large equipment: such as refrigerator,

stove, sink, etc.

Portable equipment: such as vacuum cleaner, stand mixer

or hand mixer, etc.

Mixing or measuring utensils: tools, dishes, pans,

ironing board, ash tray, etc.

Ingredients: such as any food substance, etc.

House supplies: such as paper towels, water, electric-

ity, gas, etc.

Containers: such as rack, suit case, waste can, hamper,

etc.
Furniture: such as tables, chairs, dresser, etc.

Bedding and linen: such as table cloth towels, pillow

cases, blanket, etc.

 

67

Other household textiles: such as curtains, rugs,
pillows, etc.

House structure and structure storage: such as doors,
windows, walls, built—in cabinets, etc.

Clothes: included all garments, shoes and accessories,
etc.

Personal supplies: such as hand lotion, hair brush,
cigarettes, toys, etc.

Miscellaneous: included letters, scissors, sewing
supplies, etc.

One final code was used for any type of material that
was unknown.

Space code. Different codes were assigned to different
areas of the home (see Appendix C, page 211, activity
record code form).

Examples of coding activity records: (In'Minute 1 the
following activities were recorded as performed in the
kitchen: "peeling potato at sink, stove turn on, add salt
and pepper"; in Minute 2 the following activities were re—
corded in the kitchen also: ”Iron shirt sleeve, go to stove,
turn potatos with spatula." Coding was as follows (see the

following page).

 

 

 

 

8
6

 

m>oum Aemv

o>oum

you shamans
looao no mom Ammv

 

com tcm .
manpmmm AMNV toom Aamv Hoxmsoaon Aomv .mmum poom AHNNV coroner AHHHV N
oumon
anemone Ammo
Acouflv on:
Suaofluuooao Ammv nonpoHo Aaov Hoxmewaor Aomv [Howl.tcou Aammv conouex AHHHV m
can Ammo coon lems umxmsmsos lems .mmum eooo AHNNV assures lease a
huflofluuomao ommmoum
o>oum lems so was lame Harnesses lems usonwimce>os Amemv scrapes lease a
scam lems
com
com omecx Ammv poom Aamv Hormeoson Aomv .moum coom Aammv coflouflx AHHHV H
mauoouep, mcwuom
mamwuoums Honuo com: pouum GOmHom mua>flpom oommm ouscflz

Hmeuoums

 

 

 

69

The numbers between brackets represent the apprOpriate
code number according the code sheet in the Appendix. Every
activity coded was considered a separate codable activity.
There was always one material coded for the material acted
upon directly, while there was one, or more or no material
coded for other materials. If any two materials were acted
upon and both had the same code number they were coded as
one material, such as knife and pan in the previous example.
If any activity started in Minute-l for instance and was
still going on in Minute 2, it was coded in Minute 1 as well
as in Minute 2 and was counted as two separate codable
activities (see activity record cede sheet and aetivity record
code form in Appendix C, pages 210, 211).

Although the observers were instructed to pay special
attention to activities which involve conservation of
resources, the categories for coding activities and materials
were not developed until after the data collection was com—
plete. No actual coding of data was done until the two
coders through some training sessions reached 75 percent
agreement. This was important to insure some degree of reli—
ability in the coding.

Intercoder agreement on activity coding. Percentage
agreement between coders was continually calculated to assure
reliability of the coding system. Segments of activities
coded by one coder were randomly selected for a period of

10 minutes and coded by the other coder. If the item checked

__,_7

 

 

70

was coded by each coder and in the same way, it was con—
sidered to be an instance of agreement. Intercoder agreement
was calculated as follows:
percent intercoder agreement
on activity =
number of agreements between
the two coders

number of disagreements + number of
agreements between coders

x 100

The previous formula was applied for checking percent agree—
ment for each of the dimensions coded: activity, material
acted upon, other materials used, and space. The averages of
percentages agreement, respectively, were 79, 83.5, 73.2, and
92.1.

As each dimension was checked for agreement separately,
agreement on all dimensions was also checked; that is,
whether all categories were coded by the two coders and in
the same way. Perfect agreement for all categories averaged
65.8 percent. All the previous figures were averages of per—

centage agreement done on samples from thirteen families.

Coding conversation

Before coding the taped—recorded conversations the data
were transcribed from the tapes to coding sheets by members
of the research team, some of whom had collected the data.
In the communication transcriptions, the person speaking and
the person or persons spoken to, were identified if possible.

After tapes were transcribed they were replayed and by using

 

 

71

a stop watch the conversation was divided into one minute
segments. The activities record was used sometimes as a
check on the timing of conversation (see conversation code
sheet in Appendix C, page 212).

Some of the recorded tapes were of good quality and
much of the conversation could be transcribed easily from
them. Conversation in other tapes was not clear, sometimes
because of a sound of loud TV or radio. Thus the conversa—
tion could hardly be heard and transcribed. Attempts were
made to transcribe these tapes more than once to get all
that could be heard as accurately as possible, however, all
tapes included portions which could not be transcribed or
coded.

Most transcribed conversations were checked against
tapes by a person other than the one who transcribed it and
any missing conversation that could be understood and was
not transcribed was added. After all tapes were transcribed
and checked, the transcribed data were divided into small
message units for purpose of coding and analysis by means of
a slash mark.

The message unit was defined as a word or a group of
words stating or expressing an independent idea and usually
containing a subject and predicate. The message unit could

consist of one word, e.g., "look," ”No," or several words,
e.g., "I‘ll spank you if you do that.” The following are

additional examples:

This is a conversation between the mother and the child.

 

 

72

Mother: "School bus was late today/Wasn't it?/"
Child: "Yea"/

Mother: "Look"/

Child: "What?"/
Mother: I'Do I have some stars?"/
Child: "Look/picturesf/

The data were then typewritten and the typewritten data
were proofread against the original data. All conversation
message units were coded in terms of the time reference each
message unit referred to——past, present, or future, and in
terms of the content of the message unit--self, others or
materials. Only the homemaker's conversation was analyzed
in the present study regardless of to whom she was directing
the conversation. Coding was done by the writer on the same
typewritten forms which are found in Appendix C, page 212.

Time-orientation. The method of assessing the time
orientation by noting the verb tense used by the homemaker
was used. However, due to the possible colloquial usage of
the subjects of this study and the possibility that a wrong
present tense for example could be used by the homemaker when
she was referring to or intending the future, the main verb
of each message unit was coded in the time reference which

fippeared to be intended by the homemaker. In order to

determine the time reference intended, the following were

 

the criteria:

 

Message units about habitual things "I used to" or re—

ferring to things happened or gone in the past, or words

 

 

73'

like yesterday, two weeks ago, were considered past refer—
ence intended.

Message units about what is felt, or when the home—
maker orders a child to do something, the time reference
intended was the present.

Message units about the future state of affairs, pre-
dictions or expectations in the future like ”I hope,”
conditional statements such as "If you . . . I will . . .“
or "When . . . then...," all words like tomorrow, next
week, were presumed to be intended as future reference. Some
conditional message units were used in the context of the
past. In such a case they were coded past reference, e.g.,
"You should have done so and so.”

Each of the message units was coded according to the
time reference intended of the main verb in the message unit
using the appropriate code. In many cases the tense of the
main verb and the time reference intended of the main verb
of the message unit were the same. However, in cases where
they are not in agreement, the time reference intended was
coded.

Examples of coding time reference intended:

"As I look back I think_of the happy days” (past time
reference).

”If you do that again, I spank you.” (future reference

intended)

"You should have been there." (past reference intended)

 

74
"We hope we will make it." (future reference intended)
"As I look back I remember the old days." (past

reference intended)

"When I was a child I g§g§_to spend a lot of time
playing." (verb and reference intended past)

”Shut the door." (verb and reference intended present)

A message unit was considered unclassified and coded
as "9" if it did not include a verb to determine the time
reference intended. The following and similar message units
were coded as ”9": ”Allright," "Yes," ”OK," "No.” Some
homemakers used the expression "You know" frequently in their
conversation, such an expression was coded as "9” also.
Percentages of time reference for each homemaker was calcu-

lated in the following manner:

A frequency count of all message
units of the homemaker with past

reference .
percent past reference = Total number of all message units

(of the homemaker) coded for the
3 time references

x 100
Present and future reference percentages were computed in a
similar manner.
Content. Each message unit which was coded for time
reference was also coded for content, whether the message
unit centered around self, others or materials. Coding

message unit for content was according to the following

definitions:

 

75

Self: message units referring to self or self experi—
ences were coded under self category.
Others: message units referring to any other person

than the self, e.g., relatives, friends, boss, etc. are .

coded under this category.

Materials: message units referring to any material
good of the household were coded under this category.

Message units which did not fit in one of the previous
areas were considered unclassified and coded as "9". In
cases when two content categories were in the homemaker's
message unit, the dominant category was coded. Which cate-

gory was dominant was judged by the structure of the sentence

with the subject given first priority. Examples: "I forgot

to do the dishes." (Self, verb and reference intended past)

In a message unit where the subject was only implied the

rest of the message was coded. Example: "Take the ball.“

(Materials, present reference intended) In cases when the

subject is implied and there was more than one content cate—

gories, only one category is coded, with "Self" given first

priority, followed by "others." Example: "Give m§_the book.‘

(Self, verb and time reference intended present)

Shown on the next page are the 9 possible time-content

categories resulting from coding each message unit with

regard to the time reference intended and the content.

Message units which were coded for the time reference but

were unclassified and coded as "9" with respect to content

were left out and not analyzed, and vice versa.

 

 

76

Time Reference

 

Past Present Future

Self
p
C

o Other
4J
C.
8

Materials

 

Intercoder agreement on time reference and content.

Intercoder reliability was checked with the assistance of

an independent coder. The coding procedures were explained
to the second coder (a graduate student) and the terms were
defined and discussed. Percentage agreement between the two
coders on time reference and content was calculated on
randOmly selected segments of approximately 5 minutes. The
same formula used for calculating percent of agreement on

activities was used. The average percentage agreement done

for 10 families for time reference and content was 87 and 88,

respectively.

Analysis of Data

Activity data. The sum of frequencies was found for

 

each activity performed in relation to area of the home

where the activity took place, person performing the act1V1ty,

material acted upon as the central focus of the activity, and

other materials used in the activity. The frequencies of the

 

77

appropriate categories of activities performed by the home—
maker were combined to make up more general categories:
resource conserving activities (RCA), activities with ulti-
mate purpose of consumption (CA), and activities which aug—
ment or create new resources (Aug. Act.).

Since the length of time covered in the observations
varied from family to family, frequencies were converted to
mean frequencies/minute for each homemaker. Obviously,
homemakers who were observed for a longer period of time
had more opportunity to perform any type of activity, simply
because they were observed longer than others. Hence, using
the mean frequency/minute seemed to be a fairer measure for
comparison among homemakers. Mean frequency/minute of any
activity performed by the homemaker was computed as follows:

Sum of frequencies of

formed b
Mean frequency/minute of RCA RCA per Y

 

= homemaker
performed by the homemaker Number of minutes of the
observation time of the

homemaker

Mean frequency/minute was computed for each individual activ—
ity performed by the homemaker and for each of the combined
categories known as RCA, CA and Aug.Acts. Mean frequencies/
minute were used as indicators of the activity pattern of

the homemaker.

Conversation data: A frequency count of each home—

 

maker's message units of her conversation with respect to

time reference categories, content categories and the 9 pos—

sible content—time categories was done. The Chi Square Test

 

 

 

78

of Independence was done in order to test for relationships
between content and time categories in order to determine
whether the categories were dependent or independent of one
another.

As mentioned earlier, some of the recording tapes were
hard to transcribe, and hence not all the conversations on
them were transcribed. Therefore, the percent of each cate—
gory in relation to the total number of message units spoken
by the homemaker and transcribed was calculated to give a
fair measure to compare homemakers in terms of the different
time content categories. Mean frequency/minute would not be
a very appropriate measure since the amount of time could
not be estimated accurately, because some time counted was

not transcribed owing to the poor quality of some recordings.

A frequency count of message units
spoken by the homemaker that were
coded in the past time reference
Total number of message units spoken
by the homemaker in the three time
references

Percent time reference =

A frequency count of mes-
sage units spoken by the
homemaker that were coded

in the self content category
Total number of message
units spoken by the home—
maker in the three content
areas

Percent of self content category =

Percentage time references were used as variables indicating

the time-orientation of the homemaker.

 

 

 

 

 

79

Relationships. Correlation,coefficients were calcu-

 

lated to determine the relationship between the time—
orientation of the homemaker and her activity pattern, and
to detect any other relationships of different types of

activities and the 9 content-time categories (85).

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER IV

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SAMPLE

A general description of the thirty families which com—
prised the sample of the study is presented in this chapter,
including selected aspects of family characteristics.
Whenever data are available, the family's situation will be
compared at the time data were collected and five years
before that. Tables of means, ranges, and percentages accom—

PanY the discussion.

Sizeand Composition of the Family

The number of family members living at home in the house—
hold is shown in Table l. The families varied in size from
four to fifteen persons living at home at the time data were
collected, with an average of 7.0. Five years before that
time, the average number of persons living at home was 6.1
persons, while the size of the family ranged from three to
eleven persons. Over a five year period these families had
slightly increased in number of members living at home.

The smallest family at the time data were collected had
two children, while the largest family had thirteen children
living at hmme. In contrast, five years before the data

were collected, there were one child and nine children at

80

 

 

 

81

Table 1. Number of family members living at home five years
before, and at the time, data were collected.

 

 

_ - , Number of Families
Size Range 5 years before data At the time data

 

were collected were collected
3-5 13 9
6-8 12 15
9-11 5 4
12—14 —- l
15 —— " 1
Total 30 30

Mean number of
family members 6.1 7.0

 

 

 

 

82

home in the smallest and largest families, respectively.
The majority of families (about two—thirds) had both pre-
school and school age children. The ages of the children
living at hoquat the time data were collected, ranged
from under two years to over nineteen years.

Distribution of family members in the sample according
to age and family composition is presented in Table 2. The
first three age groups which include from O to 18 years old,
all represent children. However, the fourth age group-—
nineteen years old and over—~represents primarily the
parents. Also, any nineteen or more year old child or family
relative living with the family is included in this~category.
Only two households included a person outside the nuclear
family-—the father-in—law in one family, and the sister—in—
law in the other. In at least one other family, a non—
relative was living in the household.

