Situation
Young people’s wellbeing is on the agenda for parents, teachers, the media and researchers alike. The ROCKWOOL Foundation therefore wanted to examine the relationship between physiological strain and self-reported wellbeing among young people aged between 18 and 21 over a three-month period. More specifically, the aim was to combine their self-reports with biomarkers, including data on physical activity, such as daily step count, participants’ heart rate, and their sleep duration and quality.
Complication
To be able to carry out daily measurements, a smaller subset of the participants were equipped with a smartwatch. However, the watches are not designed for automated data extraction or for being combined with questionnaire data, and the data are therefore fragmented across different files, formats and levels of observation. In addition, there may be missing data and measurement uncertainties if the watch has not been used correctly, or has not been used at all for certain periods.
Recommendation
To obtain the best possible data, Epinion recommends, first and foremost, financial incentives for participants to increase participation rates and the likelihood that they follow the instructions on wearing the watch correctly. In addition, quality assurance of the smartwatch data is recommended to ensure valid data that can be used in combination with questionnaire data.
Read more about the pilot study (in Danish) here.
