Household Diary Research Articles

Citizen Science-Based Waste Diaries: An Exploratory Case Study of Household Waste in Switzerland

Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12) and national waste reduction goals require frequent waste analyses for monitoring and governance decisions. We developed and tested a citizen science (CS)-based household waste diary for ten consecutive days with 89 volunteer households in Switzerland as a complementary monitoring option to official composition analyses. Discrepancies between the CS-based household diary data and the official composition analyses ranged between 55–65% less reported waste quantities for minerals, compound products, and plastics and 80–90% less for paper, avoidable food waste, and glass. Household waste diaries should be digitalized and prolonged to 21–28 days, and volunteers from different demographic groups are needed to produce stratified, representative results. We conclude that a hybrid CS study design involving waste composition analyses and waste diaries could reduce self-reporting biases while increasing the monitoring frequencies of household waste compositions. CS-based hybrid household waste projects can be a powerful means to complement the measures identified in the 2022 Swiss action plan against food waste and for data reporting for the SDG 12.3 Food Waste Index.

Measuring macro- and micronutrient consumption in multi-purpose surveys: Evidence from a survey experiment in Tanzania

The nutrition transition in developing countries has increased interest in moving the measurement and analysis of nutritional choice beyond calories to a more complete understanfding of macro- and micronutrient consumption. To help move the literature on data collection forward we randomly assigned six different survey modules to measure food consumption across Tanzania, three using diaries and three using recall methods. These modules were chosen to reflect the variety of modules currently in use in multi-purpose household surveys collecting food consumption expenditures in some detail at a national scale. Using the percentage consumed relative to daily recommended intake of calories, protein, fats, sugars, fiber and 16micronutrients, we find that the household diaries and 14-day recall systematically underestimate nutrient consumption compared to the benchmark personal diaries. The 7-day recall performs better, on average. We also calculate minimum cost diets and cost-of-basic needs food poverty lines in each region, the prevalence and depth of food poverty according to these lines, and the cost of targeted transfers designed to eliminate food poverty. The 7-day recall provides reasonable results whereas the 14-day recall grossly overestimates food poverty and therefore raises the cost of hypothetical monetary transfers needed to alleviate this poverty.

Gatunek dziennika we Wspomnieniach z podróży do Syberii, pobytu w Berezowie i w Saratowie Ewy Felińskiej

"Memories of the Journey to Siberia, Staying in Berezovе and Saratov" by Eva Felinska is a complex genre-style formation of memoir literature of the Right Bank of Ukraine in the Romantic era with characteristic features of positivist tendencies. It is united by a common thematic idea, recording and contemplating on the events which took place during the author's forced journey to Siberia and stay in places of exile. Assimilation at the level of subgenres and modifications as a result of further "shaking" of the genealogical paradigm of the Enlightenment under the influence of the formation of a new individual romantic authorial consciousness, inherent in the literature of the first half of the nineteenth century, acquired a new stylistic color and functionality. Within the general subgenre dominance of women's Siberian memories of exile, a travel diary, forced travel, private letters, folk tales, article, review, business economic document were combined, which together made E. Felinska's "Memories of the Journey to Siberia…" interesting for a wider audience of readers, making it possible to present various spheres of socio-historical development of the era and directly construct and present a multifaceted image of the memoirist, which has not disappeared against the large-scale background of the era. E. Felinska's diary style is characterized by certain conciseness, attention is focused on the most significant events, and in the center of the image there is a nomination, the text provides above all cognitive-scientific informativeness. With the continuation of work on "Memories of the Journey to Siberia…" genre modification of the Siberian diary of forced travel, getting rid of the features of exotic space and ethnographic color, inherent in depicting the customs and traditions of indigenous peoples of the North, turns into a household diary that covers the everyday realities of the life of the writer-exile. Keywords: E. Felinska, genre, letter, genre modification, diary, memories.