As Table 2 indicates, most of the children in the sample
of the thirty families are between seven and twelve years of
age. The majority of the homemakers and their husbands were
between the ages of thirty and forty With an average of 36

and 39, respectively (Table 3)-

FOrmal Education of Husbands and Wives

The highest schooling grade completed by both the home—
makers and their husbands is presented in Table 4. The

range of the educational level for the sample was wider for

 

 

 

 

83

Table 2. Distribution of family members by age, in thirty
families, at the time data were collected.

 

Age Groups
Item 0-6 7—12 13—18 19+ Total

 

Total number of members
in each age group 35 63 37 74 209

Average number of members
in each group per family 1.2 2.1 1.2 2.5 7.0

Percent composition by
age group 16.7 30.2 17.7 35.4 100.0

 

 

 

84

Table 3. Ages of husbands and wives of thirty families.

 

 

Age range

Number of husbands

. Numberlof wives

 

29 or less
30-35
36—40
41-45
46e50
51-55

‘Over 55

5

10

Total

Mean age

30

38.9

30

36.1

 

 

 

 

 

85

Table 4. Educational level of husbands and wives of thirty
families.

 

 

 

Educational level Number of hubbands Number of wives
Less than 8th gradb 2 ——
8th grade 4 4
Some high school 11 6
High sdhool graduate 8 19
Technical or business

school 1 1
Some college 3 ——
College degree 1 ——

 

 

 

 

 

86

the husbands than for the wives. Two husbands had less than
8th grade education, but no wife had that little. Conversely,
three husbands had some college education and one had a
college degree, while no wife had any college education at
all. Even though the range of educational level was wider

for the husbands than for the Wives, as a group the husbands

seem to have more formal education.

Occupation of Husbands and Wives

The occupation of both husbands and wives is shown in
Table 5. The highest number of the husbands was in laboring
occupations, while the majority of wives were full—time home—
makers. Only eight wives were employed outside the home,
the majority of whom were doing clerical or sales type of
work. Only one husband in the whole sample who had the college
degree was in the professional class of occupations, he was a

civil engineer.

Income of Families

Review of the income data indicates that incomes at the
time data were collected, and five years earlier ranged from
$6,000 to approximately $19,000 and from $1,950 to 7,000,
respectively. Income distribution for the sample of thirty
families is shown in Table 6. The majority of families

received income between $3,000 and $5,999 annually five

 

 

 

87

Table 5. Occupational level of husbands and wives of

thirty families.

 

fir

 

Occupation Number of husbands

 

Number of wives
Professional 1 -—
Clerical or sales 1 4
Labor 20 1
Farm labor 2 1
Service 5 2
Hememaker - 22
Doesn‘t apply 1 -—
Total 30 3O

 

 

 

88

Table 6. Income distribution of thirty families.

 

 

Number of familiesw

 

 

Income range in At the time data 5 years before data
dollars were collected were collected
Below $2,999 —— 2
3,000-5,999 l 24
6,000-9,999 23 . 2
10,000-13,999 5 ——

Over 14,000 1 ——

Total 30 28*

Mean income $8,148** $4,581*

Per capita income I,164** 746 *

 

l-i

*Income data on two families are missing.

**These figures exclude one family whose present income is
818,928/year, 420% increase over five year period.

 

 

 

 

89

years before data were collected, whereas almost the same
majority figure of families received from $6,000 to $9,999/
year at the time data were collected. Although two families
had income below $2,999 five years earlier, no family was
receiving that small an incOme after five years. One
family was actually receiving $18,928 annually, an increase
of 420 percent over the five year period. Interesting to
note, however, is that the husband of that family receiving
that amount was not the one in the professional occupation,
but rather he was working in farm labor and his highest
grade of schooling was teChnicaI or business school.

This figure $18,928 was excluded in computing the
average income per family to avoid its excessive effect on
the mean. The average income per family has increased over

the five year period from $4{581 to $8,148.

Sources of Income in The Family

Presented in Table 7, is the number of sources of in—
come in the sample of thirty families. Any person living
in the household and contributing to its income was con—
sidered as a source of income in that household. For example,
in a family Where the father, mother, daughter, and son each
was working even part time and earning money, four sources
of income were counted for that family. Also any income
coming from bonds, dividends or interest on saving was a

source of income. Most of the sons who were working had

 

 

‘E-HI

 

 

90

Table 7. Number of sources of income in thirty families.

 

 

 

Number of sources Number of
of income Families
l.source 9

2 sources 10

3 sources 6

4 sources 5
Total 30

Mean number of sources of income 2.2

 

 

91

only part time jobs during the summer vacation. Daughters
who were considered sources of income were mostly baby
sitters. As Table 7 indiCates, the majority of families
derived income from one or two sources, while six of the
families had three sources and five had four sources. The
average number of sources of income per family‘for the total
sample, however, was 2.2. The husband was the primary source
of income in all families. What is important, it seems,

is the amount of dollars each source adds to the family's
income rather than the number of sources of income in the
family. For example, the family Who was receiving the high—
est income of $18,928 per year had it only from one source,
that was the.husband, while themajority of families who were
getting the least annual incomes, had them from two sources.
More interesting to note, however, is that among families

who received the least annual income, two families derived
their income from four sources. One would conclude that more
family members are employed in low income families than in

high income ones because of economic pressure.

Amount of Money Owed by and to the Family

While four families had no debt (Table 8), the amount
of money owed by two families exceeded $10,000 in an actual
figure of $12,500 and $16,760.. Most of the families' debt
was due primarily to home mortgages since a large number of

the families were buying their homes.

 

 

 

 

92

Table 8. Amount of dollars owed by and to thirty families.

 

,—

 

 

Amount of dollars owed Number of families
by or to the family . Owing money Owed Money

0 4 25

Less than $999 8 2

l,000—3,999 9 -

4,000-6,999 1 l

7,000—9,999 6 2

10,000 and over A ' 2 —

_——------~-_—-F_---—-—‘__—-—————_———_-——-—-———_---—--——_—-

Total 30 30

 

93

The majority of families-~25 of them-—had no money owed
to them. Two families had $400 and $30 owed to them while"
three families had the amount of money ranging from $4,500

to $7,500 owed to them.

Home Ownership

Only one family in the whole sample was renting their
home, while the majority of families were owners of their
homes, although some of these families still bad debt on
their homes (Table 9). Three families in the group had rent
free homes from the husbandsr employers. Two of these

husbands were doing farm labor while one was employed as

laborer.

Mobility of Families in the Last Five Years

The homemakers of the thirty families were asked to list
the different communities where they lived at least for six
months or more during the previous five years. Table 10
shows the number of moves in different communities. It may
be observed from the table that the majority of families were
settled in their present Community for at least five years.
Six families, however, reported that they moved once, twihe,
and four times in different EOmmunities over the preceding
five years, Where they stayed six months or more in each
community. One homemaker reported seven moves of her family

in seven different communities in the last five years.

 

 

94

Table 9. Home ownership of thirty families.

 

 

 

Home ownership 9 Number of families'
Renters ‘ 1

Owners, still paying 11

Owners, fully paid 14

Rent free from employer 3

Total 29*

 

*Data were missing for one family.

 

 

95’

Table 10. Number of moves in the last five years by thirty
families.

 

 

Number of moves in

 

different communities . Number.of.fami1ies
None 23
1 move 3
2 moves 2
4 moves 1
7 moves 1

 

 

 

96

Meal Planning Before Shopping

The homemaker in each family was asked whether She
plans-her meals before she goes to buy the food (Table 11).
While equal numbers of homemakers responded that they always
or sometimes plan meals before shopping, the majority of the
homemakers indicated that they never do any meal planning
before buying food. ,It seems possible, however, that each
of these homemakers perceived the questionof meal planning
differently. One homemaker could have perceived planning in
terms of dollars, while another homemaker thought of planning
in terms of nutrition. This difference might have affected
the responses, although the overall concept of planning was

evident.

Equipment and Facilities Available
for the Family

Selected equipment and facilities available for families
were placed in two categories. As Table 12 shows, they were

categorized under major applicances and small appliances.

With respect to the major appliances, the majority of families

seem to have them available in their homes. Although all the

homes had heating systems, hot water heaters, stoves, and

refrigerators, these facilities and equipment varied in type

Of fuel used. All thirty families had central heating sys—

tems, nine of which were operated with oil, five with wood

and coal, six with gas, nine with electricity; and two

 

 

97

Table 11. Meal planning before food shopping.

 

 

 

 

Meal planning Number of homemakers
Always 8
Sometimes 8
Never 14

————————-———-_——————————-—————_————————————————_-—_—————————

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

98
Table 12. Types of equipment and facilities available for
thirty families.

Equipment and facilities Number of families

Major appliances:
Television set 30
Heating system 30
Hot water heater 3O
Stove 30
Refrigerator 30
Freezer 22
Washing machine 27
Dryer 23
Vacuum cleaner y- 23
Radio 30

Small appliances:
Iron 30
Electric frying pan” 21
Mixer 25
Electric knife 8
Blender 4
Popcorn popper 8
Waffle iron 16
Griddle 11
Coffee maker 21
Toaster 29
Roaster 8
Electric can opener 11

Electric fan 24

 

 

 

 

 

 

99

families did not specify the tYpe of fuel.
The majority of families——eighteen--had the hot water"'“
heater of the electric type, while the rest of the families

had the gas or oil—Operated types. About half of the

 

stoves found in the homes of the thirty homemakers were gas
stoves, and the other half were electric ones. One home-
maker reported that their stove needed some repair and was
not frequently in use.

Only 22 families had freezers in their home, seven of
which were the chest type of freezer. There was a washing
machine in every house of the thirty families with the
exception of three families who did not have one. However,
one homemaker reported that their washing machine was broken
and another homemaker reported it was not working. These
two families therefore, did their laundry outside. The 25
families who had washing machines and in good condition did
their laundry at home in different locations, e.g., in the
kitchen, utility room, basement, garage, or bathroom. One

of the families had the semi—automatic type of washing

 

machine, fourteen had the fully—automatic types and ten had
the wringer type of washing machine.

Fifteen of the 23 homemakers who reported having dryers
did not specify the type they had, while four had the elec=
tric type, and three had the gas type. The dryer in one
family was reported as broken and not in use; therefore, in

this family the clothes were usually dried either on clothes

line or in the launderette.

   

 

 

 

100

The ownership of vacuum cleaners was reported by 23
families, howeven in one familythe vacuum cleaner was not.
working and needed repair. The families who did not own
vacuum cleaners used various cleaning equipment such as
sweepers, brooms, and mops for cleaning.

With respect to the small appliances which are listed
in Table 12, not all the families had them except the iron
and the ironing board which were found in each house. Also
all but one family owned a toaster. One family among the
21 who had an electric frying pan reported having two of
them, and one other family reported that theirs was not
working.

Mixers and electric coffee makers were reported to be ‘
owned by the majority of families. The other small appli-
ances listed in Table 12 were reported owned only by few
families.

The ownership of four cars was reported by one family,
but only two of these cars were in running condition. Two
of the families who reported the ownership of one car
admitted that their car was not running, while three of the
families who reported having two cars admitted that only one
was in running condition. One of the two families who had
three cars reported that two of them were not running, and'

the other family had only one car in running condition.

 

 

 

 

101

The families who reported having one car were the
families receiving the higher incomes, while those families
owning two or more cars were the families with the lower
incomes. Practically speaking, it is the cars that were in
running condition which could only be considered. Looking
at the sample as a whole, the majority of families had one
car in running conditiOn.

Exactly half of the families reported the ownership of
other vehicles, besides cars, owned and used by the family.
Among such vehicles were bikes mainly used by the children,

tractors, trucks, and trailers.

Condition of the Home

Table 13 summarizes rating on home condition. In the
majority of cases those homes rated extremely poor or good
on one variable were alsO‘rated the same on the other vari—
ables. There were seven homes which were rated extremely
good on all characteristics, in three of which the wife was,
full-time homemaker, and in the remaining four families the
wife was employed. The number of children in these seven
families ranged from three to seven with an average of 6.2
children.

One would have expected that when the wife is full—time
homemaker and there are smaller number of children in the
family the home would be rated high with respect to cleanli—

ness, orderliness, etc. However the rating results do not

 

 

 

 

102

Table 13. Rating of thirty families on home condition.
with respect to five variables.

 

 

Number of families

 

 

Home condition Extremely Extremely Total*
poor 2 3 4 good

Cleanliness —— V 4 7 9 8 28

Orderliness l 5 4 l4 4 28

State of repair

of building and

permanent fix—

tures l 4 12 4 7 28

State of repair
of furnishings
and equipment 1 4 10 9 4 28

Shabbiness 2 6 9 7 4 28

 

*Two families have missing data on rating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

103

support this conclusion. It is possible that there may be
other factors involved such as age of Children and time

devoted for cleaning and tidying.

Summary

All families were in early stages of the family life
cycle. At the time of the study, the homemakers of these
families took care of a varying number of children ranging
from two to thirteen. Most of the children were between
seven and twelve years of age.

The homemakers and their husbands were comparatively
young with an average age Of 37.5 years. Both husbands and
wives could be considered to have little schooling with the
exception of four husbands, three of whom had some college
and one with a college degree. The majority of both hus-
bands and wives are high school graduates. Most of the
wives were full—time homemakers and almost all of the hus—
bands with the exception of one who had a professional job,
had unskilled types of employment.

Five-years before data were collected these families
were considered below the poverty level with respect to
their incomes. However; five years later and at the time of
the study the average percentage increase in their incomes
reached approximately 94 percent. The majority of families
generally derived their income from more than one source;

however, the husband was a primary source of income in all

families.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

104

Each of these families had several means of getting
information on home and family life, e.g., magazines, TV,
newspapers, relatives, etc., or by writing to extension
services. All thirty facilies were found to have the major
appliances and facilities in their homes such as heating
systems, stoves, refrigerators. The majority of them
reported the possession of a freezer, a washing machine,

a dryer, and a vacuum cleaner. These families comparatively
had a stock of equipment that is likely to need special care
to function efficiently for an expected time period.

