Doing a Time Use Survey on Smartphones Only: What Factors Predict Nonresponse at Different Stages of the Survey Process?

The increasing use of smartphones opens up opportunities for novel ways of survey data collection, but also poses new challenges. Collecting more and different types of data means that studies can become increasingly intrusive. We risk over-asking participants, leading to nonresponse. This study documents nonresponse and nonresponse bias in a smartphone-only version of the Dutch Time Use Survey (TUS). Respondents from the Dutch LISS panel were asked to perform five sets of tasks to complete the whole TUS: 1) accept an invitation to participate in the study and install an app, 2) fill out a questionnaire on the web, 3) participate in the smartphone time use diary on their smartphone, 4) answer pop-up questions and 5) give permission to record sensor data (GPS locations and call data). Results show that 42.9% of invited panel members responded positively to the invitation to participate in a smartphone survey. However, only 28.9% of these willing panel members completed all stages of the study. Predictors of nonresponse are somewhat different at every stage. In addition, respondents who complete all smartphone tasks are different from groups who do not participate at some or any stage of the study. By using data collected in previous waves we show that nonresponse leads to nonresponse bias in estimates of time use. We conclude by discussing implications for using smartphone apps in survey research

Stability and trapping of magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents during high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation therapy

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of Gd-DTPA shortly before magnetic resonance guided high-intensity focused ultrasound MR-HIFU thermal ablation therapy with respect to dissociation, trapping, and long-term deposition of gadolinium (Gd) in the body. Materials and Methods: Magnetic resonance-HIFU ablation treatment was conducted in vivo on both rat muscle and subcutaneous tumor (9L glioma) using a clinical 3T MR-HIFU system equipped with a small-animal coil setup. A human equivalent dose of gadopentetate dimeglumine (Gd-DTPA) (0.6 mmol/kg of body weight) was injected via a tail vein catheter just before ablation

Where You at? Using GPS Locations in an Electronic Time Use Diary Study to Derive Functional Locations

Smartphones enable passive collection of sensor data alongside survey participation. Location data add context to people’s reports about their time use. In addition, linking global positioning system data to self-reported time use surveys (TUSs) can be valuable for understanding how people spend their time. This article investigates whether and how passive collection of geographical locations (coordinates) proves useful for deriving respondents’ functional locations. Participants of the ongoing Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in the Netherlands were invited to participate in a TUS administered with a smartphone app that also unobtrusively tracked respondents’ locations. Respondents reported their activities per 10-min interval in a smartphone diary app (n = 1,339) and shared their geographical location data (n = 1,264). The correspondence between the functional locations derived from the time use data and those derived from the geographical location data was assessed by calculating the percentage of intervals in which both measures are similar. Overall, results show that home locations can be automatically assigned reliably but that respondent information is required to reliably assign work or school locations. In addition, location tracking data contain many measurement errors, making it difficult to record valid locations. Multilevel models show that the variability in correct classifications is intrapersonal and largely predicted by phone type, which determines location measurement frequency

Aan de grenzen van het meetbare: de methodologische kwaliteit van internationale studies naar de omvang van aan prostitutie gerelateerde mensenhandel met nadruk op Noordwest Europa.

De aanleiding voor deze literatuurstudie was een motie van Segers/van der Staaij, waarin gevraagd werd om een wetenschappelijke vergelijking te maken van het prostitutiebeleid tussen landen in Noordwest-Europa en het effect van dat beleid op de omvang van mensenhandel in de betreffende landen. De onderzoeksvraag in deze studie luidt: "Wat is er bekend over de relatie tussen prostitutiebeleid in Noordwest-Europa en de omvang van mensenhandel en wat valt er vanuit wetenschappelijk oogpunt te zeggen over de kwaliteit van de bestaande onderzoeken waarop de conclusies over deze relatie zijn gebaseerd?" Om een zo goed mogelijk inzicht in bovengenoemde relatie(s) te krijgen, is dit onderzoek specifiek gericht op landen in Noordwest-Europa: Nederland, België, Noorwegen, Zweden, Finland, Denemarken, Duitsland en Groot Brittannië. Deze landen dekken samen de belangrijkste, voor vergelijkend onderzoek relevante, vormen van prostitutiebeleid, en hebben een infrastructuur die in principe het best mogelijke onderzoek naar de omvang van mensenhandel mogelijk maakt

Where You at? Using GPS Locations in an Electronic Time Use Diary Study to Derive Functional Locations

Smartphones enable passive collection of sensor data alongside survey participation. Location data add context to people’s reports about their time use. In addition, linking global positioning system data to self-reported time use surveys (TUSs) can be valuable for understanding how people spend their time. This article investigates whether and how passive collection of geographical locations (coordinates) proves useful for deriving respondents’ functional locations. Participants of the ongoing Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in the Netherlands were invited to participate in a TUS administered with a smartphone app that also unobtrusively tracked respondents’ locations. Respondents reported their activities per 10-min interval in a smartphone diary app (n = 1,339) and shared their geographical location data (n = 1,264). The correspondence between the functional locations derived from the time use data and those derived from the geographical location data was assessed by calculating the percentage of intervals in which both measures are similar. Overall, results show that home locations can be automatically assigned reliably but that respondent information is required to reliably assign work or school locations. In addition, location tracking data contain many measurement errors, making it difficult to record valid locations. Multilevel models show that the variability in correct classifications is intrapersonal and largely predicted by phone type, which determines location measurement frequency

At the limits of measurement: The methodological quality of international studies into the size of human trafficking related to prostitution in Northwestern Europe

De aanleiding voor deze literatuurstudie was een motie van Segers/van der Staaij, waarin gevraagd werd om een wetenschappelijke vergelijking te maken van het prostitutiebeleid tussen landen in Noordwest-Europa en het effect van dat beleid op de omvang van mensenhandel in de betreffende landen. De onderzoeksvraag in deze studie luidt: "Wat is er bekend over de relatie tussen prostitutiebeleid in Noordwest-Europa en de omvang van mensenhandel en wat valt er vanuit wetenschappelijk oogpunt te zeggen over de kwaliteit van de bestaande onderzoeken waarop de conclusies over deze relatie zijn gebaseerd?" Om een zo goed mogelijk inzicht in bovengenoemde relatie(s) te krijgen, is dit onderzoek specifiek gericht op landen in Noordwest-Europa: Nederland, België, Noorwegen, Zweden, Finland, Denemarken, Duitsland en Groot Brittannië. Deze landen dekken samen de belangrijkste, voor vergelijkend onderzoek relevante, vormen van prostitutiebeleid, en hebben een infrastructuur die in principe het best mogelijke onderzoek naar de omvang van mensenhandel mogelijk maakt