The REACT! Survey

A web-based travel/activity survey, REACT! is designed as a Computer Aided Self-administered Interview. REACT! elicits both travel/activity plans as well as revealed travel patterns as a step toward revealing the household scheduling process. REACT! comprises two linked components.

The first is the Initial Interview, a self-administered series of a dozen or so screen interfaces which is completed the day before the diary period begins. This initial interview concludes with completion of the first pre-travel survey. During this phase, all travel and activity that is planned for the survey period (typically a week) is scheduled at a level of detail corresponding to the level of planning -- only those attributes actually planned are recorded.

The second component is the Daily Interview, a self-administered survey of the previous 24 hours of travel and activity. Planned activities can be moved from the pre-travel or "anyday" plans to the current day's survey, adding any unplanned characteristics and updating as necessary. At any Daily Interview, additional pre-travel planning for the remainder of the week may be recorded.

1. Executing the REACT! Survey

*** Under construction ***

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2. The REACT! Survey Initial Interview

The following screen captures illustrate REACT!'s self-administered initial interview. These interfaces collect standard demographic variables (household, person, and vehicle characteristics) as well as information describing "typical" activity types and locations.

REACT! Household Information:

This page asks for some general information about your household. This information will allow us to identify you and your responses.

1. To enter your address, click your mouse pointer within each Text Box and type.
2. Select answers to the other questions from the Pull Down Lists. To select, first click your mouse pointer on the "down arrow" (to the right of the answer box) to pull down the options for this question. Move your pointer to the option you want and click on this option while it is highlighted.
3. When you finish responding to all questions, click the [ Next > ] button.

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REACT! HH Members:

This screen asks for the number of persons in your household and for their names. This may include your spouse, your children, or others residing in your home. Even if you are single, be sure to enter at least your name.

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REACT! HH Member Information:

Personal characteristics of household members have perhaps the greatest impact on the type of travel and activities a household performs. This screen asks each household member (or the parent for children under 18 years) to provide information on such attributes as occupation and education level.

This and many subsequent screens should be completed by the household member whose name is indicated on top of the page. A parent should answer these questions for minors (this screen is the only one in the initial interview that you will need to complete for your children -- After this form, you can click [Next>] to skip screens for children. The following provides a brief explanation of some of the requested items:

• Relation to Head of Household
  Are you a head of the household, a child of the head, or even the parent of the head. The Head of the Household is the individual(s) who have formed the household and are making most of the financial and management decisions.
• Educational Level:
  What is the highest education level that you have achieved? This should be a level that you have already achieved and NOT, if you are currently a student, the degree that you are currently working to complete).
• Employment Status:
  What is your employment status (e.g., full time, part time, unemployed, etc.)?
• Hours Worked in a Typical Week:
  If you are employed, enter into the text box the number of hours that you work in a typical week (one with no holidays or time off).
• Occupation: What is your occupation?
• Student Level:
  If you are currently enrolled as a students, what type of school are you attending for the degree that you are currently pursuing)?
• School Name and School City:
  Enter into the text boxes the name and city of your current school.

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REACT! HH Vehicle Information:

This screen asks for basic information on the motor vehicles which are available for regular use in your household.

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REACT! Frequent Location Information:

This screen is provided to develop a list of activity locations that you visit frequently (at least once a month). These options will be provided to you as you complete your daily activity diary to facilitate that process.

On the left of this screen is a list of potential activity locations in your general area. This includes a brief description of the site and its approximate location (for example, cross streets). For example:

• The Crossroads Shopping Center, on Barranca and Culver (Target, Mervyn's)

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REACT! Spatial Location Utility:

You can indicate a location in your local study area using a map provided. To do this, simply click on the map to zoom in. When you find the location, click on the "Indicate" button and click on the approximate location on the map.

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REACT! Activity Selection Information:

This screen provides a comprehensive list of activity types. Select those activities that you perform regularly (at least once per month). The description of an activity comprises a general category followed by an activity name (for example, [Household Obligation]: Cleaning/Maintenance (at home)).

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REACT! Activity Frequency Information:

This screen asks for the frequency of occurance for those activities that you perform regularly (that is, those activities indicated on the Activity Selection screen). For example, "I clean my apartment 2 times every week" or "I shop for housewares 1 time every month".

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REACT! Activity Duration Information:

This screen asks for the typical duration of regularly occurring activities (that is, those activities indicated on the Activity Selection screen). For example, "Whenever I go Grocery shopping, it usually takes me 50 Minutes" or "Each weekday I'm usually at Work for 8 Hours".

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REACT! Activity Scheduling Information:

This screen elicits information about the typical time and days on which you do certain activities (again, the same typical activities from the prior screens). For each of these activities, there are two questions:

1. Does this activity occur on fixed days of the week?
   If this activity regularly occurs on specific days of a week, click "Yes" and check which days. For example, a respondent who states that "I work part-time Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings" would select "Yes" and check the boxes for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If this activity does not have fixed days on which it usually occurs, then click "No" but check on which days it might likely occur.
   
