Modernisation of time use data collection in EU Member States : the Belgian case.
Date: 2019-03-05
Institutions: Eurostat
Subjects: Belgium, data collection, data processing, software

MODERNISATION  
OF TIME USE  
DATA COLLECTION
IN EU MEMBER STATES

THE 
BELGIAN 
CASE 

PDF: 

KS-01-19-066-EN-N

ISBN 978-92-79-99545-3

doi:10.2785/223529

Print: 

KS-01-19-066-EN-C 

ISBN 978-92-79-99546-0

doi:10.2785/159007

 
1. WHY MODERNISE THE 

DATA COLLECTION FOR 
HARMONISED EUROPEAN 
TIME USE SURVEYS (HETUS)?

The Wiesbaden Memorandum (DGINS 2011) states 
the need for better information on time use and 
household budgets in terms of coverage and 
comparability, and aims to achieve this by:
•  implementing new possibilities that improve the 

responsiveness of users

•  linking the HETUS data collection with other 

data sources 

•  taking into account new technological 

developments 

Solutions should reduce the burden on EU 
Member States and help NSIs complete the surveys 
and process the incoming data.

Against this background, Eurostat started a project 
enabling Member States to develop innovative 
tools and sources for diary-based surveys and 
which can be shared with other countries within 
the scoop of ESS. 

Time Use Survey (TUS)

For each activity, and in chronological order, 
respondents report the starting and finishing time 
as well as important contextual information like 
the place of occurrence and the possible presence 
of others.  Consequently, the micro-behavioural 
structure of time diary data provides an overview 
of contextualised experiences of how people live 
their daily lives and how social connectedness, 
e.g. through family, work, school and associations, 
structure their time allocation. 

Since 2004, the HETUS-guidelines have been used 
for data collection. This has resulted in highly 
comparable and valuable international data that 
are being employed within a wide range of study 
domains, such as paid work, unpaid work, gender 
equality and leisure. To date, three rounds of data 
collection have been organised.

A disadvantage is that these data collections are 
mainly paper-and-pencil based, which negatively 
affects budget costs and response rates, and 
increases respondent burden.

2. THE BELGIAN CASE

The SOURCETM project, executed by Statbel, aims 
to modernise their data collection process, from 
data collection to data processing through to 
data dissemination. To do so, the project uses the 
MOTUS platform developed by the Research Group 
TOR of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. 

SOURCETM project objectives

The project brings together Statbel and Destatis 
to evaluate how the MOTUS platform is helpful in 
modernising their way of statistical production. 
The project will document how the MOTUS 
platform can be encapsulated within their software 
architecture, and that of other NSI’s. In total, the 
project involves four objectives. 

Objective  1

Software Outreach - Sharing knowledge about 
MOTUS via CSPA compliant documentation 
and options to implement in other software 
architectures. This will support shareability of 
MOTUS in the ESS.

Objective  2

Redefinition - Mapping of the content and 
the technical requirements, to support 
shareability and reusability.

Objective  3

Collect - Setting up a modular collection 
strategy with a focus on governmental 
practices, panel invitation and the household 
level. These experiences will support MOTUS 
to become ESS-shareable.

Objective  4

E-data – Moving towards a harmonised 
approach to support ESS shareability of 
MOTUS: pilot test and dissemination.

?

MOTUS - Modular Online Time Use Survey

MOTUS-app: front-office

In execution modus, respondents report their 
daily activities via the MOTUS application that 
can be installed on any type of smartphone 
or tablet and can also be accessed through 
conventional web-browsers. All data is 
synchronised. Retrieving respondent data 
via sensors or wearables is a logical next 
step. A benefit of this would be that, through 
notifications, the respondent could be asked to 
provide more information, and so more context, 
to an activity.

MOTUS is a highly configurable software platform 
for survey data collections. It can be used for 
projects of any scale and for any given fieldwork 
period. All projects start from the same principle: 
understanding human behaviour implies capturing 
and analysing people’s activities in the context 
in which they occur. This gives a comprehensive 
narrative of daily human behaviour, which allows 
daily life in general or in more detail (detailed 
activities and subgroups) to be studied. 

The platform assures comparability, reliability and 
quality of the data. Its true strength lies within the 
modularity of the back-office, as every research 
component can be (re)defined within the MOTUS 
platform itself. In doing so, Statbel can design 
survey questionnaires, time diaries, activity-based 
questionnaires, and communication strategies. 
Next, all research elements can be combined into 
an automated flow. Once configured, the research 
flow runs automatically, including communication 
with respondents. The fieldwork can be followed 
up on and the collected data processed in a user-
friendly way.

Organisations:

Statistics Belgium:  
http://www.statbel.fgov.be

Statistisches Bundesamt:  
https://www.destatis.de/EN/Homepage.html

Vrije Universiteit Brussels -  
Research Group TOR:  
http://www.vub.ac.be/TOR

Eurostat:  
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/

MODERNISATION  

OF TIME USE  

DATA COLLECTION

IN EU MEMBER STATES

Abbreviations:

Statbel: Statistics Belgium

Destatis:  Statistisches Bundesamt

VUB:  Vrije Universiteit Brussels 

TOR: Tempus Omnia Revelat:  Time Reveals 
Everything

HETUS:  Harmonised European Time Use Survey

ESS:  European Statistical System

CSPA:  Common Statistical Production Architecture

GSBPM:  Generic Statistical Business Process 
Model

GSIM:  Generic Statistical Information Model

TUS:  Time Use Survey

HBS:  Household Budget Survey

IATUR:  International Association for Time Use 
Research

MOTUS:  Modular Online Time Use Survey

SOURCETM:  Software Outreach and Redefinition 
to Collect E-data Through MOTUS, is a project 
coordinated by Statbel, in cooperation with 
Destatis and VUB and with financial support from 
Eurostat

Printed in Luxembourg by the Publication Office  
© European Union, 2019

PDF: 
KS-01-19-066-EN-N
ISBN 978-92-79-99545-3
doi:10.2785/223529

Print: 
KS-01-19-066-EN-C 
ISBN 978-92-79-99546-0
doi:10.2785/159007