Search results

The common methods for clustering time series are the use of specific distance criteria or the use of standard clustering algorithms. Ensemble clustering is one of the common techniques used in data mining to increase the accuracy of clustering. In this study, based on segmentation, selecting the best segments, and using ensemble clustering for selected segments, a multistep approach has been developed for the whole clustering of time series data.

First, this approach divides the time series dataset into equal segments. In the next step, using one or more internal clustering criteria, the best segments are selected, and then the selected segments are combined for final clustering. By using a loop and how to select the best segments for the final clustering (using one criterion or several criteria simultaneously), two algorithms have been developed in different settings. A logarithmic relationship limits the number of segments created in the loop.

According to Rand's external criteria and statistical tests, at first, the best setting of the two developed algorithms has been selected. Then this setting has been compared to different algorithms in the literature on clustering accuracy and execution time. The obtained results indicate more accuracy and less execution time for the proposed approach.

This paper proposed a fast and accurate approach for time series clustering in three main steps. This is the first work that uses a combination of segmentation and ensemble clustering. More accuracy and less execution time are the remarkable achievements of this study.

The study aims to examine the patterns of time allocated to paid employment activities by women in India as well as change in time allocating pattern of women over the period 1998 to 2019. In doing so, it attempts to highlight gender-asymmetry of time use and heterogeneity in time use of women residing in urban and rural areas as well as variations in time use by marital status, motherhood and age.

Using unit-level data from two available Time Use Surveys (TUS) namely the Pilot Survey TUS 1998 and first nationally representative TUS 2019, the authors use Tobit model to estimate determinants of women’s time in employment. To explain the change in time spent on paid work by women over the two decades, the authors use counterfactual quantile regression decomposition.

The gender asymmetry in time allocation is stark, with women spending one fifth time compared to men paid employment activities. Over the two decades of interest, women’s time spent on employment activities in a day has reduced by half from around 4 h to 2 h, largely driven by rural women’s time. Regression results suggest the emergence of a “U-shaped” relationship between time spent on paid work and education of women. The counterfactual decomposition results suggest that women are spending lesser time on employment activities in 2019 than in 1998 across the time distribution.

This paper contributes to a novel understanding of time use by women in a developing country by analysing the changes in time use over two decades as well as distributional sensitivity to observed characteristics. The study informs about the intensive margins of female employment by incorporating dynamics of socio-economic development.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-03-2022-0164.

DURING some comments on the brain drain last month it was remarked that work study technologists stood on the periphery. Suddenly they have been moved right to the centre as the result of a communication from Dr. Robert N. Lehrer. He is among the six American work study experts best known to the profession in this country, ranking with Barnes and Mundel as having contributed much to a right appreciation of the subject's value and its techniques.

The broad aim of this paper is to investigate whether managers in Australia allocate their time differently than other occupational groups, and the impact gender and life situation (using marital status and presence or absence of dependent children as a proxy) has on time allocation.

To address these broad aims, data are drawn from the 1997 Australian Time Use Survey. This is a nationally representative survey that examines how people in different circumstances allocate time to different activities.

The results of this study highlight three important issues. The first is that male and female managers display different patterns of time use. Male managers' time is dominated by paid employment activities, whereas female managers' time is spent predominantly on employment and domestic activities. The second is that life situation impacts on the time use of female managers, but not male managers. The third important find of this study is that managers' time use is different to other occupational groups.

These findings have policy implications relating to work‐life balance, career progression and changes in patterns of work. In terms of work‐life issues, it reveals that male and female managers face a “time squeeze”, with some evidence of a “second‐shift” for female managers. In addition, the findings provide insight into the work‐life issues faced by male and female managers.

The results of this inquiry provide insight into how different individuals spend their time – insight into “lifestyles”. However, in‐depth qualitative studies are required to reveal why individuals allocate their time in this way and to understand the opportunities and constraints individuals face in time allocation.