The majority of the families had one car in a running
condition. Although some families owned more than one car,

practically speaking, they were not all in running condition.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER V

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Discussion of the findings will be divided into three
sections. Each section pertains to one of the three objec—
tives of the study in the following order: 1) Activity pat—
tern of the homemaker; 2) Time—orientation of the homemaker;
3) Relationship between activity pattern and time-orienta—
tion of the homemaker. The study does not test any hypothe—
ses statistically; however, reports of statistics and levels
of significance are included as criteria to aid in identify—

ing possible relationships to be tested in further studies.

The Activity Pattern of the Homemaker

Included in this section will be discussion of the data
about observed activities including distribution of activi-
ties, frequencies of observed activities in relation to both
area of the home and material directly acted upon, relations
ships among activities, and identification of the homemaker’s

activity pattern.

Distribution of activities
A total of 12,131 recorded, codable activities was

performed by thirty families during an average observation

105

 

 

106

time of 255 minutes per family. The mean number of codable
activities performed by each family was 404.4. Since the
homemaker in each family was the person of primary focus of
the observation, the majority of these recorded activities
(11,533, which accounted for 95.2 percent of total) were
performed by her. Other members of the family, mainly the
children, performed the remaining 4.8 percent which were
observed and recorded. It seems reasonable therefore, to
restrict the analysis to activities performed by the home—
makers of these families. The 4.8 percent of activities
observed as being performed by other members of the family
was probably not a fair representation of activities per—
formed by these members, because little attention was given
during the observation period to any person otherthan the
homemaker of each family.

Table 14 presents activities performed by homemakers
of thirty families, analyzed in terms of their distribution
of percentages and mean frequencies per minute. The cate-
gories of cleaning, conditioning—for—storage and moving—to—
storage, are presented each separately and all combined into
a single category of resource conserving activities (RCA).
This single category of RCA also includes applying pro—
tective-materials category of activities which was defined
as having a resource conserving function. Because of the
small frequencies of applying protective materials category

of activities due to the fact that few homemakers performed

 

 

 

 

 

107

Table 14. Distribution of observed activities performed by
homemakers of thirty families.

 

 

 

Total Mean
.' number of Percentage frequency/

Type of activity activities of total minute
Cleaning 2,125 18.4* .28**
Conditioning for storage 441 3.8 .06
Moving to storage 1,080 9.3 .14
Total RCA*** 3,720 32.1 .49
Conditioning for use 1,795 15.6 .25
Moving from storage 1,332 11.5 .18
Service 2,108 18.2 .28
Total CA 5,235 45.3 .71
Aug. acts. 1,239 10.7 .16
Control activities 1,359 11.8 .18
Total 11,553 99.9
Mean number Of activities
performed by each homemaker 385

 

*Each value represents an average percentage of thirty

homemakers.

**Each value represents an average mean frequency/minute

of thirty homemakers.

***RCA include the category of applying protective

materials.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

108

any activities of that type during the observation time,
this category was excluded from the table as separate cate—
gory but was added to total RCA. The total 74 applyingr
protective~materials~codable>activities were performed by
homemakers of only nine families which accounted for .6
percent of total codable activities performed by all home—
makers of thirty families. The applying protective materi—
als category of activities was not recorded as being per—
formed in 21 families during the observation period.

The categories of conditioning-for-use, moving—from—
storage and service were presented each as a separate type
of activity, then they were combined into a single category
of consumption activities (CA). The augmenting and/or creat—
ing new resources category of activities (Aug. Acts) combines
the two activities of preparation and construction with
basic materials and with partially prepared materials, since
the subdivision seemed to be not very reliable. The reason
that the subdivision was not very reliable was in the diffi—
culty of coding this type of activity. If a preparation
activity was started before the observation period the coder
had no way to know whether the preparation started from raw
or from partially prepared materials. Therefore, in such
cases, it was assumed that partially prepared materials were
used, though it could very possibly be that the preparation
started with basic materials. The previous categorization

of activities is found in Table 14 and the following tables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

109

Review of Table 14 shows that there were differences in
the frequencies of activities performed by thirty homemakers.
Apparently these homemakers performed cleaning and service

activities proportionately and by mean frequency per minute

 

more than any other activity during observations, and condi—
tioning-for-storage activity less frequently than any other
activity. Looking at the four categories RCA, CA, Aug. Acts

and control activities, consumption activities ranked the

 

highest in terms of frequency of performance and control
activities ranked the lowest. This, however, can be explained
in several ways. It could possibly be that these homemakers
had a tendency to perform a specific type of activity more
often than other types simply because they liked it or
preferred it. On the other hand, it may have been necessary
for these homemakers to perform specific activity more
frequently than others. For example, since they had a number
of children to take care of, service activity was necessary
for these children. It could also be possible that only
during the observation time, they performed one activity

more than the others, probably because the observation time.

 

was not long enough to discloSe or represent these homemaker’s
dominant type of activity. However, according to the results
of the study and keeping in mind the possible explanations,
one would say that activities which had an ultimate purpose

of consumption were more frequently performed by this group

of homemakers than any other activity.

   

 

 

 

110

Frequency of observed activities
in relation to area of the home

 

The frequencies of observed activities were analyzed in
terms of their relation to different locations in the house.
A general examination was given to the total codable activi—
ties performed in each of the thirty families as they relate
to place of performance in the house.

The percentage number of Codable activities performed
within certain locations in the house varied according to
the different types of activities although the kitchen was
the most common place for each activity. These differences
are illustrated for the activities observed, in Tables 15
through~17.

‘ Table 15 shows percentages of resource conserving
activities observed in relation to area of the home where
performed. Six of the families performed 100 percent of the
observed cleaning activity in the kitchen. This does not
i mean, however, that these six families usually do their
cleaning only in the kitchen, but this is what actually
happened during the observation time, i.e., all their clean:
ing happened to be in the kitchen.

The highest percentages of the conditioning—for—storage
and moving—to—storage activities were performed in the
kitchen. Conditioning—forlstorage activities consisted of
folding clothes before storage, and preparing food before
storage. However, some families used the living room, dining

room, the basement or utility room for performing condition—

ing—for-storage activities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

111

Table 15. Percentage of resource conserving activities
performed in different locations of the house

by thirty families.'

 

 

Item

Percent

 

Cleaning activity performed in

kitchen
living room
bath ‘
other*

Conditioning-for—storage activity
performed in

kitchen

living room

dining room H
basement or utility room
other*

Moving-to-storage activity perfOrmed in

kitchen

living room

bedroom

basement or utility room
dining room

other*

Total RCA** performed in

kitchen
living room
bath

dining room
bedroom
other*

62.0
15.4
12.8

*A composite of locations in which less than 10 percent of

activities were performed.

**RCA include the category of applying protective materials.

 

 

 

 

 

'112

Moving-to—storage activity was mostly done in the
kitchen possibly because the majority of activities coded
in this category were such activities as turning off water,
turning off stove, putting kitchen articles and food con—
tainers back to storage place and the like. Other locations
in the house—-living room, bedroom, basement or utility
room, and dining room——a1so were used. These locations
included such activities as moving clothes or any article‘
to its storage place.

Presented in Table 16*are percentages of consumption
activities as they relate to place of performance. Review
of the table shows that the kitchen was observed to be the
most common place for approximately 75 percent of the moving—
from—storage activities. Moving—to—storage activities as
discussed above covered just the reverse actiVities of moving-
from-storage. Such activities as turning on water, elec—
tricity or gas, moving things and articles from the storage
place for the purpose of consumption and use were included
in the moving-from—storage activity category. Although
this activity was also performed in other locations in the
house, these locations accounted for less than 25 percent
of the moving-from;storagenactivity.

Conditioning—for—use activity, which for the most part
was ironing and laundry, was done in the kitchen most fre—
quently, but the living room, dining room, basement or
utility room were also used, perhaps to relieve congestion

in the kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

113

Table 160 Percentage of aCtiVities with ultimate purpose
of consumption performed by thirty families in
relation to places of performance.

 

 

 

Item Percent

 

Conditioning-for-use activity performed in:

kitchen 57.2
living room 14.6
dining room 12.0
basement or utility room 7.8
other? 8.4

Moving-from-storage activity performed in:

kitchen - 7
basement or utility room

living room

bedroom

other*

\Jhnn01o
H+a¢>©Ln

Service activity performed in:

kitchen
living room
dining room
bedroom
other*

LOU"!
OAIbOWNO
kONwl—IU'!

All CA performed in:

kitchen

living room

dining room

basement or utility room
bedroom

other*

HLD

UNA-Axiom
(nor—10mm

—_—

*A composite of locations in which less than 10 percent of
activities were performed

 

 

 

 

114

Service activities were mostly performed in the kitChen;
however, other locations such as the living room, dining
room, basement or utility room, and bedroom were also used
for this activity. The activity included service to self,
others, or pets. Such activities as eating, smoking, watch—
ing TV, were considered in this category and were for the
most part service to self, Such as family members eating or
watching TV. Probably the small percentage of the service
activity which was done in the-bedroom was accounted for by
a mother feeding the infant in this location.

Most control activities occurred in the kitchen, because
for the most part this consisted of such activities as
checking on food while it cooked. The 25 percent of the
control activity performed in the living room was probably
accounted for by the mother spanking children or practicing
other kinds of control over them.

Activities observed as preparation or construction were
primarily food preparation activities and therefore, almost
exclusively done in the kitchen (Table 17). One family
simply did not perform any preparation—construction'activi—
ties at all during the obServation period, and 25 families
performed 100 percent of them in the kitchen. The remaining‘
very small percentage of this activity was performed in the‘
basement or utility room either for cooking food or con—

structing clothing from yard goods.

-—

 

 

 

 

115

Table 17. Percentage of control activities and activities
that augment or create new resources, performed
by thirty families in relation to place of
performance.

 

 

Item Percent

 

Control activity performed in:

kitchen
living room
dining room
bedroom
outside
other*

Nib

\leWKOONO‘
Ohmi-‘CDEO

Preparation or construction activity
performed in:

kitchen 95.8
basement or utility room ‘ 3.8
other* 0.4

 

*A composite of locations in which less than 10 percent of
activities were performed.

 

 

 

 

 

116

As the foregoing discussion indicated, each type of

activity occurred in a variety of locations in the house.

It is desirable, therefore, to look directly at certain

locations individually to see how each was used for the

different types of activities (see summary Tables 32 and 33

in Appendix D, pages 214, 215).

Kitchen:

Living room:

The kitchen was used for the highest percent—
age of each type of activity and more than any
other single location in the house. The kitchen
could, therefore, be considered the central
location of the house during the observation

time of the thirty families.

The living room had a wide variety of uses for
the thirty families of this study, nevertheless,
there was little concentrated use for any one
activity except for the service activity which
took place more often in the living room than
anywhere else in the house. The second highest
percentage of almost all types of activities
except moving—from—storage and preparation,
construction activities, for which the living
room ranked the third, was performed in the
living room.' While most of the service activity
was performed in the living room, preparation

and construction activities were performed

 

 

 

 

 

 

117

less frequently in this location of the house;
other activities ranged from 5 to 15 percent

of them done in the living room.

Dining room: Of the total codable activities observed, only
5.5 percent were performed in the dining
room. Actually not all families had a sepa—
rate room which was known and used as dining
room. The majority of families——about three
fourths of theme—had a dining room which was
part of the kitchen or the living room and,
therefore, any activity performed in the dine
ing room of these families was actually con—
sidered in the kitchen. The few families
which had a separate dining room used it as
such, primarily for eating, which was con—
sidered service activity. Others used this
location as a place for folding clothes, which
activity was considered as conditioning—for—
storage. The two activities,eating and fold—
ing clothes,accounted for the 5.5 percent of

activities performed in the dining room.

Basement or utility room, bedroom, bathroom and other
locations were observed in use for about 13 percent of the
total codable activities. The division of these small per—

centages made further analysis not very meaningful.

 

 

118

However, the storage activities, moving to and from storage
place and the conditioning-for—use activities were the
three activities which accounted for the most of this per—
centage.

These results are for the most part in agreement with
what was reported in the Northeastern study on household
activity data and space needs related to design (84). In
this study the authors, in order to analyze the relation
between activities and place Of performance, calculated the
percentage of time expended on each of the fourteen classes
of activities studied, which were performed within certain
locations in the house. They concluded that the kitchen
was in use more than any other location in the house by all
the four types of families who constituted the sample of the
study, although the percentage of time spent in the kitchen
for a specific activity varied according to family type.

The following were activities performed in the kitchen: food
preparation, eating, leisure, care of individuals and per4
sonal care. These activities are very similar to activities
of the present study performed in the kitchen, if the four
latter activities would be considered under the service cate—
gory of activities in the present study.

The living room was second in rank order of daytime use

 

in Northeastern study as well as in the present study. This
location of the house was primarily used in the Northeastern'

study for such activities as leisure, care of individuals,

119

feeding infants, reading and sewing. These activities
with the exception of sewing would be included under the
category of service activities in the present study, the
highest percentage of which was done in the living room°

The bedroom ranked third In daytime use, where the
preponderance of time was oCcupied by pre—school children
who took naps. Daytime use of bedrooms varied greatly with
the family type, depending on the presence of small children.
The Northeastern study focused the observation on all family
members, father, mother and children, which is why probably
the bedrooms ranked third in percentage of daytime use
owing to children taking naps. It is possible that the
same thing was happening in the present study since there
was a number of pre—school children in the families. But
since the observation was primarily focused on the homemaker,
the bedroom was observed only in use when the homemaker was
performing something there, i.e., moving clothes to storage
place, which accounted for arsmall percentage of that
activity but was the highest percentage with respect to an
activity performed in such a location. If children had been
observed more continuously in the present study, the results
might have showed the bedrOOm ranking high in order as a
location used in the house. According to the results of the
present study, the bedroom was in use for only 4 percent of
the total recorded codable activities.

The Northeastern study results are thus very similar to

the present study. The differences may be attributed to the

 

 

 

 

120

fact that in the Northeastern study all family members were
observed during the observation time with equal attention
given to each member in the family rather than just to the'
homemaker as in the present study.

Frequency of observed activities in relation

to material of central focus of the activity

The frequencies of observed activities were analyzed
to determine their relation to different materials acted upon
and/or utilized in the activity. These materials were coded
in two separate categories, the material or person of the
central focus of the activity, and other materials which
were utilized or acted upon in the same activity. For example,
When the homemaker was peeling potatoes at the sink, the
activity was food preparation, the material of central focus
of the activity was the potato, and other materials acted upon
in the same activity would be the knife and the sink.