Explorative study about the analysis of storing, purchasing and wasting food by using household diaries

The issue of food waste is especially in light of ethical and environmental considerations of high interest with the endeavour to minimise food waste. The purpose of this study is first to test the diary method for gathering data about food waste in households and second to investigate the storage, purchase and food waste behaviour and show if there is a correlation between storing, purchasing and wasting food. The study was carried out by 25 test households in Germany, who kept a diary for seven days by using different questionnaires to document their food storage, purchase and waste each day. The results show that the diary method is suitable to get detailed data about daily behaviour in handling with food and food waste. Further the study showed that food storage, purchase and waste are correlated and should be seen together for example in awareness campaigns with the aim of reducing food waste.

Transportation Greenhouse Gas Emissions and its Relationship with Urban Form, Transit Accessibility and Emerging Green Technologies: A Montreal Case Study

This research aims at estimating a GHG emission inventory at the household level using completely disaggregate trip data and taking into account all emitting modes. The impact of urban form (UF) and transit accessibility (TA) characteristics on household level GHG emissions is then quantified and compared to the impact of the introduction of emerging green technologies. Using a large and representative sample of household diaries, trip-level GHG emissions are estimated by combining different sources of data (origin-destination (OD) survey data, vehicle fleet characteristics, transit ridership data, etc.) and by using modelling tools (traffic assignment and GHGs models). Moreover, UF and TA indicators are developed and combined to generate neighbourhood typologies. A simultaneous equation modelling framework is then implemented to investigate the link between UF, TA, socio-demographics, and travel GHGs, taking into account the well known “self-selection” issue. The potential impact of land use and transit supply strategies with emerging green technological scenarios is then compared. Our findings are consistent with the literature, more specifically we have found that the built environment (BE) attributes are statistically significant (10% increase in density, transit accessibility and land-use mix, results in 3.5%, 5.8% and 2.5% reduction in GHG respectively), number of workers and retirees at the household level play an important role in the contribution to GHG emissions (102% increase by adding one worker and 51% decrease by adding a retiree to the household). Moreover, neighbourhood types represented by the combined effects of UF and TS have important effects on GHGs. Also it is found that by replacing transit fleet by electric trains and hybrid buses, the share of transit GHGs would decrease by 32%. With respect to the private motor-vehicle fleet, if current trends persist, the constant improvement of car fuel consumption economy would reduce car GHGs by 7%. According to our results, the two most efficient strategies to reduce GHGs at the regional and household level seem to be the continuous fuel-efficiency improvement of the private motor-vehicle fleet and the increase of transit accessibility.

Methods of household consumption measurement through surveys: Experimental results from Tanzania

Surveys of consumption expenditure vary widely across many dimensions, including the level of reporting, the length of the reference period, and the degree of commodity detail. These variations occur both across countries and also over time within countries, with little current understanding of the implications of such changes for spatially and temporally consistent measurement of household consumption and poverty. A field experiment in Tanzania tests eight alternative methods of measuring household consumption, finding significant differences between consumption reported by the benchmark personal diary and other diary and recall formats. Under-reporting is particularly apparent for illiterate households and for urban respondents completing household diaries; recall modules measure lower consumption than a personal diary, with larger gaps among poorer households and for households with more adult members. Variations in reporting accuracy by household characteristics are also discussed and differences in measured poverty as a result of survey design are explored.

Examining catastrophic health expenditures at variable thresholds using household consumption expenditure diaries

Using uniform thresholds and a set of variable threshold levels, this study examined the incidence of catastrophe amongst households of different socio-economic status (SES) quintiles. A household diary was used to collect illness and household consumption expenditure data from 1128 households over 1 month. Catastrophic health expenditure was examined based on uniform threshold levels of non-food expenditure and a novel set of variable thresholds in which the levels for various SES groups were weighted by the ratio of household expenditure on food. A total of 167 households (14.8%) experienced catastrophe at a non-food expenditure threshold of 40%, with 22.6% and 7.6% of the poorest and richest household quintiles experiencing catastrophe. For the first set of variable scenarios, the thresholds for the poorest and richest household quintiles were 5% and 29.6% and levels of catastrophe were 44.7% and 12.0%, respectively, while the overall level was 36.5%. In the second scenario, the thresholds were 6.8% and 40%, and the levels of catastrophe were 42.5% and 7.6%, respectively, while the overall level was 32.0%. High levels of catastrophic expenditure exist in Nigeria. Use of variable thresholds to measure catastrophe led to higher overall and disaggregated levels of catastrophe. Such a measure is argued to be more appropriate for the examination of catastrophe.

