.svg)
Mobile Data Collection
Running a longitudinal study, like a diary study, often comes with its fair share of frustrations. Chasing up participants to submit their questionnaires, manually entering responses, and dealing with incorrect or incomplete information can be time-consuming and error-prone. However, digital apps like WeGuide are designed to streamline the process and make mobile data collection much easier.
WeGuide and similar mobile data collection tools simplify participant engagement and data collection by allowing participants to submit their responses directly through their smartphones or other mobile devices. This reduces the need for manual data entry, minimizes the risk of incorrect or incomplete information, and allows for real-time tracking of responses. These apps can also include features like automated reminders, customizable survey formats, and data analysis tools, which help researchers save time and improve the quality of data collected during longitudinal studies.
Incorporating mobile data collection into your study can significantly enhance efficiency, accuracy, and participant experience, ultimately leading to better results.
Example of WeGuide app interface.
A big problem of running a paper-based diary study is that after getting back the data from the study participants, certain data points may be missing. The participant forgot to fill in that questionnaire on Monday morning, lost the paper form, or skipped the questions that were on the back of the form. By using a mobile app to collect diary study data, you can make sure that the participants are collecting the right information at the right time.
WeGuide helps participants to enter their data with some clever features. For example, if possible within the study protocol, we let participants set their own ideal time to fill in their data. Some people prefer to fill in their data on the train, or when they have their breakfast. Linking a specific situation with an action is called an implementation intention, and it works as follows:
If situation X is encountered, then I will perform the goal-directed response Y
Research has shown that implementation intentions have the ability to make a great impact on goal achievement.
The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) has used this technique in a few of their mobile and iPad apps with great results. For example, in MCRI’s Vitality app that was used for the Vitality study, missing diary entries were reduced to less than 4% in a 2-month-long research study. This study required parents to administer and track vitamin D intake every single day, and the implementation intention feature played a crucial role in ensuring that participants remembered to log their entries consistently. This method shows how effectively mobile apps can address common issues in diary studies, ensuring higher data reliability and better participant engagement.
An example of how WeGuide uses implementation intentions
Prevent bad mobile data collection
Remember those participants who filled in “neutral” for every Likert-scale question? Or those who misinterpreted the format and filled in the wrong information in the wrong box? You would have to chase them up to confirm the data or find out what went wrong, with the risk of losing these participants—so frustrating! Luckily, an app can be a great help here.
Within WeGuide, we have built-in data validation to make sure we get the right information for the right question. For instance, we make sure to only ask the participant one question at a time to avoid confusion. On top of that, we can predict which participants have entered suspicious data by analyzing their answer patterns. For example, a pattern of answers like “neutral”, “neutral”, “neutral”, “neutral”, “neutral” is quite suspicious. We also track the completion time of certain questionnaires or tasks—if it’s too fast or too slow, it’s often a sign that something isn’t right. These built-in checks help ensure the quality and accuracy of the collected data, reducing the need for follow-up and improving the overall integrity of the study.
Mobile data collection results in richer data than ever before
Paper-based studies limit you in the things you can track or collect. How do you capture how much activity somebody did, what they ate, or where they travelled? With a mobile app for Android and/or iOS (Apple) application, you can use functions that are included in every smartphone, such as the camera, recording, step tracking, GPS location, and more, to create better studies. With our planned integration with Apple HealthKit and Google Fit, you will even be able to collect vital health metrics such as heart rates and blood pressure.
Use tools like the Apple Watch to collect data such as Steps, Blood pressure or even ECG data.
No more paper piling up
No need to copy over data from paper forms to a spreadsheet/database. Everything is digital, and you can easily export the data from your study into a .csv/.xls file, or you can decide to send it directly to REDCap.
Ready to take advantage of mobile for your study?
Mobile app development is normally very expensive, which is one of the reasons why not a lot of research studies have used mobile apps in the past. That's one of the reasons that we've created WeGuide, to make it easier and more affordable for research to use an app for their study. Let’s get in touch!