The percentage of total codable activities performed by
thirty families in relation to different materials of direct
focus of the activity, are displayed. Table 18 summarizes
the results and indicates the differences in materials acted
upon according to the different types of activities. No
material was coded as the central focus in the service cate—
gory of activities. This is due to the fact that the service
category was defined as either service to self, others or
pets, which were not classified as a material. Within the

confines of this study and the definition of resources given,

 

 

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122

non—human resources were considered for identifying the
activity as having ultimate purpose of consumption.

When service activity was related to other materials
acted upon, it was found that the four most frequently
utilized materials were food, household supplies, utensils,
dishes and pans, and furniture. This could probably be
explained by the fact that service activity for the most
part was eating or drinking coffee while sitting on some
kind of furniture. Also watching TV while sitting on a
chair or sofa constituted much of the service activity.
The household supplies utilized in the service activity
were primarily napkins used while eating, and electricity
which was on while watching TV, both materials of which
were considered aS'household supplies.

Combined activities knOWn as RCA, CA, Aug. Acts. and
control activities in relation to material of direct focus
of the activity are found in Tables 34, 35 and 36 in Appen—
dix D, pages 216—218. Kitchen utensils, pans and dishes
were most frequently employed in cleaning, moving—to—storage,
and all RCA. Since the kitchen was mainly observed in use
for the cleaning and the moving—to—storage activities as
discussed above, it would obviously follow that the material
acted upon should be something located in the kitchen. The
thirty homemakers were mostly occupied in cleaning utensils,
pans and dishes.

House structure and structural storage which included

doors, windows, and built—in cabinets, were the main

 

 

 

123

materials acted upon for 20 percent of the cleaning activity.
Built-in and large equipment such as refrigerator and stove,
the furniture category of materials, and containers were the
central focus material of only 12, 8 and 3 percent, respec—
tively, of the cleaning activity. Cleaning needed for any
article in the household usually depends on how much it is
used.

Since utensils, pans and dishes, were the materials
most used in cleaning activity, they would be most frequently
used in much of the moving—to-Storage activity and that was
in fact the case. These homemakers washed utensils, dishes
and pans, then stored them in their storage place. Following
utensils, food and household supplies were next in use as
the material acted upon for 19 percent and 14 percent,
respectively, of the moving—to—storage activities. Food was
actually stored either in the refrigerator or in containers
on shelves or in cabinets. Moving household supplies to
storage for the most part included shutting off electricity,
gas or water, each of which was considered the direct materi—
al acted upon in such activity. Clothes were the material
acted upon for 14 percent of the moving—to—storage activity,
usually storing clothes after being folded or placed on
hangers.

Clothes were the central focus material acted upon for
most of the activities involving conditioning—for—storage,

although, in a small percentage of the folding activities,

 

 

 

 

 

124

bedding rather than clothes were the material acted upon.
Ranking the second as material acted upon for the moving—to-
storage activity, food also ranked the second for the con—
ditioning—for—storage activities, probably because food waS'
wrapped before being stored in the refrigerator. Some
families after washing utensils, pans and dishes, wiped them
off before storage. This prObably explains the 6.5 percent
of the conditioning-for-storage activity in which utensils,
pans and dishes, were the central focus of the activity.

Looking at the activities combined as a single cate—
gory RCA, one can say that the highest percentage of these
activities focused on kitchen utensils, dishes and pans.
House structure and structural storage, and clothes were
the central focus of 17 and 12 percent of this category of
activities, respectively.

As mentioned earlier, laundry and ironing for the most'
part constituted the conditioning—for—use activity. It was
expected then that clothes would rank first as the material
of direct focus of this activity. Clothes accounted for more
than 50 percent of the conditioning-for—use activity. Bedding
were also the central focus of this activity, but in only
4 percent of the activity. Other materials were the central
focus for about 50 percent of the conditioning-for-use
activity.

Utensils, dishes and pans were materials acted upon for

the highest percentage of moving-from-storage activities.

 

 

 

125

This means that these materials were frequently in use and
thus serves to explain why these materials were also fre—
quently the focus of the cleaning activity. Food and house—
hold supplies were the materials used for the second and
third highest percentages of the moving-from-storage
activity, respectively. When the two activities, condition—
ing—for—use and moving—from—storage activities were com-
bined as a single utilization category of activities, clothes
were the focus of the highest percentage of this activity,
followed by food, utensils, dishes and pans and household
supplies. The remaining materials were the focus of ohly
about 15 percent of the utilization activities.

In control activities a variety of materials was acted
upon. However, the highest share (35 percent) of these
activities focused on persons rather than materials. When
mothers practiced any kind of control over their children,
the children were considered as the direct focus of the
activity.

Checking on mail,which was considered in the miscel-
laneous category of materials, accounted for 15 percent of
the control activity. Tidying which was not cleaning was
considered a control activity. Household textiles were the
material acted upon in about 4 percent of the control
activities.

Since food preparation for the most part constituted

preparation-construction activities, obviously food was the

 

 

126

direct material acted upon for the highest share of these

activities. Very little sewing and constructing clothing

from yard goods were ..Observve’d. Clothes were the materials

acted upon for only 3 percent of the preparation-construc—
tion category of activities.

In summary, all categories of materials were used in
some way or other, although some were used more than others
in performing the different activities (Table-19). Built-in
or large equipment were the central focus of the highest
portion (29 percent) of total codable activities while
personal supplies were the central focus of the smallest
part (1 percent) of all activities. This does not mean,
however, that built-in or large equipment were in use more
than, for example, utensils, clothes and therest, since
these percentages present all activities combined, some of
which were utilization activities while others had resource—
conserving function, others had resource—augmenting function,
and some were purposeful but did not serve the immediate
function of consumption or reSource conservation or augmen—

tation.

Relationships among_activities

From the figures and percentages in the previous dis—
cussion, one is in a position to deduce some relationships
among the different types of activities. Using the average
mean frequency per minute of each activity, simple correla-

tions among the activities were calculated. The 10 percent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

127

Table 19. Percentage of total activities performed by
thirty families in relation to material of
the central focus of the activity.

 

 

Percent of

 

Type of material activity
All materials* 100

Built—in or large equipment 29.3
Food 19.1
Utensils, dishes 13.7
Clothes 13.0
Household supplies 5.0
House structure or structural storage 4.5
Miscellaneous 4.2
Containers 2.2
Furniture 2.1
Bedding 1.8
Unknown type 1.8
Other household textiles 1.7
Portable equipment 1.4

1.4

Personal supplies

 

 

*Percentage does not total 100 because of rounding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

128

level of probability was taken to denote significant rela—
tionships. However, any correlation significant at the lper—
cent leve1_of probability was pointed out. The existence or
non—existence of relationships among the actiVities was

taken to indicate whether the activities were associated

with one another or independent of each other.

Table 20 includes the correlation coefficient calcu-
lated among activities. The mean frequency per minute of
moving-from-storage increased as the mean frequency per
minute of moving—to—storage activities increased.
Investigating the raw data showed that in most cases, as
families moved things away from storage, they tended to
move these same things back to their storage place again.

Significant positive relationships appeared between
cleaning and moving to and from storage and a negative
relationship between cleaning and the service activity

(Table 20). It seems logical to suppose, that as things are

 

being cleaned, materials used in the cleaning activity need
to be moved from and to storage. After things are cleaned,
these families tended to put thenlback in their storage
place. While these families were engaged more in cleaning
they did not have time to sit around relaxing or watching
TV.

Moving—from—storage activity seems to be associated with
preparation-construction activities. Since preparation—

construction activities were for the most part food

 

 

 

 

129

Table 20. Correlation coefficients calculated among
different types of activities.

 

 

 

CorrelatiOn
Relationships coefficient
Moving—from—storage/moving-to-storage O.55**
Cleaning/moving—from-storage 0.38*’
Cleaning/moving-to—storage O.60**
Cleaning/service —0.46*
Moving-from-storage/preparation:—construction 0.4l*
Preparationr-construction/control 0.27*

 

*Significant at the 10 percent level of probability.
**Significant at the 1 percent level of probability.

 

 

130

preparation as mentioned earlier, this relationship can be
explained by the fact that as fbod was being prepared,
families obviously needed to move food materials and other
articles necessary for the preparation from their storage
place.

A significant positive relationship was found between
preparation—construction activities and control activities,
such as checking on food while it was being cooked. It is
obvious that during the food preparation process, several
checks on food are necessary.

Identification of the homemaker's
activityppattern

As mentioned earlier in the methodology chapter,
activity categories for coding were developed to satisfy the
requirement that the categories distinguish resource-
conserving activities from those that utilize materials with
the ultimate purpose of consumption. To identify the
activity pattern of the homemaker with respect to conserva—
tion of the family's available resources and utilization of
materials with the ultimate purpose of consumption, the mean
frequency per minute for each of the two categories of
activities was computed for each of the thirty homemakers,
and the average of the mean frequencies per minute for the
thirty homemakers in each category was calculated. Each
homemaker's mean frequency per minute was compared with the

average to determine whether the homemaker was above or below

 

 

 

131

average. Thirteen homemakers were classified above the
average mean frequency per minute of RCA, and twelve home-
makers ranked above the average in CA. Seventeen and
eighteen homemakers were below average in RCA and CA,
respectively.

In order to determine her activity pattern each'hbme—
maker was classified according to her standing with respect
to the two categories of activities RCA and CA. The combi-
nation of her standing in both categories formed her
activity pattern. The following were the four possible
activity patterns:

HH HL LHandLL

It may be observed in Table 21 that each of the four
patterns was identified as being the pattern of at least
five homemakers. On superficial consideration one would
think that RCA are opposed to CA because the function of
each category is the contrary of the other. One category of
activities is to conserve resources, while the other is to
consume them. Therefore; one might expect that homemakers
who had a tendency to perform one category of activities,
would be less inclined to perform the other. But this is not
the case. In fact, the two categories of activities are
complementary to each other in the sense that a higher level
of RCA facilitates or is necessitated by a higher level of
CA. Therefore, one might consider that homemakers with an

HH or LL pattern have a balance of RCA and CA. One usually

 

 

 

 

 

132

Table 21. Number of homemakers identified for each of the
four activity patterns.

 

 

 

 

Activity pattern Number of
RCA CA homemakers
H H 5
H L 8
L H 7
L L 10
Total 30

 

 

 

 

 

133

conserves his resources in order to use them. The distinc-
tion made between the two activity categories was arbitrary
in that a single motive was attributed to the homemaker for
each activity. For example, it was assumed that the pur—
pose of the activity of moving things from storage was to
consume, whereas, it could very possibly be that the home—
maker moved the thing from storage for some other reason.
Also while the moving-from—storage activity was distinguished
as a CA and the moving—to—storate activity as a RCA, one
activity necessitated the performance of the other. This is
reflected in the significant positive relationship found
between the two activities.

As Table 21 shows, homemakers with the activity patterns
H H and L L combined are equal to those with the activity
patterns H L and L H combined. Thus, half of the homemakers
have mixed activity patterns characterized by higher mean
frequency per minute in one category of activities and lower
mean frequency per minute in the other. According to the
previous discussion, these homemakers are of special interest
as representing a possible imbalance of RCA and CA. The
other half of the homemakers have uniform activity patterns
in the sense that either both mean frequencies per minute of
the two categories of activities were higher or lower. It
would appear that these homemakers were simply more or less
active than the average.

Investigating families whose homemakers‘ activity pat—

terns were higher in RCA, it was found that eight out of

 

 

 

134

thirteen of them reported or perceived themselves as being
better off than they were five years ago. In contrast seven
out of seventeen of the families whose homemakers' activity
pattern were lower in RCA reported themselves as being

better off than they were five years ago. This might sug—

 

gest the possibility of helping families improve their
economic position and welfare through the identification and
the understanding of the importance of RCA.

In order to determine whether any interrelationships

 

existed, homemakers in the two groups of higher and lower
mean frequency per minute of RCA were compared with their
educational level, occupations and income. Table 22 indi—
cates that although the range of education was almost the
same for the two groups, hOmemakers in the higher group seem
to be better educated than those in the lower group. As
Table 22 shows, the majority of homemakers in the higher
group were high school graduates, while in the lower group
only nine out of seventeen homemakers were so- One home-
maker in the higher group had some technical and business

school after high school, while none in the other group had

 

any education beyond high school. In this case, one can
think of the education of the homemaker as being a factor
related to her knowledge about conservation of the family‘s
available resources. It could be the topic for future in—

vestigation'in'the3home management research area.

 

 

 

 

135

Table 22. Homemakers in the higher and lower groups of
mean frequencies/minute of Resource Conserv—
ing Activities in relation to their educational

 

 

 

 

 

level.
Educational level Number of homemakers
Higher group Lower group
8th grade 1 3
Some high school 1 5
High school graduate 10 9
Technical or business school 1 —
Total 13 17

 

Table 23. Homemakers in the higher and lowerggroups Of
frequencies/minute of resource conserving activ—
ities in relation to their occupations.

 

 

 

 

 

Occupation Number of homemakers
Higher group Lower group

Homemaker 8 14

Service 1 1

Farm labor ' 1

Labor . l 1

Clerical or sales 3 l

 

Total 13 17

 

 

 

 

 

136

Presented in Table 23 (on the preceding page) is the
occupational level of homemakers in the two groups of
homemakers. Fourteen out of seventeen of the homemakers
in the lower group were fulltime homemakers while only eight
out of thirteen of the homemakers in the other group were
fulltime homemakers. Thus there appears to be a relation-
ship between the homemaker being employed and the frequency
of her performing RCA. Going out of the house to work and
meeting with people and talking to them may broaden the
homemaker's knowledge about the importance of conserving
and the means by which one can conserve the family's avail—
able resources.

Income and mean frequenCy per minute of performing RCA
may be somewhat related. As Table 24 shows, families of
homemakers who performed higher mean frequency per minute
of RCA tended to receive higher incomes than those of home—
makers with lower mean frequehCy per minute of RCA. While
the majority of families in the lower group were receiving
incomes below $8,999 annually, only about half of the home-
makers in the other group received that amount. One home—
maker's family annual income reached $18,928 in the higher
group while none in the other group had any income exceeding
$11,999 per year.