Microfinance impact evaluation studies help in discovering client needs which are diverse, special and different from the needs of the conventional bankable clients. Thus, such area of market research is becoming essential for microfinance institutions for designing better client-centred products. In this research, the authors discuss the specific model of household economic portfolio (HEP) for qualitative impact evaluation in microfinance. The paper aims to discuss the complexity limitations of the HEP. Solutions are provided for overcoming these limitations. The modified household economic portfolio (M-HEP) model is simplified and detailed, and two types of diaries are suggested for implementing it.

First, the authors briefly review the literature on impact assessment methods in microfinance and on the HEP model. In the second part of the paper, the M-HEP is suggested and discussed in detail. In the third part, the authors present a case study to illustrate the additional information that can be generated by using our suggested research tool and model. Finally, the authors wrap up with a summary of the findings.

Solutions are provided for overcoming the limitations of the HEP model. The suggested model (M-HEP) is simplified and detailed, and two types of diaries are suggested for implementing it. The case study shows that, certainly, time and money are related. While time may mean money for a rich person, for a poor person, if money is not forthcoming, she may spend time on non-income generating work that adds to her social esteem. She may also consume inexpensive assets because spending time at low cost is important. Finally, she spends time in conducting activities for which she cannot afford to pay.

The paper offers two novelties. First, it details the interactions between the elements of the HEP model of Chen and Dunn. This improvement to the original model is highly important for defining the measures that are required for redrawing the economic portfolio of an individual. The second novelty is in suggesting the collection of time-use and financial daily data. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a combined diary is used in microfinance research. These two novelties allow the application of a modified version of the highly interesting HEP model in spite of its complexity.

Introduction Operations research, i.e. the application of scientific methodology to operational problems in the search for improved understanding and control, can be said to have started with the application of mathematical tools to military problems of supply bombing and strategy, during the Second World War. Post‐war these tools were applied to business problems, particularly production scheduling, inventory control and physical distribution because of the acute shortages of goods and the numerical aspects of these problems.

MILLIONS of pounds have been recklessly thrown away by the naive Government on useless so‐called defence contracts. The greatest loss has been sustained by the aircraft industry and anyone who has had any experience at all of that industry will find nothing remarkable in such a statement.

This paper aims to propose and examine a pragmatic approach to minimizing auditors’ underreporting of time. Specifically, the study examines the effects of time budget pressure (TBP) and reported time use policy (RTUP) on time underreporting.

This paper uses a 2 × 2 between experimental design. The participants are 130 undergraduate accounting students and they completed a ratio-based task. The online experiment manipulated TBP and a RTUP.

This study shows a RTUP reduces time underreporting, especially when TBP is high.

This study is useful to audit firms because it provides a feasible solution to minimizing time underreporting.

Studies show that firm culture affects the dysfunctional behavior of time underreporting. Consequently, this study recommends that firms influence the culture around time reporting through an upfront communication of a use policy.

Studies on time underreporting exist, but formal studies on solutions to the issue are sparse. The authors propose a solution to the issue of time underreporting, which is a RTUP.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the combined use of time-use diaries and interviews to get a fuller understanding of how people use their time, the factors that influence their time use, and their subjective perceptions of their time pressures. This paper focuses on how the methodology influenced the findings.

Participants kept a diary of their time use for one week and then participated in interviews to discuss their time use.

While the diaries yielded numerical data about participants’ time use, the interviews revealed the reasons behind their time choices. The complexity of Pakistani food preparation and the presence of in-laws in the home emerged as major factors. All participants expressed frustration with their time poverty.

This was a small pilot study limited to eight participants.

This method gives researchers a more powerful tool for understanding not only how people use their time, but the social, cultural and economic forces behind their choices.

Time poverty creates social inequities, especially among women and marginalized people. The methodology presented allows participants to have a voice in time-use studies and can help policy makers create policies that correct time poverty for disadvantaged groups.

This paper illustrates the usefulness of combining two existing methods for time-use studies in a new way for more powerful results.

Considers the mixed results of studies linking between wives′ employment and time‐saving behaviours. Argues that a possible explanation is found in limited conceptual frameworks, inconsistent use of concepts, and insufficiently sensitive research measures. Concludes that both studies, and product development and promotion, should utilize a broadened conceptual framework of consumer time restraints, rather than just wives′ employment.