Mobile,  Social,  Global:    Applica0ons  of  Emerging  

Technologies  in  Survey  Research      

Robert  D  Furberg,  PhD,  MBA  RTI  Interna6onal  

 31st  Annual  Southern  Associa6on  for  Public  Opinion  Research  Conference  

05OCT2012    

•  83%  of  U.S.  adults  own  a  cell  phone.    •  35%  of  U.S.  adults  own  a  smartphone  and  one-­‐quarter  of  them  use  their  phone  as  their  main  source  of  internet  access.  

 •  Nearly  1/3  of  households  are  now  mobile-­‐only.  

Source:  CTIA,  2012  

•  The  highest  level  of  mobile  telephone  use  is  among  adolescents,  younger  adults,  socioeconomically  disadvantaged  popula6ons,  less  educated  young  adults,  and  people  who  rent  or  frequently  change  addresses.      (Franklin,  2003;  Faulkner,  2005;  Koivusilta  2007)  

 •  Further,  a  high  level  of  mobile  telephone  use  is  associated  with  lower  levels  of  self-­‐rated  health,  higher  BMI,  and  engaging  in  health-­‐compromising  behaviors.        (Lajunen,  2007;  Koivusilta,  2005)  

•  The  pervasiveness,  low  cost,  and  convenience  of  mobile  phones  make  (SMS)  tex6ng  an  ideal  applica6on  for  dissemina6ng  as  well  as  gathering  health  informa6on  from  consumers    (Fjeldsoe,  2009).      

•  Evalua6on  of  SMS  interven6ons  suggest  that  text  messaging  systems  can  effec6vely  increase  medica6on  and  appointment  adherence  and  sustain  health  promo6on  behaviors  such  as  smoking  cessa6on,  diabetes,  asthma  management,  and  depression    (Cole-­‐Lewis  &  Kershaw,  2010).      

•  Fully  half  of  U.S.  adult  cell  phone  owners  (50%)  now  have  apps  on  their  phones.    

•  17%  have  used  their  phone  to  look  up  health  or  medical  informa6on  and  29%  of  cell  owners  ages  18-­‐29  have  done  such  searches.  

 •  9%  have  so`ware  applica6ons  or  "apps"  on  their  phones  that  help  them  track  or  manage  their  health.  Some  15%  of  those  ages  18-­‐29  have  such  apps.  

 Physicians  were  not  responsible  for  the  improvement.      – No  addi6onal  meds  – No  significant  changes  in  management    

•  The  mechanism  appears  to  be  pa6ent  self-­‐awareness,  accountability  

 •  An  adherence  mechanism  is  important      •  Providing  a  monitor  is  not  enough    

               So,  are  they  any  good?  

•  To  examine  the  content  of  exis6ng  iPhone  apps  for  smoking  cessa6on  – Quality  of  apps  – Popularity  of  apps  – Rela6onships  between  these  variables  

Cessa6on  programs  should:  •  Ask  for  tobacco  use  status  •  Advise  every  user  to  quit  •  Assess  willingness  to  quit  •  Assist  with  a  quit  plan  •  Recommend  approved  meds  •  Prac6cal  counseling  •  Intra-­‐treatment  social  support  •  Connect  to  a  quitline  •  Enhance  mo6va6on  •  Arrange  for  follow-­‐up  

•  Code  for  20  measures  of  adherence  to  the  US  Public  Health  Service’s  2008  Clinical  Prac6ce  Guidelines  for  Trea6ng  Tobacco  Use  and  Dependence  

•  Two  independent  coders  •  From  iTunes,  obtain  data  on  download  frequency  and  user  ra6ng  of  each  app  

The  Human  Face  of  Big  Data  hhp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uW_gyxZD2hc    

Discover  hidden  secrets  about  the  world  you  live  in  •  Compare  answers  about  yourself,  your  family,  trust,  sleep,  

sex,  da6ng  and  dreams  with  millions  of  others  around  the  world.  Map  your  daily  footprint,  share  what  brings  you  luck,  and  get  a  glimpse  into  the  one  thing  people  want  to  experience  during  their  life6me.    

Human  subjects  &  the  IRB  

•  Informed,  thoughmul  consent  is  tricky.  •  Anonymity  will  gradually  become  impossible  in  data-­‐rich  smartphone  studies.  

•  Even  with  encrypted  uploads  and  privacy-­‐preserving  analysis,  confiden6ality  will  be  vulnerable  to  authori6es  (theore6cally).  

Main  advantages  

•  Poten6al  for  global  recruitment  and  very  large  samples.  

•  High  convenience,  ecological  validity,  and  unobtrusiveness  for  par6cipants.  

•  Easy  media  capture,  mo6on  sensing,  and  loca6on  tracking.  

•  Poten6al  for  delivery  of  high  quality  media  using  common  technologies  

Main  disadvantages  

•  Substan6al  study  prepara6on  work  in  wri6ng,  debugging,  pilot  tes6ng,  and  field  tes6ng.  

•  Low  contextual  control  over  par6cipants’  physical  and  social  environments  during  study.  

•  Poten6ally  very  large  and  complex  sets  of  data  that  require  sophis6cated  data  analysis.  

•  Ethical  challenges  in  obtaining  truly  informed  consent,  protec6ng  privacy  and  anonymity.  

Recap!  

•  Go  to  where  your  par6cipants  are.  •  Mobile  doesn’t  mean  on  the  go.  •  Users  maher.  •  Base  your  decisions  on  data.  •  Human  subjects  (&  IRB  commihee  members)  are  people,  too.  

•  Big  advantages  and  challenges  offer  an  immense  opportunity  to  keep  pace.  

@SurveyPost  

SurveyPost  blogs.r6.org/surveypost  

Contact:  Robert  D.  Furberg,  PhD,  MBA  rfurberg@r0.org  @medicfurby