HomeSense: digital sensors for social research

家庭内部到底发生了什么？我们知道，男性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伴侣一起进行的，还是他们轮流进行？家人是一起吃饭，互相聊天，还是在不同的房间吃饭，同时在社交媒体上和朋友聊天？很难观察到家庭，对这些问题的研究是通过自我报告，让人们回答问题并填写日记，或者通过视频记录等高度侵入性的方法来完成的。还有另一种方法。数字设备正变得越来越复杂。一个现代的手机可以测量位置和运动，以及手机的用途。许多人佩戴心率、睡眠模式和身体活动传感器。房屋内的固定传感器可以简单地插入来测量声音和能源的使用。有效地使用这种传感器将减少对调查表和访谈的需要，减少应答者的工作量，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？还有道德方面的担忧。如何安全地存储数据集，存储多长时间？如果人们忘记了设备的存在，同意如何起作用？什么时候应该征得被监控但不是故意纳入研究的人的同意，比如访客？这个项目将研究这些技术和伦理问题。我们将为想要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。这些将以专家建议和与一般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为基础。在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与现有研究方法的使用。试验数据和方法的比较将成为开发分析工具的基础，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事情的问题。

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.