Oh investigating equipment owned by the thirty families,
it was found that the majority of homemakers in both groups

had the major appliances in their homes such as stove,

 

 

137

Table 24. Family incomes of homemakers in the higher and
lower mean frequency/minute of resource
conserving activities.

 

 

 

 

Income range Number of homemakers
(in dollars) Higher group Lower group
Less than $5,999 — l
6,000—8,999 7 l3
9,000—1l,999 4 3
12,000—14,999 l —
Over 15,000 1 —
Total 13 17
Mean income 9,028* 7,533
Per capita income 1,616* 941

 

*These figures exclude the family with the annual income
of $18,928 which income increased 420% over the last five

years.

 

 

138

refrigerator, TV, vacuum cleaner, etc. On the other hand,
the majority of homemakers who tended to perform higher mean
frequency per minute of RCA had the small appliances such

as mixer, blender, coffee maker, roaster and the like. In
contrast only a few of the group of homemakers with lower
mean frequency per minute of RCA had these small appliances.
As families receive more income, they become able to get
more equipment and appliances. Consequently homemakers of

these families can perform activities which tend to conserve

 

their family's resources more frequently than homemakers
with less income who don't have as many appliances to uti—

lize and care for. It seems Clear that as caring for dur-

 

able goods was considered RCA, the performance of such an
activity is associated with the equipment that any family

has. LThi57+at least, is What this study showed. .It raises
the question, however, of the possibility that a family may
have enough equipment and materials and yet give no care t0-
these things either because of lack of knowledge about
conservation of resources or’because these articles are simply

not used very often and therefore don't need much care.

Time Orientation of the Homemaker

Included in this section will be discussion of data
concerned with the conversation.of the homemaker in the.

following manner: Distribution of message units, identifying

 

 

 

 

139

the time orientation of the homemaker, content categories,

and test of independence of content—time categories.

Distribution of message units

The total number of message units transcribed from tapes
as being spoken by homemakers of thirty families and which
were coded and analyzed was 16,614 with a mean of 553.8 mes—
sage units per homemaker. As presented in Table 25 each
time reference was composed of the three content areas self,
other persons, and materials.

While conversation message units of the present time
reference were found to comprise the highest proportion
(63 percent) of total message units, future time reference
message units accounted for the lowest, 10 percent, of total
message units. The past time reference accounted for 27
percent of the total with a mean of 151 message units per
homemaker.

The predominance of the present time reference in the
conversation of these homemakers is consistent with studies
relating time—orientation to social class. The total sample
of this study was rural non-farm families, who reported
earning incomes below the poverty level five years before
data were collected. By other measures (other than income)
of socio-economic class such as the educational level and

occupation of both husband and wife, these families were in

lower socio—economic levels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

140

Table 25. Percentage of message units spoken by thirty
homemakers in each of the three time references.

 

 

Mean number of message
Time reference Percent Number units/homemaker

 

a

Past 27.3 4,534 151
Present 62.8 10,435 348
Future 9.9 1,645 55

 

Total 100.0 16,614

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

141

According to Lewin (54) the social environment in which
the individual lives influences his time-orientation. Davis
(17) and Kinsey (44) have remarked on the difference in
temporal orientation between members of different sOCial
classes. The two authors pointed out that people of lower
class group are less likely to postpone-present gratifica-
tion in favor of future gain. LeShan (53) in his investiga—
tion of the relationship between time-orientation and social
class, found that lower class children eight to ten years old
were predominantly present time—oriented.

Identifying the time-orientation
of the homemaker

Since present time references predominated the conversa—
tion of homemakers, each time reference was looked at sepa—
rately to determine where eaCh homemaker stands with respect
to the average percentage of each time reference. Therefore,
the average of percentages for the thirty homemakers in each
time reference was calculated. Each homemaker's percentage
of any time reference was compared with the average percent
of that time reference in order to decide whether the home-
maker was average, above average or below average. Homemakers
showing percentages of past time references which were
average or above average were considered more past time—
oriented than those who fell below the average, who were con—
sidered less past time—oriented. Likewise, homemakers who

were more future and more present time—oriented were

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

142

identified., Thirteen homemakers were identified as being
more future time—oriented and sixteen and thirteen home—
makers, respectively, were identified as being more present
and more past time—oriented.

Table 26 presents the five combinations of time orien—
tations identified for the thirty homemakers. The majority
of those (eight out of thirteen) who were more future time—
oriented were less past time-oriented. Since future and
past are the two extremes of the time reference Continuum,
it was expected that those homemakers who were more future
time-oriented would show less past time-orientation. However,
five of the homemakers who were more future time—oriented were
also more past time—oriented. It is possible that a person
may have a good experience, about which he likes to talk, and
at the same time is anticipating a similar future experience.
AnalOgous explanation might account for homemakers who were
more present time-oriented and less past time-oriented and
either more or less future time-oriented.

There was some evidence in the literature of a relation—
ship between timeworientation and age. Therefore, the group
of homemakers who were more future time—oriented was compared
with those who were less future time—oriented with respect
to age. Table 27 shows that the majority of homemakers who
were more future time—oriented were between the age of 30
and 35 years, while most homemakers who were less future time—
oriented were older than 35. The range of the age of the

less future time—oriented group of homemakers was 27—55 which

 

 

 

143

Table 26. Time orientation of thirty homemakers.

 

 

 

Number of Future time— Present time— Past time-
homemakers oriented oriented oriented

l more less less

7 more more less

5 more less more

9 less more less

8 less less more

Total 30

 

Table 27. Distribution of age of thirty homemakers in
relation to their time—orientation.

 

 

Number of homemakers

 

 

 

 

Age range Future time—oriented Past time—oriented
More Less More Less
Under 30 V 2 3 l 4
30—35 6 4 5 5
36—40 3 6 4 5
41—45 1 2 l 2
46—50 x 1 1 1 1
51-55 — 1 l —
Total 13 l7 13 17
Mean age 35 37 37 35

 

 

 

 

144

was wider than that of the other group who were more future
time—oriented. Similarly, it seems that more past time-
orientation is associated with older age (Table 27).

These results are in accord with those reported by Fink
(24) who found that aged peOple were more concerned with
the past and less with the future than younger people. The
two different age groups Fink investigated were in the age
ranges of 50—60 and 61—70. The 50—60 year old group may
not represent young people, generally speaking, but relative
to the other group they are less old. Fink found differences
in their time—orientation, the less old (50—60 years old)
group which he called the young group being more future and
less past time—oriented than the older group (61—70 years
61d) .

The relationship between age and time orientation did
not seem to be very clear in Eson's (23) study of temporal
emphasis of five different age levels. His groups were 10
year old males and females, 16 year old males and females,
25 year old males, 35 year old males and 65 year old males.
Although his sample presented a wide range of ages, he found
that a greater stress was given to the future than to the
past by each of his five age level group. One would expect,
for example, that the 65 year old group would show more
emphasis on the past than on the future. The picture,
however, was the reverse.

Eson's results also showed that the 25—year—old group

had the highest mean percentage of future responses and the

 

 

T’f

lowest mean percentage of paSt responses indicating that this

145

group was the most future time—oriented and the least past
time-oriented of all other grdups studied. The results also
indicated the mean percentage of future responses of the
65-year—old group, was higher than that of the 35—year—old,
16—year—old and 10-year-old males groups. The issue of the
relationship between age and time-orientation is unresolved
and more research is needed in this area.

Table 28 shows the distribution of educational level of
homemakers of different time—orientations. It may be ob—
served that homemakers who were more future time-oriented
seem to have a higher level of education than less future
time-oriented homemakers, although the highest educational
level of both groups was graduation from high school with the
exception of one homemaker Who got some technical and
business schooling after high school.

By the same token, homemakers who were less:past time-
oriented seem to be more educated than those who were more
past time—oriented (Table 28). However, since the educa—
tional level of young persons nowadays is generally higherv
than that of older persons, it is not clear whether time—
orientation is related to education, age or both. Relation—
ships between education and time—orientation of homemakers
who have received very little education and homemakers with

more education such as college degrees should be explored.

 

 

 

 

 

 

146

Table 28. Distribution of educational level of thirty home—
makers in relation to their time—orientation.

 

 

Number of homemakers
Educational Level Future time-oriented Past time—oriented

 

 

More» Less More Less
8th grade 1 4 2 2
Some high school 1 4 2 4
High school graduate 10 9 9 10
Technical or busi—
ness school 1 — - l

 

Total 13 17 13 17

 

 

 

147

Content Categories

Each content area refering to self, other persons, and
materials, includes the three time references, past, present,
and future. The "other persons” content area dominated the
content of the message units spoken by the thirty homemakers,
which accounted for half of the total conversation message
units (Table 29). For the "self" and "materials” content
areas, there was a mean of 155 and 122 message units,
respectively, per homemaker and the percentages of approxi—
mately 28 and 22 of the total of message units. These home—
makers' conversations were centered around persons more than
around materials. They prefer to talk about other people
and themselves more frequently than they do about material
things. Judging from their conversation alone, they could be
classified as person—centered rather than material—centered
people.

Test of independence of content—
time categories

In order to determine whether messages should be classi—
fied by content before being analyzed for time reference, the
Chi—Square Test of Independence was performed. The signifi—
cant value (718.85) indicated that time—content categories
were dependent on each other. ”Therefore, message units were
analyzed in terms of the nine time—content categories.

As Table 30 indicates, all the nine categories were used

by the homemakers. Investigation, however, of the raw data

 

 

 

 

 

148

Table 29. Percentages of message units spoken by thirty
homemakers in each of the three content areas.

Mean number of

 

Percent of message units
Content area total Total per homemaker
Self 27.9 4,641 155
Other persons 50.0 8,306 277
Materials 22.1 3,667 122

—-———--————— _-—‘———~—-————.————————~-—_——_————————————_—_—

Total 100.0 16,614

 

 

 

 

 

 

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150

showed that five homemakers said nothing in the material
future reference. The highest percentage of all message
units spoken by the homemakers was in the present time
reference under the "other persons" content category, while
the lowest percentage was in the future time reference under
the "materials" category of content.

Comparing the three time references, each consisting
of the three content areas, we find that "other persons"
content category accounted for the highest percentage,
regardless of the time reference. In talking about other
people, these homemakers used the present time reference
more frequently than either the past or the future. In using
the past and the future time references, they tended to refer
least to materials in their conversation, while in the present
reference they referred least to themselves.

Looking at the three content areas, each composed of
the three time references, we perceive that present time
references still accounted for the highest percentage of
message units. The future time reference in all content
areas accounted for the lowest percentage. These homemakers
appeared to be less future and less past time—oriented under
the “materials" content category and less present time—
oriented under the content category of “self."

Smeltzer (70), in his study of time-orientation in
psychotherapy adapted the following four content areas from
Lennard and Bernstein (52): family relationships, other

social relationships, self, and therapist—client relationships.

 

 

 

 

 

In order to test for a relationship, between the time
orientation of the client and these content areas, the
changes in past, present and future-time-orientation in the
first half to the last half of psychotherapy under each of these
areas were determined. He tested for'differences between
means of percentages of these categories under each of the
three time references. His results showed more similarities
than differences when he looked at the time—orientation in
the context of the four content areas. The differences were
only under the self content category in the three time—
orientations, and in the past time—orientation under the
therapist—client category. This, like the present study,
indicates some relationships between time and content cate—

gories.

The Relationship Between Activity Pattern
and Time Orientation

The research question that was raised in this study
concerns the relationship between time—orientation of the
homemaker and her activity pattern. It was expected that
homemakers who are future time—oriented will perform activ—
ities which have a resource conserving function more
frequently than do homemakers who are past and/or present
time-oriented. In order to determine the relationship exist—
ing, simple correlation coefficients were calculated between

average percentage of time-orientation and the over—all

 

 

 

 

152

average mean frequency per minute of activity categories.
A table of simple correlations accompanies the discussion
(Table 31).

When each of the three time-orientations, past, present,
and future was correlated with the category of RCA, a nega—
tive correlation of -0.23 and -O.21 and a positive correla—
tion of 0.13 were found, respectively. These relationships
are in the predicted direction although the correlations
were not significant. .Homemakers who were more past or
present time-oriented performed fewer activities which have
resource conserving function. On the other hand, the posi—
tive correlation found between future time—orientation and
the category of RCA suggests that future time—orientations is
associated with higher mean frequency per minute of RCA.

A negative correlation, significant at the 10 percent
level of probability was found between present time—orienta—

tion under the ”self" category of content and activities

 

which have a resource—conserving function. The past time
orientation under "other persons" category of content showed
a significant negative correlation with RCA, indicating that
homemakers who were more past time—oriented under "other
persons" category of content, performed RCA less frequently
than those who were less past time-oriented. Other correla—
tions between RCA and time—orientations under the self,
others, and materials content categories were in the pre-

dicted direction although they were not significant (Table 31).

 

 

 

 

 

153

Table 31. Correlation coefficient calculated between types
of activities and time content categories.

 

fi—V.

Resource conserving activities/

Past time—orientation —0.23
Present time-orientation -0.21
Future time-orientation 0.13
Self past time-orientation —0.16
Self present time—orientation —0.33*
Self future time-orientation 0.26
Other persons past time—orientation -0.43*
Other persons present time—orientation —O.15
Other persons future time—orientation 0.04
Materials past time—orientation —0.14
Materials present time-orientation —0.02
Materials future time-orientation 0.02
Self content category ' 0.38*
Other persons content category —0.43*
Consumption activities/
Self content category —0.37*
Preparation, construction activities/
Future time-orientation O.46*
Self present time-orientation —0.38*
Other persons future time-orientation 0.55**
Self content category -0.33*
Control activities/
Self content category —0.34*
Other persons content category —0.33*
Materials content category 0.63**

 

*Significant at the 10 percent level of probability.
**Significant at the 1 percent level of probability.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

154

Correlations between categories of activities and time—
content categories may reflect personality characteristics
of homemakers which could be explored in future research.
Significant positive and negative relationships, respectively,
were found between the category of RCA and the ”self“ and
“other persons” content categories (Table 31). Performing
RCA was positively related to referring to self in conversa—
tion but negatively related to referring to other persons.

In contrast, consumptiOn activities were found to be nega—
tively related to the self content category.

