Overview
TimeTracker 2.0 builds on the pictorial TimeTracker app to record everyday activities in Malawi in near real time. The research compares this self-administered smartphone recording with recall-based surveys. Its aim is to capture time use, paid work and unpaid domestic and care work more accurately.
Description
In a randomised study, households and adult women and men were assigned different time-use recording methods: an interviewer-administered 24-hour diary and a pictorial smartphone diary for real-time recording. Seven-day recall questions were also examined.
The study published in 2026 shows that recorded time use differs by method. Real-time recording reveals greater participation in paid and unpaid work. Recall diaries capture evening activities and simultaneous activities less completely; fixed time intervals can also increase reported activity durations.
The earlier World Bank working paper explains that the original TimeTracker app was further developed for the study with support from the LSMS programme. Hannes Buchwald reports contributing coding and design. Details of his specific technical contributions can be added.
Dates
July 2022 to March 2023. This study period, stated in the 2024 working paper (“Study design”, PDF page 7), is used as the TimeTracker 2.0 project period at Hannes Buchwald’s explicit request. The project dates are distinct from publication dates: a working paper appeared in February 2024, and the journal version on 15 September 2026.
My role
Coding & Design, as reported by Hannes Buchwald. He is listed as a co-author in both the 2026 publication and the 2024 working paper. Further details of his development tasks can be added.
Partners
- World Bank — Client, as reported by Hannes Buchwald.
Outcomes
- Use of a pictorial smartphone diary in a randomised study in Malawi.
- Comparison of real-time and recall-based methods for measuring time use.
- World Bank working paper in 2024 and an academic journal publication in 2026.
Publications
- Recording the time divide: A comparative study of smartphone- and recall-based approaches to time use measurement. Talip Kilic, Gayatri Koolwal, Wilbert Drazi Vundru, Thomas Daum, Hannes Buchwald, Greg Seymour, Peter Mvula, Alister Munthali and Monice Kachinjika. Journal of African Economies, 2026, ejag012. Published on 15 September 2026.
- Recording the Time Divide – Working Paper, World Bank, Policy Research Working Paper 10695, February 2024. Earlier version of the same study.
Images and links
Images of version 2.0 and its code repository can be added later. The earlier project’s image and repository link are not assigned to this version without verification.
Sources
The research description is based on the abstract and bibliographic information of the 2026 journal version. The reference to further development comes from the 2024 working paper. Hannes Buchwald supplied the project name “TimeTracker 2.0” and details of his involvement on 12 October 2026. He explicitly confirmed using the documented study period of July 2022 to March 2023 as the project period.