Rising to the challenge of environmental behaviour change: Developing a reflexive diary approach

The relationship between expressed attitudes and actual behaviour in the context of sustainable development is complex and difficult to apply in a policy-relevant manner. The household, however, represents a key ‘lens’ for understanding the environmental impact of consumption patterns and for instigating policy designed to change consumer behaviour. This paper assesses the use of a household diary approach as a means of framing and collecting household environmental data, and, critically, as an educational vehicle for bringing about behavioural change by encouraging reflexivity. Evaluating the success of the diary approach at instigating behavioural change, the paper concludes that the diary approach: (1) created awareness about pro-environmental behaviour where there was none; (2) extended existing awareness to a wider range of pro-environmental behaviours and range of household members, and; (3) induced change in pro-environmental behaviour. In particular, the paper argues that current research neglects the potential that participating in the research process may contribute to changing the outlook or behaviour of participants.

The food axis: cooking, eating, and the architecture of American houses

Blending architectural and social history with the necessity and the passion for food, this engaging new book attempts to understand the development of the American house by viewing it through one very specific lens: the food axis. Taking in far more than the kitchen, author Elizabeth Collins Cromley explores all areas of food management within the home preparation, cooking, consumption, and disposal. Her food axis implies a network of related spaces above and below ground, both attached to the house and separate from it. Studying the use and interaction of these spaces, and the ways in which their components change (often radically) over time, the author shows how these elements have helped shape the multiple forms of residential architecture in the United States, from the first settlement period to the present.Beginning with the earliest and relatively simple houses, Cromley traces changes in food spaces through the years, noting a steady escalation in the number of food-related rooms. Along the way, she considers multiple circumstances that shed light on this evolution, including the role of gender in determining food-space design, the relation of food spaces to nature, and the telling ways in which people and food circulate through kitchens and dining rooms. Because Cromley is interested not only in how designed spaces look but how they are used, she cites a wealth of primary sources autobiographies, travel journals, household diaries, letters, inventories in her exploration of the habits surrounding all aspects of food in the home.In addition to designers, preservationists, and architectural historians, this book will interest curious cooks as well as home-dwellers who want to better understand the spaces they inhabit.

Writing it down: suggestions for a new approach towards understanding pro-environmental behaviour

A fashionable field of enquiry – the relationship between expressed attitudes and actual behaviour in the context of sustainable development – is complex (Staats et al. 2004) and difficult to apply in a policy-relevant manner (Aall and Norland 2005). However, recent research indicates that the use of a household diary can be beneficial in helping to quantify household environmental impact, in educating householders about their impact, and in identifying major ‘behavioural turning points’, where householders may focus efforts to reduce their environmental impact (Hunter et al. 2006). In other words, the use of a diary by householders is a potentially powerful tool in encouraging and facilitating desired behavioural change. This paper reports on the initial findings of an innovative study that assessed the use of a household diary approach as a means of framing and collecting household environmental data and, critically, as an educational vehicle for bringing about behavioural change. Based on the initial findings, it is clear that there is some potential to develop practical policy measures that empower householders by allowing them to better grasp their environmental impact and, consequently, recoup positive implications in terms of financial savings (e.g. reducing the amount of food thrown out) and health benefits (e.g. more walking/cycling).