Frequencies of performing preparation—construction
activities were found to be positively related to future
time—orientation. Present time—orientation under the ”self”
content category and future time orientation under the "other
persons" category content were negatively and positively
related to preparation construction activities, respectively.
This indicates that activities which tend to create new
resources or augment the available resources appeared to be
associated with future time—orientation.

The negative correlation between preparation—construction
activities and the self category of content raises some
questions about personality characteristics of these home~
makers. As they performed more of the preparation construc—
tion activities they tended to talk less about themselves.

Correlations between control activities and each of the

COntent categories self, other persons, and materials, were

 

 

 

 

155

significant. Homemakers who tended to perform more of this
type of activity tended also to be material—centered in their
conversations rather than person-centered. They talked more
about material things and less about themselves or other
people.

Some significant relationships, either positive or nega—
tive, appeared to exist between the different types of
activities and time and content categories. The correlations
between activities and time-orientation were usually in the
direction which was expected. Relationships between the
types of activities and the three content areas seemed to be
related to personality characteristics and raised questions
that need to be further investigated to better understand the

homemaker and her behavior in the home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER VI
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

The purpose of this study was threefold: first, to
identify the pattern of activity and/or resource use of a
selected group of homemakers—~the extent to which their
activity patterns involved conservation of resources;
second, to identify the temporal value orientation of the
homemakers, whether past, present or future time—oriented;
and third, to explore relationships between time—orientation
of the homemaker and her activity pattern.

The assumptions underlying the overall design of the
study were that temporal value-orientation can be identified
from language used in conversation, and that an established
pattern of family activities can be inferred by observation
of the use of available resources. It was hypothesized that
future time—orientation versus past and present time-
orientations is associated with frequencies of performing
activities that have a resource conserving function. The
word resources refers to non-human resources, including all
durable and non—durable goods available for the family.

A non-probability sample of thirty rural families living
in the vicinity of Lansing was selected for the study. The
criteria applied in the selection of the families were:

families were to include both husband and wife and one or

156

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

157

more children ten years of age or older living at hOme, all
families reported income below the poverty level five years
before data were collected, and half of them reported their
economic position had since improved.

Interviews were performed to get background information
about the family, especially over the previous five year
period. To obtain as accurate and complete information as
possible on the homemaker's activities she was observed for
approximately four hours while performing her normal daily
activities. Observations were scheduled at the homemaker's
convenience and were planned to include major household
activities; namely, food preparation, cleaning and laundry.
Data were recorded minute by minute by the observer for each
activity performed. Verbal conversation was mechanically
recorded.

Activity data were coded according to the nature of the
activity, individual(s) involved, house area in which activ—
ity occurred, and materials and equipments used in the
activity. Distinction was made between activities which
have implications for resource conservation, and these with
the ultimate purpose of consumption. Two additional cate—
gories were identified as control activities, which were
purposeful but did not serve the immediate function either of
consumption or of resource conservation, and preparation—

construction activities which have resource augmentation and

creation function.

 

 

 

 

 

158

Conversations were transcribed, and then divided into
message units for purpose of coding and analysis. Each
message unit was coded on two dimensions, the time reference——
past, present, or future--and the content of the message unit,
whether the speaker referred to self, other persons, or
materials. The time reference which appeared to be intended
by the homemaker was coded.

The sample included a group of homemakers with ages
ranging from 27 to 55 years. Family income ranged from below
$6,000 to over $10,000. The majority of these homemakers
were not employed. Their educational level ranged from 8th
grade to high school graduate. The majority of husbands
had relatively unskilled jobs. Their education ranged from
.less than 8th grade to some college, with the exception of
one husband who had a college degree and worked as a civil
engineer.

All families were in early stages of the family life
cycle. The number of children in the family ranged from two
to thirteen, most of whom were seven to twelve years of age.
The majority of families were found to have a stock of the
major appliances in their homes.

A total of 12,131 recorded, codable activities was per—
formed by the thirty families with an average of 404
recorded activities per family during an average observa—
tion time of 255 minutes‘per family. The majority of these
recorded activities wasperformed by the homemaker since she

was the person of primary focus of the observation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

159

During the observation period, the kitchen was con—
sidered the central location of the house since it accounted
for the highest proportion of each of the four types of
activities more than any other single location in the house.
Built—in or large equipment was the central focus of the
highest percentage of total codable activities while personal

supplies accounted for the smallest percentage. However,

 

with respect to the four types of activities, utensils and
dishes, clothes, miscellaneous, and food, respectively, were
the central focus of the resource conserving activities,
consumption activities, control activities and resource aug—
menting activities.

Activity pattern of the homemaker was identified as
being higher or lower than the average mean frequency per
minute of each of the resource conserving activities and the
consumption activities. Since the two categories of activi—
ties, RCA and CA are complementary to each other in the
. sense that a higher level of RCA facilitates or is necessi-
tated by a higher level of CA, activity pattern was identi—
fied from both RCA-and CA. Half of the homemakers had
mixed activity patterns characterized by higher mean fre—
quency per minute in one category of activities (RCA or CA)
and lower mean frequency per minute in the other. These
homemakers are of special interest because they represent a
possible imbalance of RCA and CA. The other half of the

homemakers was found to have a uniform activity pattern

 

160

characterized by higher or lower mean frequency per minute
in both categories of activities, thus representing a pos-
sible balance between the two activities, although some
might have been more or less active than the average.

It was found that the majority of the homemakers whose
activity pattern was higher in RCA reported their families
as being better off than they were five years ago while only
a few of the homemakers whose activity pattern was lower in
RCA did so. This suggests the possibility of helping
families improve their economic position and welfare through
the identification and the understanding of the importance
of RCA.

Homemakers with higher mean frequency per minute of RCA
were compared with those with lower mean frequency per minute
with respect to their educational level and occupation. The
results showed that education and occupation could be factors
related to the homemaker's conservation of family's available
resources. Income also may be related to the performance of
RCA perhaps because families with more income can afford to
have more materials and equipment which are used and cared
for.

The total number of message units transcribed from tapes
was 16,614 with the mean of 554 per homemaker. The predomi—
nance of the present—time reference in the conversation of
these homemakers was consistent with studies relating time—
orientation to social class in the sense that low class people

are predominantly present time—oriented.

 

 

161

Percentage of each category in relation to total number
of message units was calculated and used as variables indi—
cating the time—orientation of the homemaker. When each
time reference was looked at separately, thirteen homemakers
were classified as being more future time—oriented, and
sixteen and thirteen homemakers, respectively, as being more
present and more past time—oriented. Comparisonsamong
homemakers of different time—orientation revealed possible
relationshipsto exist between time—orientation and both age
and education, a matter which needs further exploration.

With respect to the content areas and judging from their
conversation alone, these homemakers could be classified as
person—centered rather than material—centered people. The
Chi—Square Test of Independence was performed to test for
relationship between content and time. The results indicated
that time—content categories were dependent on each other.
The homemakers were less future and less past time—oriented
under the "materials“ category of content and less present
time—oriented under the ”self" COntent category.

Correlation coefficients were computed to determine
the relationship between the time—orientation of the home—
maker and her activity pattern. The relationships were in
the predicted direction although the correlations were not
significant. Future time—orientation was associated with
higher mean frequency per minute of RCA, whereas past and

present time—orientation were associated with lower mean

 

 

 

162

frequency per minute. Significant correlations found between
categories of activities and time—content categories may
reflect personality characteristics of the homemakers which

should be explored in future research.

Limitations of the Study

This study had some limitations which ought to be kept
in mind in the interpretation of its results:

1) The families selected consisted of a non—probability
sample. Therefore the two major assumptions of randomiza—
tion and normality were violated. Consequently, generaliza—
tions must be limited to this sample.

2) When compared much of the real differences found be—
tween means could not be distinguished from chance differences.
3) An estimate of inter—observer reliability was not
available since each family was observed by one observer only.

Thus, no check was made on the records which the observer
wrote. Observers may have oVerlooked some behavior or activ—
ity so commonplace as to esCape attention. Some activities
were definitely lost. If the observation had been done by
two observers, reliability could have been checked and this
limitation could have possibly been reduced.

4) The limited length of time of the observation,
approximately four hours, may not have given an adequate,
sample of normal daily activities.

5) The distinction made between the two categories or
RCA and CA was arbitrary in that a single motive was attri—

buted to the homemaker for each activity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

163

6) The poor quality of some of the recordings inter-
‘ferred with the transcription of these parts of the recordings
and thus reduced the amount of conversation to be analyzed.

7) The present study utilized one technique for probing
the temporal value orientation, that was analyzing the home-
maker's conversation in terms of the time referred to in the
message unit. Since the identification of the time—orienta—

tion of the homemaker is a relatively untapped home management

 

research area, this part ofthe study was exploratory in
nature. Other techniques should be used with the present one
to assess time—orientation in order to perfect the technique

used in the present study.

 

Implications for Future Research

This study contributed new data concerning the homemak—
er's time-orientation and her activity pattern. Although
conclusions are limited to the sample studied, the new data
raise questions and suggest areas for further research.
Seven hypotheses which emerged from the findings will be
stated with accompanying discussion.

The field of home management has a responsibility for
studying values. Although several'home management researches
have focused on values, the temporal values have been a com—
paratively untapped home management research area.

The method used in this study to assess the time~

orientation by analyzing the conversation of the homemaker

 

 

 

164

in terms of referring to the present, past or future seemed
to be an appropriate method. .However, it is-highly desir—
able to check its validity. The development and use of
other techniques in studying time—orientation will help
perfect the present method.

The present study begins to explore the homemaker's
time—orientation. Because of its important role in the
determination of behavior the concept should be studied fur—
ther. The_following is a major hypothesis that needs to be
vigorously tested.

.Hypothesis 1: Homemakers who are future time-oriented

(perform resource conserving activities more frequently

than those who are past or present time-oriented.

The results of the present study showed differences in
homemakers' time—orientations. Some were more future, more
present or more past time—oriented than others. This orien—
tation appeared to be related to their activity pattern.
Future research studies should focus on time-orientation of
the different family members to see whether there is a common
temporal value-orientation for the whole family or whether
members have individually held time—orientations. Does the
size of the family influence the commonality or variation in
time-orientation among members? What are the consequences of
differences in time—orientation of family members? What are

the implications for home management in terms of goal forma—

tion, family relationships, and decision-making in the

 

family, of family members holding similar or different time—

orientation? These are questions for future study.

   

 

 

165

 

Relationships of time—orientation to several variables
such as age, education and social class are not very clear
and need additional investigations. Is time-orientation re—
-lated toeducation, age or both? Or is one or the other an
intervening variable? The following hypothesis should be

tested.

Hypothesis 2: Younger, more highly educated homemakers
tend to be more future time- oriented than those who are

older and have less education.

 

Identification of activities Which conserve resourceS“
may be useful in helping families improve their economic

position and the quality of their life. The following

hypothesis should be tested.

Hypothesis 3: A higher economic position is positively
related to frequency of performance of resource con—
serving activities because (a) performance of resource
conserving activities contributes to economic improve-
ment and (b) families in a higher economic position
have more material resources requiring conservation.

 

Is performance of resource conserving activities associ—

ated with education? This is a question which the present

study raised.

Hypothesis 4: A higher level of education is positively
related to frequency of performing resource conserving

activities.

 

The concept of resource conservation has cross—cultural
implications. In the developing countries where the resources-
are more limited and scarce than in the United States, such
a concept is important.‘ Studies directed toward the identifi—

cation of activities which tend to conserve the families‘

available resources are highly desirable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Relationships found beeween activities and time content
categories may reflect personality characteristics of the
homemakers which should be explored in future research. The
following hypotheses are suggested.

Hypothesis 5: Homemakers who are highly self—centered

perform resource conserving activities more frequently

than those who are other persons—centered.

Hypothesis 6: Homemakers who are highly materials—

centered perform control activities more frequently

than those who are highly person—centered (self or other
persons). '

Hypothesis 7: Homemakers who are future time—oriented

and/or highly other persons—centered perform preparation—

construction activities more frequently than those who
are present or past~time—oriented and/or highly self—
centered.

Educational Implications. The present study showed that
future time—orientation is associated with frequency of per—
forming resource conserving activities. Past and present
time—orientations showed a reverse relationship. This may
have some educational implications concerning the modifica—
tion of time—orientation toward the future. The question now
is: Is it possible to modify or change the time-orientation
and how can this be done?

The present study indicated that homemakers who re—
ported improvement of their economic position over a five
year period were found to be performing resource conserving

activities more frequently than those who did not improve

economically. If this is true, it implies that educatiOnal

programs can be designed to improve homemakers' understanding

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

of the importance of performing resource conserving activi-
ties and the means to conserve families'-resources.
No previous researches have specifically addressed them—

selves to exploring the homemaker's temporal value—orientation

and its relationship to her day—to—day activities. The

present study has identified'and clarified questions and

implications for future research. Further study of this

area is important because it may offer clues for better
understanding management in the home and enhance the‘pOSSi‘

bilities for imparting knowledge about home management.

 

 

 

 

LITERATURE CITED

.l|.|||| ill I‘ll i

 

 

10.

11.

 

 

LITERATURE CITED

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Fitcher, J. H. Sociology. Chicago: The University of
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1963.

Grummon, D. L. "The Use of Language as a Method for
the Study of Personality“and Psychotherapy." Unpub—
lished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago,
1950.

Heenan, D. K. "Evaluation in the Humanities." Evalua—
tion in Higher Education by Dressel, P. L., and
Associates. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Co., 1961,
pp. 157-191.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

171

37. Hill, E. A. "Human Values in Home Economics," Journal
of Home Economics, V01. 47, No. 8, 1955, p. 592.

 

38. Israeli, N. "The Social Psychology of Time, Journal
of Abnormal and Social Psychology, Vol. 27, 1932, pp.
209-213.

39. Jacob, P. E., Flink, J. J., and Schuchman, H. L. "Values
and Their Function in Decision Making,“ The American
Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 9, No. 9, May, 1962, p. 10.

40. Jaffe, J. "Dyadic Analysis of Two Psychotherapeutic
Interviews." Comparative Psycholinguistic Analysis
of Two Psychotherapeutic Interviews. Edited by ‘
Gottschalk, L. A. New York: International Univerr
sities PreSs, 1961. '

41. Kahn, P. "Time-orientation and Reading Achievement,"
Perceptual and Motor Skills, Vol. 21, 1965, pp. 157—
,158. '

42. Ketchum, F. N. "A Study of Homemaker's Values as
Reflected in Time Used for Family and Personal Activi—
ties." Unpublished Master's thesis, Michigan State
University, 1961.

