📍 virtual MZES, Mannheim
📆 April 06, 2022
Smartphones are increasingly used as tools for data collection in the social sciences. While web surveys can be administered on these devices, they also allow researchers to passively collect behavioral data from the operating system and built-in sensors. In this talk, I will provide an overview about the opportunities that smartphones can bring for social science research. Examples will include the use of apps for experience sampling, sensors to measure mobility patterns, and operating system log files to measure social interactions. Furthermore, I will discuss different aspects of data quality and practical issues when implementing data collection via smartphones, including coverage, participation, and measurement error.
📝 Slides
👤 Alexander Wenz is a postdoctoral researcher at the Professorship for Statistics and Methodology at the School of Social Sciences at the University of Mannheim and an incoming member of the Data and Methods Unit at the MZES. His research focuses on survey methodology and digital inequalities.