HomeSense: digital sensors for social research

家庭内部究竟发生了什么？我们知道，男子越来越多地分担家务和养育子女;但这是否意味着这些活动是与其伴侣一起完成的，还是他们轮流完成的？一家人是一起吃饭，互相交谈，还是在不同的房间单独吃饭，同时在社交媒体上与朋友交谈？很难观察家庭，对这些问题的研究是通过自我报告，人们回答问题并填写日记，或使用视频记录等侵入性很强的方法进行的。还有另一种方法。数字设备变得越来越复杂。现代的移动的电话可以测量位置和运动，以及电话的用途。许多人佩戴传感器来测量心率、睡眠模式和身体活动。房屋中的固定传感器可以简单地插入以测量声音和能源使用。有效使用此类传感器将减少问卷和采访的需要，减少受访者的工作量，并可能提供更准确的报告。然而，还有一些技术问题需要解决。这些设备可以测量什么？如何将数据转换为有意义的活动描述？这些描述有多可靠？还有伦理方面的问题。如何安全地存储数据集以及存储多长时间？如果人们忘记了设备的存在，同意是如何起作用的？何时应获得受监测但并非有意纳入研究的人员（如访客）的同意？本项目将研究这些技术和道德问题。我们将为希望在研究中使用数字传感设备的社会研究人员制定指导方针。这些将基于专家的建议和与公众成员的讨论，以及家庭成员和研究人员在试验研究中的经验。试验研究中收集的数据将用于比较，对比和整合传感器设备的使用与现有的研究方法。试验数据和方法的比较将是开发分析工具的基础，这些工具将帮助研究人员解释和理解可以用这些方法收集的丰富数据，以回答有关家庭内部发生的问题。

What actually happens within households? We know that men are increasingly sharing in domestic duties and parenting; but does this mean that these activities are being done with their partners or are they taking turns? Do families eat together and talk to each other, or do they have separate meals in different rooms while talking on social media to their friends? It is hard to observe households, and research on these issues is done through self-reporting, with people answering questions and filling in diaries, or with highly invasive methods such as video recording. There is another way.Digital devices are becoming more sophisticated. A modern mobile phone can measure position and movement, as well as what the phone is being used for. Many people wear sensors for heart rate, sleeping patterns, and physical activity. And fixed sensors in houses can be simply plugged in to measure sound and energy use. Using such sensors effectively would reduce the need for questionnaires and interviews, reducing the amount of work for respondents and providing potentially more accurate reporting.However, there are technical problems to be solved. What can be measured by these devices? How can the data be converted into meaningful descriptions of activities? How reliable are these descriptions? There are also ethical concerns. How can the datasets be securely stored and for how long? How does consent work if people forget the devices are there? When should consent be obtained from people who are monitored but not intentionally included in the research, such as visitors?This project will examine these technical and ethical issues. We will develop guidelines for social researchers who want to use digital sensing devices in their research. These will be based on expert advice and discussion with members of the general public, as well as the experience of household members and researchers in a trial study.The data collected in the trial study will be used to compare, contrast and integrate the use of sensor devices with existing research methods. The trial data and comparison of methods will be the foundation to develop analysis tools that help researchers to interpret and understand the rich data that can be collected with these methods, to answer questions about what happens within households.