Time provides the organizational key to action at the level of individuals, groups, and institutions. It also defines a normative framework that regulates interpersonal relationships and allows synchronized operations in different parts of society. In the concept of time, structural as well as symbolic facets assume significance. In fact, as it is conceived in sociological theory, time is a means of social coordination as well as a dimension that assigns value to action schemes in a system assuring social order (Pronovost 1989; Sue 1994).

The empirical study of the temporal organization of human action reveals the functional characteristics of social roles and the societal division of social tasks. For instance, indicators of inequality and social exclusion can be derived and compared by referring to estimates of the amount of time involved in gender-related activities such as market work and housework. The time use of populations or...