Wenz Alexander, Keusch Florian
Research Fellow, Mannheim Centre for European Social Research, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
Professor of Social Data Science and Methodology, Department of Sociology, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
Public Opin Q. 2023 Jun 12;87(2):357-388. doi: 10.1093/poq/nfad019. eCollection 2023 Summer.
To study human behavior, social scientists are increasingly collecting data from mobile apps and sensors embedded in smartphones. A major challenge of studies implemented on general population samples, however, is that participation rates are rather low. While previous research has started to investigate the factors affecting individuals' decision to participate in such studies, less is known about features of the study design which are under the researcher's control and can increase the acceptance of smartphone-based data collection methods. Guided by the Technology Acceptance Model, we varied study characteristics in a vignette experiment to examine their effect on individuals' willingness to download a research app on their smartphone. Data were collected from 1,876 members of the NORC AmeriSpeak Panel, a probability-based panel of the general population aged 18+ in the United States. Respondents were randomly assigned to eight vignettes and, after each vignette, were asked to rate their willingness to participate in the described hypothetical study. The results show that individuals are more willing to participate in smartphone-based studies where they have some control over the data collection process, by having the option either to temporarily switch off the data collection or to review the data before submission. Furthermore, they are more willing to participate in research to which they are invited via postal letter rather than receiving a postal letter plus a phone call from an interviewer who walks them through the app installation. Finally, unconditional incentives increase their willingness to engage with smartphone-based data collection over conditional incentives.
为了研究人类行为，社会科学家越来越多地从嵌入智能手机的移动应用程序和传感器中收集数据。然而，在一般人群样本上开展的研究面临的一个主要挑战是参与率相当低。虽然先前的研究已经开始调查影响个人参与此类研究的决定的因素，但对于研究设计中由研究人员控制且能提高基于智能手机的数据收集方法的接受度的特征，我们了解得较少。在技术接受模型的指导下，我们在一个 vignette 实验中改变了研究特征，以检验它们对个人在智能手机上下载研究应用程序的意愿的影响。数据来自 NORC AmeriSpeak 小组的 1876 名成员，该小组是美国 18 岁及以上普通人群的一个基于概率的小组。受访者被随机分配到八个 vignette 中，在每个 vignette 之后，被要求对他们参与所描述的假设研究的意愿进行评分。结果表明，在可以选择暂时关闭数据收集或在提交之前查看数据从而对数据收集过程有一定控制权的情况下，个人更愿意参与基于智能手机的研究。此外，他们更愿意参与通过邮政信件邀请他们参与的研究，而不是收到邮政信件外加一名采访者通过电话指导他们安装应用程序的情况。最后，无条件激励比有条件激励更能提高他们参与基于智能手机的数据收集的意愿。