43. Kimball, W J. "The Relationship Between Personal
Values and The Adoption of Recommended Farm and Home
Practices.” UnpubliShed Ph.D. dissertation, Univer—
sity of Chicago, 1960.

44. Kinsey, A. C. Sexual Behavior in the Human Male.
Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Co., 1948.

 

45. Kluckhohn, C., and others. "Values and Value-Orienta—
tion in the Theory of Action." Toward a General
Theory of Action. 'Edited by Parsons, T. and Shels, E.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1954, p. 395.

 

46. Kluckhohn, F. R., and Strodtbeck, F. L. Variation in
Value-Orientations. ”Evanston: Row, Peterson ‘ ”
and Company, 1961, pp. 1—20.

 

47. Knapp, R. H., and Garbutt, J. T. "Time Imagery and the
Achievement Motive," Journal of Personality, Vol. 26,
1958, pp. 426-434.

 

48. Kohlmann, E. L. "Development of an Instrument to Deter—
mine Values of Homemakers." Unpublished Ph.D. disser—
tation, Iowa State University of Science and Technology.
1961.

 

 

 

 

 

liiiliilfil I. I.
i

 

 

49.

50.

51.

52.

53.

54.

55.

S6.

57.

58.

59.

60.

61.

172

Krech, D., and CrutChfield, R. S. Theory and Problems
in Psychology. New York? McGraw—Hill Company Inc.,
1938. '

 

Laffey, J. J. "Impulsivity and Temporal Experience in
Prisoners." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Mighigan
State University, 1963.

Lee, D. "Individuals in a Changing Society," Journal of
Home Economics, Vol. 52, No. 2, 1960, p. 79.

 

 

Lennard, H. L., and Bernstein, A. The Anatomy of
Psychotherapy. New York: Columbia University Press,
.1960. ”

 

 

LeShan, L. "Time—Orientation and Social Class," Journal
of Abnormal and Social Psyphology, Vol. 47, 1952,
pp. 539—592.

Lewin, K. Field Theory in Social Science. New York:
Harper and Brothers,1951.

Lewin, K. "Time Perspective and Morale." Civilian
Morale. Edited by Watson, G. New York: Houghton—
Mifflin, 1942.

Linton, R. Cultural Background of Personality.
New York: D. Appleton Century Co., 1945, p. 11.

Liston, M. Interrelationship of Values and Decision
Making in Home Management. Proceedings from Confer—
ence on Values and Decision Making in Home Management.
Michigan State University, 1955, p. 65.

Magrabi, F. M., Paolucci, B., and Heifner, M. E.
"Framework for Studying Family Activity Patterns,"
Journal of Home Economics, Vol. 59, No. 9, 1967, pp.
714-719.

Malone, C. C., and Malone, L. H. Decision Making and
Management for Farm and Home. Ames: The Iowa State
College Press, 1958, p. 56.

Martin, E. A. "Analysis by a Constructed Typology of
Family Members' Values Evident in Managerial Decision
Situations." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan
State University, 1965.

Mockmore, B. M. "Lasting Values in a Changing World,"
Journal of Home Economics, Vol. 50, No. 10, 1958,
p. 751.

 

 

 

 

 

T 'llllllllli 1.-.- 11J

 

62.

63.

64.

65.

66.

67

68.

69.

70.

71.

73.

74.

75.

173

Murphy, G. “Social Tensions in India, American Academy
of Political and Social Science, The Annuals, Vol. 276,
1951, pp. 35—42.

 

Nelson, L. J. ”Daily Activity Patterns of Peasant Home—
makers." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan
State University, 1963.

Nichols, H. "The Psychology of Time," American Journal
of Psychology, Vol. 3, 1891, pp. 451—529.

Nickell, P., and Dorsey, J. M. Management in Family

Living. 3rd ed., New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1959.
Orshansky, M. ”Counting the Poor: Another Look at the

Poverty Profile," Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 28,
Jan. 1965, pp. 3—29.

 

Paolucci, B. Home Management. A report prepared in
the Golden Anniversary White House Conference on
Children and Youth Conference. Washington, D. C.,
1960, p. 146.

Paolucci, B., and O'Brien, C. "Resources: The Tools
of Management," Forecast for Home Economics, Vol. 76,
March 1960, pp. 21-22.

Schlater, J. D. "The Management Process and Its Core
Concepts,“ Journal of Home Economics, Vol. 59, No. 2,
1967, pp- 93—98.

Smeltzer, W. E. "Time-Orientation and Time Perspective
in Psychotherapy.” Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation,
Michigan State University, 1968.

Spengler, O. The Decline of the West, Vol. I.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1926.

Spinley, B. F. The Dsprived and the Privileged.
London: Routledge and Keagan Paul, 1956.

Steidl, R. E. "Continuity of Household Work.“ Agri—
cultural Experiment Station Memoir 383, Cornell Univer—
sity, Ithaca, New YOrk, 1963.

Stein, H. D., and Cloward, R. A. (eds.) Social
Perspectives on Behavior. Glencoe: The Free Press,
1958, p. 263.

 

Straus, M. A. "Direct, Indirect, and Disguised Measure-
ment in Rural Sociology." Agricultural Experiment
Station Technical Bulletin 26, Washington State Univer—
sity, Pullman, Washington, 1957.

 

 

 

 

T lllllI].|||||l|z-JI|. .. J

174
76. Teahan, J. E. "Future Time Perspective and Academic
Achievement." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation,

Michigan State University, 1956.

77. Wallace, M. “An Investigation of Future Time Perspective
in Schizophrenia." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation,
Michigan State University, 1954.

78. Warren, J. "Time: Resource or Utility," Journal of Home
Economics, Vol. 49, No. l, 1957, pp. 20—22.

 

79. Warren, J. "Use of Time in Its Relation to Home Manage—
Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 734,
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1940.

80. Weintraub, W., and Arronson, H. "The Application of
Verbal Behavior Analysis to the Study of Psychological
Defense Mechanisms: Methodology and Preliminary Report,"
Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Vol. 134, 1962,
pp. 169—181.

81. Wiegand, E. "Use of Time by Full—time and Part—time
Homemakers in Relation to Home Management." Agri—
cultural Experiment Station Memoir 330, Cornell
University, Ithaca, New York, 1954.

 

82. Williams, R M. American Societyy A Sociological Inter—
pretation. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1960, pp. 399—401.
83 Williams, R. M. “Value—Orientations in American Society.”
Social Perspectives on Behavior. Edited by Stein,
H. D., and Cloward, R. A. Glencoe: The Free Press,
1958, p. 289.

84. "Farmhouse Planning Guides, Household Activity Data
and Space Needs Related to Design." Agricultural
Experiment Station, Cornell University, Ithaca,
New York, 1959.

85. "STAT Series Description," No. 4. Agricultural Experi—
ment Station, Michigan State University, East Lansing,
Michigan, 1969.

 

Il.\|ll|| l J]

 

 

 

APPENDIX A

 

175

u”
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I

 

176
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY mnxman-mmmnqwms

 

COLLEGE OF HOME ECONOMICS - OFFICE OF THE DEAN ' HOME ECONOMICS BUILDING

September 26, 1967

Dear Homemaker:

The College of Home Economics and the Agricultural Experiment
Station at Michigan State University want to study families
so we can be of more help to all families.

Miss Mabel Merrell would like to tell you about the study and
give you an opportunity to take part in this study. If you
have some questions about the study that are not answered or
would like to verify information, call Dr. Frances Magrabi
who is in charge of this project. Her phone number at
Michigan State University is 355—7702.

Sincerely yours,

Pearl J. Aldrich
Associate Dean, Research

PJAsjm

176

T14 lil.| ‘Ill III..|J

 

APPENDIX B

177

 

 

 

 

178

INTERVIEW FORM I

Family ID Number
Interviewer

 

MICHIGAN AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION SURVEY
COLLEGE OF HOME ECONOMICS

 

 

 

RESPONDENT
Last Name First Husband's Name or Initials
ADDRESS
House Number or Box Street or R.R. Apt. Number
CITY OR TOWN

 

ZIP CODE

TELEPHONE NUMBER

 

 

Record of Contacts

Date and Time Person Interviewed Reason for Non—Interview

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Location of Residence:

Condition of Roads:

General Impression of Interview:

 

 

 

, . ‘
.. I ~
.. . .. -.,.._
I.~* ‘4.
,.
‘ I

 

 

1.

N

Residence:

 

179

Unincorporated Town:

Open Country:
Over 10 acres Yes No

Population

Value of Farm Produce Sold: Under $50.00

$50.00—$250.00
Over $250.00

Would you tell me, please, who in your family are living at home?

 

 

 

 

Ages Sex
HUSBAND
WIFE
CHILDREN
Are you (the wife) employed outside the home? Yes No

Uhat kind of work does your husband do?

 

 

 

What was the last grade completed in school by:

Your husband?

Less than 8th Grade
8th Grade

Some High School
High School Graduate
Technical or
Business College
some College
College Degree

3325222

Less than 8th Grade
8th Grade

Some High School
High School Graduate
Technical or
Business College
Some College
College Degree

 

 

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...."
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8.

 

180

Taking into account your general financial situation—-~savings, assets,
and debts-~how well off are you compared with five years ago as far as
your net worth is concerned?

(a) Better off
(b) Worse off
(c) About the same

(If a or b)

By about what amount are you better (or worse) off in:
Income?
Savings and Property?
Debts?

Why are you better (or worse) off?

 

 

 

 

 

About what is your total family income now?
(Use card) l

About what was your total family income five years ago (in 1961?) .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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. “an. r,

 

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181

ID Number
Interviewer

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
AES PROJECT NO. 3029

Interview Form II

1. Family composition: (Include all who regard this as their permanent

address). \
Name Sex Age Relationship Current marital status

2. Are there family members who live elsewhere? (college student, sales-
man, grandparent).

Proportion of

Where they What periods each month on average
Name spend time of time during previous year

3. Are you (the wife) employed outside of the home?
Yes 1

(Go to 6) No
No response

\ON

4, What kind of work do you do?

Professional

Business professional
Clerical or sales
Labor (except farm)
Farm labor
.Agribuéiness

Service Worker

Other

\onUIwar—IO

\0

Doesn't apply

 

 

 

L_____.__.i

182 ID Number

5. How many hours are you usually away from home on workdays,
or is your employment for pay done at home?
4 or less
4+ to 8+
9+ to 10+

11 or more
Not away
Varies

doesn't apply

6. Is your husband employed? (Go to 8) Yes
No
No response

7. Why is he not employed?
School
Health
Retired
Between jobs
Out of work
doesn't apply

8. What kind of work does your husband do?
Professional
Business professional
Clerical or sales

Labor (including
agribusiness but

325 farm labor)

Farm owner or manager
Farm labor

Service worker
Other

(Go to 12) Doesn't apply

9. Does your husband have more than one job?
Yes

No
doesn't apply
10- Is your husband employed full-time or part-time?
Full-time
Part-time
doesn't apply

11. Is your husband's employment
at home

away from home
doesn't apply

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183

ID Number

12. How many hours is your husband away from home on workdays?
Less than 6 hours
(50)
6 to 9+ hours
10 to 11+
12 or more

Doesn't apply
(Omit if no children over 12 in household. Go to 14)
13. Are any children in your household employed even part-time?
Yes
No
Doesn't apply
(Omit if no other adults in household. Go to 15)
14. Or any other adults employed?
Yes

No

Doesn't apply

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223

 

ACTIVITIES OF FAMILY MEMBERS

185

ID Number

~What are some of the activities or hobbies in which you
or members of your family participate.

Family

 

Member

 

Type of
Activity

 

Where it

occurs

 

Time

 

 

Frequency

 

 

 

ID Number 2 .

23. Where do you get some of the ideas on home and family life that
are helpful to you. (Buying, household hints, recipes, entertain-
ing ideas, crafts)

 

Magazines Relatives

Newspaper Friends or neighbors
Television Home adviser

Radio Doctor

Books Church

Bulletins Clubs and organizations

Other

 

 

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

 

YOUR HEALTH
tall 1
Height average 2
short 3
Weight thin 1
average 2
overweight 3
extremely
overweight 4

ID Number

How many days of work have you missed in the past year because of

illness?

Have you gone to a doctor during the past year?

yes
no

On what occasions have you gone to the doctor during the

past year?

Do you use any physical aids?

Check-up

Major surgery

Physical illness

Accident

Emotional distur-
bance

advice

Other

Doesn't apply

Crutches

Canes

Braces

Supports
Wheelchair
Artificial limbs
Glasses

Hearing aid
Other

Doesn't apply

NH

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1 AA-4inniii

Interview Form III

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
AES Project No. 3029

Food Buying and Use
Column

1. How often do you buy

food

2. Who usually buys the
food for the family?

3. Before you buy food, do
you plan the meals?

4, Do you prepare a sh0p-

ing 113:?

5. Fresh potatoes

ID Number

During the past week did you buy or use any
of the following:

 

Interviewer
Daily 0
Weekly 1
Several
times
weekly 2
Every two
weeks 3
Monthly 4
Homemaker O
Husband 1
Homemaker

and
Husband 2
Someone

else 3
Homemaker

25
husband 4
Homemaker
& someone

else 5
Homemaker

2E
someone

else 6
Always 0
Sometimes 1
Never 2
Always 0
Sometimes 1
Never 2
Prepare but
don't fol-5 '
low 3
prepare but
buy others 4

Yes 1
No 0

 

 

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189

Colin:

'6'

9c

10.

11

i

12-

13.

14-

154

16,

l7

18.

19,

20..

Potato chips

. Frozen, canned, or dried

potatoes

Frozen vegetables

Frozen meat, poultry, or fis

Frozen fruits or juices

Frozen pie, cake, or cookies

Frozen rolls or doughnuts

Frozen dinners

Cake mix

Pudding or pie mix

Quick bread mix

Cooky mix

Casserole mix

Do you can or freeze extra

food for future use?

Does your family have the
evening meal together?

If not, why not?

