START is a 8-character time variable reporting the time the activity started in the format: HH:MM:SS. Diary day begins at 4:00:00 and ends at 3:59:00 the following calendar day.

Description

START reports the time the activity started.

Times are recorded using a 24 hour basis in the following format: HH:MM:SS. The user should note that the diary day begins at 4:00:00 and ends at 3:59:00 the following calendar day. Activities that take place between 0:00:00 and 3:59:00 occur at the end of the diary day.

START is used in connection with STOP to calculate the variables DURATION and DURATION_EXT, which report the total number of minutes the activity lasted.

This variable is available via extracts that are hierarchical or rectangular (activity) (more info on extract formats). If you request a hierarchical extract and plan to construct time use variables in your statistics package, this variable may be useful to you. If you request a rectangular extract and plan to construct time use variables through the extract system, START will not be included in your extract, as persons are the unit of observation for rectangular extracts rather than activity or who records.

Comparability

This variable is comparable across years.

Universe

Availability

• 2003-2023

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