General Social Survey - Time Use (GSS)

General Social Survey - Time Use (GSS)
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Detailed information for 2014 (Cycle 29 pilot)

Status:

Active

Frequency:

Every 5 years

Record number:

4503

The two primary objectives of the General Social Survey (GSS) are: to gather data on social trends in order to monitor changes in the living conditions and well-being of Canadians over time; and to provide information on specific social policy issues of current or emerging interest. A specific topic is usually repeated every five years.

This survey monitors changes in time use.

Data release - Pilot data will not be released.

Description

This survey monitors changes in time use to better understand how Canadians spend and manage their time and what contributes to their well-being and stress.

The data collected provide information to all level of governments when making funding decisions, developing priorities and identifying areas of concern for legislation, new policies and programs. Researchers and other users use this information to inform the general Canadian population about the changing nature of time use in Canada.

Statistical activity

This record is part of the General Social Survey (GSS) program. The GSS originated in 1985. Each survey contains a core topic, focus or exploratory questions and a standard set of socio-demographic questions used for classification. More recent cycles have also included some qualitative questions, which explore intentions and perceptions.

Subjects

  • Commuting to work
  • Labour
  • Society and community
  • Time use
  • Unpaid work

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population for the survey is non-institutionalized persons 15 years of age or older, living in the 10 provinces. For the survey, a single eligible member of each sampled household is randomly selected by the application to complete the questionnaire, after the completion of the roster.

Instrument design

The questionnaire was designed based on qualitative testing and interviewer debriefing.

Sampling

This is a sample survey with a cross-sectional design.

A raw sample of 2,000 households across three provinces (Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario) will be used for this pilot test.

This survey uses Statistics Canada's new telephone sampling frame. The frame contains landline and cellular telephone numbers from the Census and various administrative sources provided to Statistics Canada. A sub-sample of unlisted telephone numbers as well as addresses and names from Statistics Canada's new dwelling frame are also included. This sampling frame is used to obtain a better coverage of households with a telephone number.

Data sources

Data collection for this reference period: 2014-07-07 to 2014-07-20

Responding to this survey is voluntary.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

In the GSS, all respondents are contacted and interviewed by telephone. Thus persons in households without telephones cannot be interviewed. However, persons living in such households represent less than 2% of the target population.

For the pilot survey, data collection is conducted by Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) methods in the three provinces.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects that could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

In order to prevent any data disclosure, confidentiality analysis is done using the Statistics Canada Generalized Disclosure Control System (G-Confid). G-Confid is used for primary suppression (direct disclosure) as well as for secondary suppression (residual disclosure). Direct disclosure occurs when the value in a tabulation cell is composed of or dominated by few enterprises while residual disclosure occurs when confidential information can be derived indirectly by piecing together information from different sources or data series.

Documentation

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