Researchers
Abstract:
The proposed research examines the changing uses of time on leisure activities (analysed via sport/outdoor and cultural/hobby activities) and its relationship with educational qualifications for the UK and European countries. Perceptions of the importance of leisure in life are examined for the early 21st century to support the findings from the study of time use. The methodology of the proposed research can be summarised as follows:
Hypothesis 1: People in the UK and other European countries had better quality of life (measured by time spent on leisure activities) towards the end of 20th century.
The aim is to explore trends (changes) in the amount of time spent on leisure activities over time (e.g. two points in time) in the UK and other European countries (Date source: Multinational Time Use Study (MTUS)). This is an attempt to identify any trends of time spent on leisure activities in the UK and other European countries and make comparison among the countries.
Hypothesis 2: Educational qualifications significantly increase the amount of time spent on leisure activities.
The aim is to investigate the impact of educational qualifications on time spent on leisure activities (Data source: MTUS). A model which investigates the impact of educational qualifications in addition to other socio-economic/demographic characteristics (such as employment status, household composition and age) on time use on leisure will be estimated. Consequently, whether educational qualifications (in addition to other variables) are significant in explaining the variation of time spent within each country and across countries can be tested. The model also enables us to identify whether age/generation influences the trends.
Hypothesis 3: A positive correlation between educational qualifications and individual’s perception of the importance of leisure time in life.
The aim is to explore the correlation between educational qualifications and perception on the importance of leisure time in life (Date source: European social survey). Here, a ranked correlation will be estimated between educational qualifications and individual’s perception on leisure time, and test for its significance. The correlations will be estimated for each country and compared for the strength of the correlations across countries.
Hypothesis 4: Educational qualifications have a significant impact on individual’s perceptions of the importance of leisure time in life.
The aim is to investigate the relationship between educational qualifications and perception on leisure, and test the significance of the relationship after taking account of potential socio-economic and demographic influences (Data source: European social survey). A model will be constructed that examines the relationship, taking into account of other socio-economic/demographic variables as the above analyses. The analysis will clarify whether education contributes to perception in addition to other characteristics should the correlation in hypothesis 3 statistically significant. In addition, as with the previous analyses, this model enables us to examine the impact of education on perception for UK and the comparison across countries for the early 21st century.
Hypothesis 5: The influences of educational qualifications are significant on the participation in leisure after taking account of individual’s perception on leisure.
The aim is to examine whether the impact of education remains significant on actual participation in leisure activities (sports/outdoor activity and cultural/hobby activity) in the last 12 months after taking into account of the individual’s perception on the importance of leisure time in life (Date source: European social survey). A model which estimated the probability of participating in leisure activities in relation to educational qualification, other socio-economic/demographic characteristics and individual’s perception on the importance of leisure time in life, will be carried out in order to examine whether the influences of education are present on predicting participation in leisure activities over the effect of individual’s perception.
Conclusions will be drawn from the results of the above analyses focusing on the effect of educational qualifications for the UK as well as the comparison with Europe.
Department:
Sociology, University of Manchester
Duration:
1st Jan 2006 -
Grant Type:
Postdoctoral Fellowship
Publications
Howells, J., Ramlogan, R. and Cheng, S-L. (2008) The Role, Context
and Typology of Universities and Higher Education Institutions in
Innovation Systems: A UK Perspective, ESRC programme on Impact of
Higher Education Institutions on Regional Economies Initiative (IMPACT)
Discussion Paper.
Southerton, D., Warde, A., Cheng, S-L and Olsen, W. (2007) Trajectories
of time spent reading as a primary activity: A comparison of the Netherlands,
Norway, France, UK and USA since the 1970s, CRESC Working Paper 39.
Cheng,
S-L. (2007) The Impact of Educational Qualifications on Trends in
Leisure Activities, UPTAP Research Findings
Cheng, S-L., Olsen, W., Southerton, D. and Warde, A. (2007) The changing
practice of eating: evidence from UK time diaries, 1975 and 2000,
British Journal of Sociology, 58(1): 39-61.
Warde, A., Cheng, S-L, Olsen, W. and Southerton, D. (2007) Changes
in the practice of eating: a comparative analysis of time-use, Acta
Sociologica, 50(4): 365-87.
Cheng, S-L; Olsen, W; Southerton, D, and Warde A (2006). The changing
practice of eating: evidence from UK time diaries, 1975 and 2000,
British Journal of Sociology, Volume 58(1).
Presentations
Cheng,
S-L. (2007) An analysis of the relationship between time spent on
active leisure and educational qualifications, Presentation at the
UPTAP Workshop, Leeds, 21 March.
Cheng, S-L. (2006) A comparison of time on leisure activities in
relation to education between the UK and the Netherlands: Evidence
from time use surveys, The International Conference on Comparative
Social Sciences, Sophia University, Tokyo, 15-16 July.
Cheng, S-L
(2006) The impact of educational qualifications on trends in leisure
activities, Presentation at the UPTAP conference, Leeds, 30-31 March.