Home management of malaria with artemether-lumefantrine compared with standard care in urban Ugandan children: a randomised controlled trial

Home management of malaria-the presumptive treatment of febrile children with antimalarial drugs-is advocated to ensure prompt effective treatment of the disease. We assessed the effect of home delivery of artemether-lumefantrine on the incidence of antimalarial treatment and on clinical outcomes in children from an urban setting with fairly low malaria transmission. In Kampala, Uganda, 437 children aged between 1 and 6 years from 325 households were randomly assigned by a computer-generated sequence to receive home delivery of prepackaged artemether-lumefantrine for presumptive treatment of febrile illnesses (n=225) or current standard of care (n=212). Randomisation was done by household after a pilot period of 1 month. After randomisation, study participants were followed up for an additional 12 months and information on their health and treatment of illnesses was obtained by use of monthly questionnaires and household diaries, which were completed by the participants' carers. The primary outcome was treatment incidence density per person-year. Analysis of the primary outcome was done on the modified intention-to-treat population, which included all participants apart from those excluded before data collection. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00115921. Eight participants in the home management group and four in the standard care group were excluded before data collection; therefore, the primary analysis was done in 217 and 208 participants, respectively. The home management group received nearly twice the number of antimalarial treatments as the standard care group (4.66 per person-year vs 2.53 per person-year; incidence rate ratio [IRR] 1.72, 95% CI 1.43-2.06, p<0.0001), and nearly five times the number given to children with microscopically confirmed malaria in a comparable cohort of children (4.66 per person-year vs 1.03 per person-year, IRR 5.19, 95% CI 4.24-6.35, p<0.0001). Clinical data were available for 189 children in the home management group and 176 in the control group at study end; the main reasons for exclusion were movement out of the study area or loss to follow-up. The proportion of participants with parasitaemia at final assessment in the intervention group was lower than in the control group (four [2%] vs 17 [10%], p=0.006), but there were no other differences in standard malariometric indices, including anaemia. Serious adverse events were captured retrospectively. One child died in each group (home management-severe pneumonia and possible septicaemia; standard care-presumed respiratory failure). Although home management of malaria led to prompt treatment of fever, there was little effect on clinical outcomes. The substantial over-treatment suggests that artemether-lumefantrine provided in the home might not be appropriate for large urban areas or settings with fairly low malaria transmission. Gates Malaria Partnership.

Out‐of‐pocket payment for medical care under Taiwan's National Health Insurance system

The objective of this study is to estimate the amount of and factors associated with out-of-pocket (OOP) payment for medical care under Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) program. This research used two methods to collect original data. The first method consisted of using a sample household survey and household diary records to collect data on OOP payment prospectively over a two-month period from a random sample of 600 households in central Taiwan. Using the individual as the unit of analysis, we obtained a total of 1062 sample subjects. To ascertain the quality and accuracy of survey data, the claim records of the bureau of NHI were merged with the survey data. These data were analyzed by a two-part model, with a probit model for use of health care and an ordinary least-squares model for OOP payments. Results of this research indicate that on average an individual's annual OOP payment for medical care was euro 247, which is substantial, compared with the average euro 144 for per capita NHI earmarked tax. Finally, results of model estimation indicate that supplemental health insurance and household income were positively associated with any use of health care, while household income was also positively associated with OOP payment for health care.

Associations between children's television advertising exposure and their food consumption patterns: A household diary–survey study

In a diary–survey study in 234 households with children aged 4–12 years, we investigated the associations between children's exposure to food advertising and their consumption of (a) advertised food brands, (b) advertised energy-dense food product categories, and (c) food products overall. Relations were examined using multiple hierarchical regression analysis, while controlling for various child (i.e., age, sex, television viewing time) and family variables (i.e., family income and consumption-related communication styles). Results showed that children's exposure to food advertising was significantly related to their consumption of advertised brands ( β=.21) and energy-dense product categories ( β=.19). The relation between advertising exposure and overall food consumption only held in lower-income families ( β=.19). In addition, consumption-related family communication was an important moderator of the relations between advertising and the food consumption variables. Socio-oriented family communication (i.e., striving for harmony and conformity) was particularly successful in reducing these relations. In conclusion, consistent with communication theories predicting spill-over effects of advertising, the impact of television food advertising exceeded the advertised brand and generalized to more generic unhealthy consumption patterns. Theoretical and societal consequences, as well as the important role of the family are discussed.

