The Collection of Smartphone-Sensing Data Using the AWARE Framework

Abstract

The rapid increase in smartphone adoption has led researchers to use the data gathered by mobile devices (e.g., geolocation and communication data) to understand and predict human behavior. These data are more objective and unobtrusively measured and are hard to collect using traditional lab- or web-based data-collection methods. However, the collection of smartphone-sensing data is not without its own hardships. In this article, we provide a step-by-step tutorial on using an open-source application titled AWARE to collect smartphone-sensing data and combine it with traditional psychological variables. In addition, we identify potential solutions to common challenges that researchers can face when collecting smartphone-sensing data. We offer a public resource including visual tutorials and data examples, which provide further detail and contain code that enable others to collect such data using the AWARE platform.