Mobile methods: Explorations, innovations, and reflections

Abstract

In this introduction, we define mobile methods as the means by which mobile communication technology is used to study the social world. We identify and describe three themes of mobile methods. First, they are field-based research, which enables the researcher to go into the world of their participants, enhancing ecological validity. Second, mobile methods engage in controlled complexity regarding the data they collect. Often complex and very large datasets are created through mobile methods and researchers must thoughtfully decide how best to analyze such data. Third, these methods raise important ethical considerations. Researchers employing mobile methods may collect a variety of personal or sensitive information and must be vigilant regarding informed consent and data management procedures. Lastly, we summarize the seven articles in this Special Issue.

Mapping of 3d Eye-Tracking in Urban Outdoor Environments

“…if additional sensors are required). Within social sciences, endeavours to analyse social reality while it enfolds in-situ have increased throughout the last 15 years by means of so-called mobile methods (cf., e.g., Boase andHumphreys 2018, Moles 2019). Eye-tracking represents a fruitful approach to investigate subtle experiences of space that humans are less aware of and less able to verbally express as part of traditional research methods such as interviews.…”

A mobile sense of place: exploring a novel mixed methods user-centred approach to capturing data on urban cycling infrastructure

“…We refer to mobile methods in a two-fold way: First, with regard to the so-called "mobilities turn", a broader paradigm in the social sciences focusing on people on the move and using empirical (ethnographic) research methods (Büscher and Urry 2009;Büscher, Urry, and Witchger 2011). Second, with regard to the use of mobile technologies and devices for research purposes and related forms of data collection (Boase and Humphreys 2018).…”

Experimental methods to study cultural differences in linguistics

“…However, these problems are increasingly being solved thanks to recent technological progress allowing the use of laptops, cameras, recorders, and mobile eye-trackers even in isolated places. In addition, with travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic (starting in 2020), many researchers turned to web-based research, a special type of field research that allows reaching large and heterogeneous populations using smartphones, personal computers, and the Internet (Dufau et al 2011;Boase and Humphreys 2018). Prior experience shows that response times are accurately measured when they are recorded locally and then shared via the web (Enochson and Culbertson 2015).…”