Health care reform and change in public–private mix of financing: a Korean case

The objective of this paper is to examine the changes in the Korean health care system invoked by the reform (in the latter part of 2000) in regard to the separation of drug prescription and dispensation, especially from the point of view of the public–private financing mix. It seeks particularly to estimate and analyse the relative financing mix in terms of both modes of production and types of medical provider. The data used to estimate health care expenditure financed by out-of-pocket expenditure by were sourced from the National Health and Nutritional Survey (conducted by interviewing representatives of households) and the General Household Survey (a household diary survey). National Health Insurance data, etc. were used to estimate health expenditure financed by public sources. This study concentrates on the short-run empirical links between the reform and the public–private mix in finance. The reform increased remarkably the public share in total health expenditure. This public share increase has been prominent particularly in the case of expenditure on drugs since the reform has absorbed much of the previously uncovered drugs into the National Health Insurance coverage. However, a higher public share in medical goods than in out-patient care would raise an issue in terms of prioritization of benefit packages. The five-fold increase in the public share of expenditure at pharmacies reflects not only the fact that drugs previously not covered by NHI are covered now but also the fact that prescribed drugs are currently purchased mainly at pharmacies, as opposed to in doctors’ clinics, as a result of the reform.

Use of Internet-Based Household Travel Diary Survey Instrument

The results of an application of Internet survey methods to a household travel diary project are described. The project included a full field application of an Internet-based household travel diary instrument in a split sample design with conventional telephone or mail administration. The effects of this type of administration on survey response and on survey data are described. The work described demonstrates how Internet-based travel diary instruments can be used to complement other, more traditional survey approaches. The Internet household travel diary instrument used included several features that take advantage of the computational power provided by modern servers and the graphical user interface provided by web browsers. Among these, the most important are detailed internal consistency checks that test the continuity and completeness of the activity and trip logs and interactive geocoding of trip ends. The response rates in the split sample conducted for the Las Cruces application indicate that providing an Internet option had a small positive effect. However, there are more pronounced effects on reported trip making—more trips reported in the Internet instrument—and on item nonresponse—lower rates with the Internet instrument. Overall, respondents who used the Internet instrument found it easy to use and appreciated having the option to complete the questionnaire at their convenience. There are clear areas for further research, but it is equally clear that Internet-based household diary surveys can provide an important, cost-effective complement to computer-assisted telephone interview and mail methods.

The Use of Multiple Diaries in a Household Expenditure Survey in Hong Kong

Abstract This article discusses two aspects of using daily expenditure records, commonly referred to as diaries, in a household expenditure survey, based on the experience of the 1979–1980 Hong Kong Household Expenditure Survey. In particular, the article investigates the determinants of the decision by individual household members to fill out diaries, conditional upon the household having agreed to participate in the survey. In addition, estimates are presented of the additional reporting that results from household members keeping individual diaries, as opposed to one member keeping one household diary book.

Queries from a Devonshire Yeoman's Household Diary

Journal Article Queries from a Devonshire Yeoman's Household Diary Get access D. S. Drake D. S. Drake Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Notes and Queries, Volume 177, Issue 19, 4 November 1939, Page 339, https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/177.19.339e Published: 04 November 1939

Queries from a Devonshire Yeoman's Household Diary

Journal Article Queries from a Devonshire Yeoman's Household Diary Get access Peter Griffiths Peter Griffiths Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Notes and Queries, Volume 177, Issue 7, 12 August 1939, Page 120, https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/177.7.120b Published: 12 August 1939

Queries from a Devonshire Yeoman's Household Diary

Queries from a Devonshire Yeoman's Household Diary

Queries from a Devonshire Yeoman's Household Diary

Queries from a Devonshire Yeoman's Household Diary