ID Number

h

Always
Usually
Seldom
Never

Yes
No

Yes
No

Yes
No

Yes
No

Yes
_No

Yes
No

Yes
No

Yes
No

Yes
No

Yes
No

Yes
No

Yes
Yes
No

Yes
No

Always except
husband, who

is working

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Column
21. About how much time do

you usually spend pre-
paring breakfast?

Who usually does this?

22» Packed lunches

Who usually does this?

23. Noon meal

Who usually does this?

24. Evening meal

‘Who usually does this?

LAUNDRY

ID Number

0

None

less than
15 min.
15-30 min.
30-60 min.
over 1 hr.

None

less than
15 min.
15-30 min.
30—60 min.
over 1 hr.

None

less than
15 min.
15-30 min.
30-60 min.
over 1 hr.

 

None

less than
15 min.
15-30 min.
30-60 min.
over 1 hr.

25. Where do yOu do the laundry?

a

Kitchen

Utility or laundry room
Garage or lower level
Bathroom or hall
Outside room or porch

Launderette
Other

0 -D(» N!‘ <3 .biploea <3 a~u>n>~

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ONUIJ-‘Lan—‘O

 

191
ID Number

26, On which day or days is the wash usually done?

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Varies
Everyday

27-28. About how many loads of clothes were washed in the
last 7 days?

29. Where are the clothes usually dried?
Clothesline
Dryer, automatic
Dryer and clothesline

Launderette

CLOTHING AND HOME SEWING

30. Who shops for most of the major clothing items for you?

Homemaker
Husband
Other adult

31. Who shops for most of the major clothing for your
husband?
Homemaker
Husband
Other adult

(Omit if no girls)
32. Who shops for the girls over 12?

Homemaker
Father

Other adult
Girl
Combination
'Does not apply

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192

ID Number

33. Who shops for the girls under 12?

Homemaker
Father

Other adult
Girl
Combination
Does not apply

(Omit if no boys)

34. Who shops for the boys over 12?

35.

36.

37.

Homemaker
Father

Other adult
Boy
Combination
Does not apply

Who shops for the boys under 12?

Homemaker
Father

Other adult
Boy
Combination
Does not apply

And for any other family members:

Homemaker
Husband
Children

Other adults
Combination
Does not apply

Do you sew for your family?

Yes 1
No 0
Patch & mend 3

. Does anyone else sew for members of your family?

If yes, who?

Yes 1
No 0
Patch & mend 3

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39.

40

41-42.

193

ID Number
TRANSPORTATION
How many cars do you have?

How many of these are in running
condition?

Are there any other vehicles owned &
used by the family.

43. How many members of the family drive?
44. Do you drive? Yes 1
No 0
EQUIPMENT CHECK LIST
Card 3 Major appliances
Column
1. Stove 7. Heating system
None 0 None 0
Elec. or central 1
gas 1 space ' 2
other 2 other 3 (portable)
2. Refrigerator 8. Dryer
None 0 None 0
mechani— has 1
cal 1 ~
natural 2 9. Vacuum
3. Freezer (separate) None 0
has ’~1
None 0 ‘ ‘
has 1 10. Television
4. Sink None 0
None 0 has 1
has 1
11. Hot water heater
5. Dishwasher
None 0
None 0 gas or
has 1 elec. 1
other 2
6. Washer
None 0

Wringer 1
Automatic

 

 

 

 

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r.

 

 

 

 

 

 

—-—-—s——_—_——._

Small appliances (electric)

Column
12. Iron
None 0
has 1
13. Ironing
board
None 0
has 1
14. Electric
fry pan
None 0
has 1
15. Mixer
None 0
has 1
16. Electric
knife
None 0
has 1
l7. Blender
None 0
has 1
18. Popcorn popper

19.

20.

194

ID Number

EQUIPMENT CHECK LIST (Cont'd)

None 0
has 1

Waffle iron

None 0
has 1
Griddle

None 0
has 1

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

Coffeemaker

None
has

Toaster

None
has

Roaster

None
has

Can opener

None
has

Fan

None
has

1119.83.12

26.

27.

28.

29.

Pots & pans

None
has

Bread pans

None
has

Cake pans

None
has

Muffin tins

None
has

H

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195

 

 

ID Number
Utensils (cont'd)
30. Pie pans 40. Dish pan
None 0 None 0
has 1 has 1
31. Cookie sheets 41. Dish drainer
None 0 None 0
has 1 has 1
32. Skillets 42. Canister
None 0 None 0
has 1 has 1
33. Tea kettle Table service
None 0 43. Dishes
has 1
None 0
34. Can opener has 1
None 0 44. Glasses
has 1
None 0
35. Knives has 1
None 0 45. Silverware
has 1
None 0
36. Measuring cups has 1
None 0 46. Tableclothes
has 1 Dish towels, etc.
37. Measuring spoons None 0
has 1
None 0
has 1 Miscellaneous
38. Mixing bowls 47. Cupboards 1
None 0 None 0 1
has 1 has 1 l
39. Egg beater 48. Garbage cans ‘
None 0 None 0
has 1 has 1

 

 

 

196
ID Number
HOUSEHOLD ROUTINE
We know that care of your house requires some of your time.

Could you estimate the average time on a weekday that you
Spend on (read list).

 
   
 

Does not

'49.
50.
-51.

52. Cleaning,
floorsmél:

Does some other person frequently do or help with the following
tasks? If so, who? (Read list of tasks) Mark only one.

 

0 l 2 3 4 5 6 9
Other
house-
Daugh— hold Hired Combi-1 Doesn't

No Husband Sons . ters member help nation" apply
I

 

l

53, Dishwashing
Meal

54. Pre aration
Family

55 . laundry

 

 

 

55. Troninz

 

Daily
57._Ql.e§_niaau

Weekly
58 ‘ cleaning

 

 

Chauffeuring
59.family
Gardening &
‘iawh mow-
60.~ ing —
Caring for
family
61.members

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

52,‘Bedmaking

 

 

 

r—r

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197

ID Number

63. What household tasks do you like to do?
dislike doing?

64. Do you have any seasonal jobs that you feel are
important? canning, cleaning

 

 

IIIII' l|.l| 1.1.1.1.].1 1.1 II IIJ

198

FORM IV
ID Number

CONDITION OF HOME

Rate home with respect to each factor, on a scale ranging from 1 to 5
as follows:

 

l 2 4 5
Extremely Extremely
poor good

A. Cleanliness

W

B. Orderliness

C. State of repair of
building & permanent
fixtures

D. State of repair of
furnishings and
equipment

M

E. Shabbiness

 

 

 

 

199

 

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ID Number

What is your present take-home pay?
Husband $ Wife 5
What deductions aremade by your employer on your present job?

Husband Wife
Social Security 1
Insurance 2
Savings 3
Union 4
Taxes 5
Other

Did any other members of the family have any income?

 

Yes 1
No 2
If yes
' Length &
Who Job Amount of Pay Frequency

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to his salary, did your husband receive any income from
bonuses, overtime or tips?

$ Yes 1
No 2

 

Doesn't apply 9

Did you receive any income from bonuses, overtime or tips?

$ Yes 1
No 2

Doesn't apply 9

202

ID Number

id your family receive income from other sources?

 

 

 

 

Yes 1
No 2
f yes, what was your income from each source?
trade, or second job $
arming or market gardenidg $
oomers, boarders, or foster children $
my other self-employment $
ent $
nterest $
eteran's pension, veteran's sthoobnallotment $
nemployment compensation, union benefits $
acial security $
limony or regular contributions from public welfare,
ther government aid $
ther (Specify or describe) 3

a you carry any life insurance?

asband (Face value)
ife

ther family members

a you own or rent your home?
Per month

Rent

Current market value

H“ W

Home owner

you own other real property?

Yes 1
No 2

pproximate market value? $

 

 

ID Number

you own your home or other property, do you have a mortage
any of these properties?

Yes, on one

 

Yes, on both
No
Doesn't apply
>roximately how much is your present mortage?
first mortage Second mortggg
$_“ $
ments per month
First mortage Second mortage
$ $

ut how much would you receive if you were to trade in or sell your
omobile or other vehicles?

lst S
2nd $
3rd S

W

4th S

 

t is the total charge for car or truck insurance for your family?

$

 

you own other major items of equipment (boat, camping equipment,
ting or fishing equipment, power tools, lawn mower)?

Condition

Wm—
M

 

 

 

 

 

204

ID Number

ince you moved here have you made any additions or improvements
0 your home? Explain:

$W

toes your family have any savings program (including what the employer
leducts from your check)? (banks, bonds, credit unions)

Yes 1
No 2

Type Amount Invested

30 you or others in your family have any checking accounts at banks?
Yes 1
No 2

$__________._______

iave you inherited any money or property in the last five years?

H

Yes

(amount or value) $_~_____“_____~_
No 2

Do you have any other money owed to you?

$

 

 

 

 

205

ID Number

Do you owe money on any personal loans not already discussed?

 

From what source
did you borrow?

How much are the payments?

How many payments do
you have left to make?

 

Bank

per
per

week

month

 

per
per

week
month

 

Credit Union

per
per

week
month

 

per
per

week
month

 

Small Loan Company

per
per

week
month

 

per
per

week
month

 

 

Friend or relative

per
per

 

week
month

 

per
per

week
month

 

 

Other (please
specify).

 

per
per

 

per
per

 

week
month

week
month

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25.

206

ID Number

Do you owe any money now on anything you have bought on the installment

plan, with revolving accounts, or for anything on which you make regular
monthly or weekly payments?

26.

If yes, please fill in the following information:

Yes 1
No 2

 

2% did you buy, or what

e you making payments on?

How much are the payments?

How many payments do
you hrve left to make?

 

per week
per month__u_~

 

week

 

_ month

 

 

week
month

 

 

week
month

 

‘ per

per

week
month

 

per
per

week
month

 

 

per
per

 

week
month

 

per
per

 

 

week
month

 

 

 

 

 

2,07

ID Number

Each family has certain expenses which occur regularly. What do you spend
on each?

 

 

 

 

__§§pg§§iture flgngy Time Period
Food $
Clothing $
Medical $
Auto expenses $
Utilities (heating, water, $
electricity,
telephone)

Other Specify)

 

 

 

 

 

 

208

ACTIVITY RECORD SHEET

Persons present: Codes: Page:

 

Time Activity and Materials Space

 

 

 

 

 

 

Activity Family ID No.: l

. . ' N .:
Situation : Observation 0 ‘
Date :

Observer :

 

 

 

C
X
I
D
m
P
P
A

 

 

9
O
2

 

210

ACTIVITY RECORD CODE SHEET

Family No.
Observation No.
Coder

Date

Min. Space Activ- Person Mat'l or Other Description of

ity

1—10 11-20 21—30

Acting Per.Acted Mtl's Activity
On
31-40 41—50 51—66

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notezcolumn numbers refer to location on IBM cards.

 

 

 

 

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212

CONVERSATION CODE SHEET

Persons

(code, names, age, sex)

Page
Family ID No.
Observation No,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coder

Date
1—3 10—11 12-13 14—15 16-17 Conversation Message 43 44
Time + — — — Units Content Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note:

column numbers refer to location on IBM cards.

 

 

 

APPENDIX D

 

 

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215

Table 33. Percentage of fiotal activities performed in each
location of the house by thirty families.

 

 

Percent of

 

Location total activity

All locations* 100
Kitchen 64.3
Living room 16.8
Dining room 5.5
Basement or utility room 3.8
Bedroom 3.7
Bath 2.2
Outside 2.2
Hall, entry 0.8
Office, den 0.3
Family room 0.1
Unknown “"

 

 

*Percentage does not total 100 because of rounding.

 

 

216

Table 34. Resource conserving activities in relation to
material of central focus of the activity in
order from highest to lowest percentages.

 

 

Percent of
Item activity

 

Cleaning activities with the following materials
acted upon:

Utensils, dishes, pans 32.7
House structure and structural storage 20.4
Built—in or large equipment 12.4
Furniture 8.0
Containers 3.3
Other household textiles 3.0
Portable equipment 3.2
Other* 9-0

Conditioning—forestorage activities with the
following materials acted upon:

Clothes 56 8
Food 18 8
Utensils, dishes, pans 6.5
Bedding 5 6
Portable equipment 3 8
Other* 8 5

Moving-to—storage activities with the following
materials acted upon:

 

Utensils, dishes 22.8

Food 19.4

Household supplies 13.9

Clothes 13.6

Miscellaneous 7.6 l

Containers 5.1 ,

Bedding 5.1

Personal supplies 3.7 1

Other* 8. 8 l
Total RCA with the following materials acted ‘
upon: %

Utensils, dishes 30.0

House structure and structural storage 16.9

Clothes 11.8

Food 8.2

Built—in or large equipment 7.3 1

Furniture 5.0

Household supplies 4.6

Containers 3.6 ;

Miscellaneous 2.8 1

Other* 9,8

 

*A composite of materials upon which less than 10 percent of
activities were acted.

217

Table 35. Utilization activities in relation to materials
directly utilized in the activity in order from
highest to lowest percentages.

 

Percent of
Item activity

 

Conditioning—for—use activity with the following
materials directly utilized:

Clothes 52.1
Food 16.9
Utensils, dishes, etc. ' 10.4
Household supplies 6.2
Bedding 3.9
Other household textiles 2.8
Other* 7.7

Moving—from—storage activity with the following
materials directly utilized:

Utensils, dishes 30.7
Food 25.9
Household supplies 21.1
Miscellaneous 5.2
Clothes 4.4
Bedding 3.8
Other* 8.9

Total utilization activity with the following
materials directly utilized:

 

Clothes 31.5
Food 20.8 ‘
Dishes 19.1 1
Household supplies 12.6 ‘
Bedding 3.8
Miscellaneous 3.7
Other* 8.5

 

*A composite of material upon which less than 10 percent of
activities were acted.

Table 36. Control activities and activities which augment
and/or create new resources in relation to
material directly used in the activity in order
from highest to lowest percentages.

 

 

Percent of
Item activity

 

 

Control activities with the following material
directly used:

Miscellaneous 15.2
Unknown material 9.8
Clothes 8.6
Food 6.8
Personal supplies 4.3
Other household textiles 3.7
Other* 51.6

Preparation and construction activities with the
following material directly acted upon:

Food 97.5
Other** 2.5

 

*Includes 35.1% in which persons were acted upon. The
rest is a composite of materials.

**A composite of materials which less than 10 percent of
activities were acted upon them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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