HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

And a happy new year it is so far ;-) Christmas and New Year were very toned down in this household as I have followed my plan and spent as much time as I can on processing the data. This was not popular with my family but has meant that I now have all my data organised properly and checked.

The need to check arose when I discovered that I had reversed two sets of data which came to light when I ran the variables through a correlation check. Overall there is only very weak correlation between the results but there are a few stronger values to follow up. I have run the numeric data through alongside the categorical values and generally there is good comparison between them which provides a useful indicator.

Over the last 10 days I have used the analysis spreadsheet to work through all the main time events variable by variable. Although the correlation is weak in most cases the chart does show up where there is a tendency for change between the groups. As the analysis also collects together students by answer this means that I can note those students in categories where there is a significant difference to be followed up through examination of their overall profile.

I have been really pleased with the spreadsheet as it allows me to exclude students and to view results by different combinations of days of the week. Even if I say so myself it is a brilliant bit of work and well worth the hours expended on it.

Having now gone through each of the events the next task is to pull these together. I am grouping them into four - those affecting study time, those affecting work and travel and those affecting home life (ie social, domestic, leisure and Internet). The fourth is rest which I can now confirm plays little part in student's use of time. Over the next couple of days I hope to pull this together and start to draw initial conclusions on the diary week. Over the forthcoming weeks I need to combine these with conclusions drawn from the longitudinal survey and thence to arrive at overall conclusions on student's use of time.

I went into IOE on Monday to see my supervisor before he departs for warmer climes on his sabbatical and have agreed this as the way forward. He has signed the examination forms which I will submit next month once I am clearer about my actual timescales. I am still hoping to arrange a short sabbatical around Easter during which I hope to blitz the writing up. Maybe in the next week or so I will hear if this is going to happen!!

To end I wish everyone reading this a healthy and (let's be optimistic) wealthy 2009.