Beyond self-report: tools to compare estimated and real-world smartphone use

Andrews, S. ORCID: 0000-0002-9916-9433, Ellis, D.A., Shaw, H., Piwek, L. and Pietsching, J., 2015. Beyond self-report: tools to compare estimated and real-world smartphone use. PLoS ONE, 10 (10), e013900. ISSN 1932-6203

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Abstract

Psychologists typically rely on self-report data when quantifying mobile phone usage, despite little evidence of its validity. In this paper we explore the accuracy of using self-reported estimates when compared with actual smartphone use. We also include source code to process and visualise these data. We compared 23 participants' actual smartphone
use over a two-week period with self-reported estimates and the Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale. Our results indicate that estimated time spent using a smartphone may be an adequate measure of use, unless a greater resolution of data are required. Estimates concerning the number of times an individual used their phone across a typical day did not correlate with actual smartphone use. Neither estimated duration nor number of uses correlated with the Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale. We conclude that estimated smartphone use should be interpreted with caution in psychological research.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	PLoS ONE
Creators:	Andrews, S., Ellis, D.A., Shaw, H., Piwek, L. and Pietsching, J.
Publisher:	Public Library of Science
Date:	28 October 2015
Volume:	10
Number:	10
ISSN:	1932-6203
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1371/journal.pone.0139004 DOI
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	02 Feb 2017 12:23
Last Modified:	09 Jun 2017 14:12
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/30085

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