2. Does this activity have a fixed start/end time?
   If this activity typically begins and ends at specific times, then click "Yes" and enter the starting and ending times. For example, if you typically work from 9 to 5, then the fixed starting and ending times for this work activity are 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM. If this activity is not required to begin and/or end at specific times, then click "No" and enter the earliest time that it could begin and the latest time it could end. For example, if you usually do Major Grocery Shopping (over 10 items) Friday after work, but not at a specific time other than needing to be home by 8 PM, then enter 5:00 PM as your earliest starting time and 8:00 PM as the latest ending time.

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REACT! Activity Location Information:

This screen asks about the typical locations where you usually do regular activities. For example, if you usually do Major Grocery Shopping at Orange Tree Square and Culver Plaza, then select these two locations as typical locations for Major Grocery.

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REACT! Other Persons Involved:

This screen asks about other persons who are involved in some of your usual activities. There are one or two questions for each activity, depending on the activity:

1. If other persons occasionally do an activity for you (so that you can do something else), please check their names from the list provided. For example, if you usually pick up your son from school, but sometimes your wife does, then indicate that "your wife" can do this activity for you by checking the box beside her name.
   
2. If you usually do this activity with other persons, check their names in the list provided. For example, if you always go to movies with your wife, then check the box beside her name.

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REACT! Travel Modes Available:

This completes the Initial Interview process. If there are other adults in the household, they will need to complete the Initial Interview as well. If there are minors in the household, then a parent should answer these questions for them.

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3. The REACT! Survey Daily Planning and Update

The following screen captures illustrate REACT!'s self-administered daily activity updating and recording. The first interface screen allows for the recording of planned activities to the degree that they are planned (the "Anyday" column is used to record activities when no set day is planned). The second interface screen allows for the completion of a daily activity schedule via "sliding" planned activities from the planned day (or from "Anyday") and adding those details that remain (or updating those that changed).

REACT! Pre-travel Activity Planning:

Everything you do from morning until night is an activity, whether sleeping, eating, working, exercising, picking up your children, watching TV, seeing a movie, getting a hair cut, etc). Before your week starts, you typically have some of these activities planned to varying degrees. REACT! incorporates a two-part Activity Diary which records your activities. First, it records your planned activities for the coming week, then, as the week proceeds, it will record what you have actually done each day during the week. Typically, the survey period is a full week, beginning on a Sunday evening and ending with the next Sunday evening.

On the first Sunday evening, you're asked to indicate the activities that you have planned for each day of the coming week (from Monday morning until the following Sunday evening). For example, on a Sunday evening, you may have planned to go to work on your normal schedule (say, 9 to 5 PM every day). You also may have planned regular Saturday shopping activities, but the exact time and locations may vary. And perhaps you have planned a dentist appointment for 10 AM Wednesday. After having completed the Initial Interview, REACT! will prompt you to enter these planned activities.

You will enter your activities into the REACT! Weekly Calendar. Each day its own column. Activities planned for a given day should be added to that day's column. Activities will appear as a list (in the order enterred) in that day's column. Activities which are planned for the week but not yet for a particular day should be added to the list under "Any Day".

When you are entering activities, try not to "overplan". Don't enter more activities than you have actually have already planned prior to running REACT! Enter only the planned details of an activity. For example, the planned shopping activity would be placed on the Saturday list, but details yet to be determined (such as time and location) would, of course, not be enterred. Don't force the planning process or guess at the details. If all or part of your plans are set, then enter information for those parts only.

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REACT! Post-travel Activity Updating:

On Monday through Saturday evening REACT! sessions, you will enter the full details of all activities that you have actually performed during the day (his includes in-home activity such as eating breakfast, sleeping at night, and watching TV). You should also enter any travel (whether walking, biking, or taking a car or bus) completed in accessing activity locations. REACT!'s second scheduling form, the Daily Calendar, will be used.

There should not be any time conflicts (primarily activities that overlap each other) in your Final Schedule. If you actually did two activities at the same time, enter the one you think is more important.

After you have completed your Daily Calendar, you will be taken back to the Weekly Calendar to review your week's remaining planned activities. If any of these plans changed (a cancelled or postpones activity, or a different time or location), or if further activity details have been determined, update this information. Once again, these updates should reflect changes to your plan but you should not use the REACT! session as a "Day Planner" to actively develop yopur plans.

Ending Sunday
On the last Sunday, you will be asked for the last time to update the day's activity using the Daily Calendar. When completed, you will not need to review any remaining activities on the Weekly Calendar. You are now finished entering data in the REACT! survey.

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4. Filing Daily REACT! Survey Results

*** Under construction ***

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... Continuously evolving ...

[ last revised 26 july 2002 ]