Using Smartphones to Capture and Combine Self-Reports and Passively Measured Behavior in Social Research

Abstract

With the ubiquity of smartphones, it is possible to collect self-reports as well as to passively measure behaviors and states (e.g., locations, movement, activity, and sleep) with native sensors and the smartphone’s operating system, both on a single device that usually accompanies participants throughout the day. This research synthesis brings structure to a rapidly expanding body of literature on the combined collection of self-reports and passive measurement using smartphones, pointing out how and why researchers have combined these two types of data and where more work is needed. We distinguish between five reasons why researchers might want to integrate the two data sources and how this has been helpful: (1) verification, for example, confirming start and end of passively detected trips, (2) contextualization, for example, asking about the purpose of a passively detected trip, (3) quantifying relationships, for example, quantifying the association between self-reported stress and passively measured sleep duration, (4) building composite measures, for example, measuring components of stress that participants are aware of through self-reports and those they are not through passively measured speech attributes, and (5) triggering measurement, for example, asking survey questions contingent on certain passively measured events or participant locations. We discuss challenges of collecting self-reports and passively tracking participants’ behavior with smartphones from the perspective of representation (e.g., who owns a smartphone and who is willing to share their data), measurement (e.g., different levels of temporal granularity in self-reports and passively collected data), and privacy considerations (e.g., the greater intrusiveness of passive measurement than self-reports). While we see real potential in this approach it is not yet clear if its impact will be incremental or will revolutionize the field.

General psychopathology and its social correlates in the daily lives of youth

“…At the same time, it must be acknowledged that our measures of the quantity of social interactions could be more objective. An increasing number of studies employ passive sensing (e.g., via GPS, Bluetooth, microphones, or phone call, text, and social media tracking) to learn more about people's daily-life social behaviors (e.g., people's location, proximity to interaction partners, duration/frequency/content of conversations, and online social behaviors) (Keusch and Conrad, 2021). Future studies in which active monitoring and passive sensors are combined might produce valuable new insights into the interpersonal side of psychopathology.…”

The smartphone as a tool for mobile communication research: Assessing mobile campaign perceptions and effects with experience sampling

“…regarding smartphone usage and well-being; Marciano and Camerini, 2022; Marciano et al, 2022). While the use of sensor data and the combination of sensor data and self-reports are still relatively young, it offers one promising way to overcome some of the challenges described in this study and allows for the use of the smartphone as a tool for mobile communication research (Keusch and Conrad, 2021).…”

Ecological Momentary Assessments in Sociology

“…The ecological momentary assessment (EMA) approach attempts to reconcile this limitation by prompting study participants to record their behaviors and perceptions as they are experienced in real time via smartphone technology in natural environments (de Vries, Baselmans, and Bartels 2021; Keusch and Conrad 2022; Shiffman, Stone, and Hufford 2008). This approach provides a rich account of the routine behaviors and real-time exposures to social environments that have long been theorized to influence sociological issues (e.g., drug use, mental health, discrimination).…”

“…Indeed, one of the key strengths of the EMA approach lies in its ability to link longstanding sociological theories with methodologically innovative data. Although the increasing profusion of smartphone technology has dramatically increased the feasibility of conducting EMA studies, this approach has rarely been adopted by sociologists due perhaps to the financial and logistical burdens that are associated with the methodology (Keusch and Conrad 2022; Markowski et al 2021a). In this article, I argue that these barriers to entry undersell the relevance of ecological momentary assessments for sociological study.…”