One of the “top tweets” of this week’s Health Datapalooza was one I dashed off on my way to the event:<\/p>\n\n
1 in 4 U.S. internet users track their own health data online – @pewinternet<\/a> pewrsr.ch\/khtiMB<\/a> #healthdata<\/a> \u2014 SusannahFox (@SusannahFox) June 5, 2012<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
It was great to see how this research tidbit was treated like news — and if it’s new to you, then yes, I think it is “news.” Unfortunately, some people didn’t click through to read the report section and misinterpreted the findings. Others did click through and felt burned that it was based on a 2010 survey. I have to share the best of those tweets:<\/p>\n\n
#baddata<\/a> @Rock_Health<\/a> @susannahfox<\/a> this data is 2 yr old and didn’t mention frequency. A carney guessed my weight once #stilluseascale<\/a> \u2014 Peter Verrillo (@PeterVOrtho) June 7, 2012<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
Touch\u00e9!<\/p>\n\n
When my Pew Internet<\/a> colleagues and I formulated the questionnaire for the 2010 health survey, we included two exploratory questions about self-tracking. They are not perfect, but I think they were a fine first measure. For everyone’s dissection, please see items E and F:<\/p>\n\n
ASK ALL INTERNET USERS (Q6a=1 or Q6b=1):<\/p>\n\n
[INSERT ITEM; ROTATE]<\/p>\n\n\n
a.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Signed up to receive email updates or alerts about health or medical issues<\/p>\n\n
b.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Read someone else’s commentary or experience about health or medical issues on an online news group, website or blog<\/p>\n\n
c.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Watched an online video about health or medical issues<\/p>\n\n
d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gone online to find others who might have health concerns similar to yours <\/i><\/p>\n\n
ALWAYS ASK e-f TOGETHER, IN ORDER <\/b><\/p>\n\n
e.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tracked your weight, diet or exercise routine online<\/p>\n\n
f.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tracked any other health indicators or symptoms online<\/p>\n\n
CATEGORIES<\/p>\n\n
1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes<\/p>\n\n
2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No<\/p>\n\n
8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (DO NOT READ)<\/b> Don\u2019t know<\/p>\n\n
9\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (DO NOT READ)<\/b> Refused<\/p>\n\n
Again, we had no idea how many people would answer “yes” since this was a first-time measurement. It turned out that 15% of internet users have tracked their weight, diet, or exercise routine online and 17% of internet users have tracked any other health indicators or symptoms online. In all, 27% of adult internet users say yes to either question. That’s where I got the “1 in 4 internet users…” referenced in the tweet.<\/p>\n\n
Now I need your help:<\/p>\n\n
\n
- If you’re a data geek, download the September 2010 data set<\/a>, dig into the full questionnaire, crosstabs, SPSS, etc., and let me know if you see interesting stuff I missed.<\/li>\n
- If you think these questions need improvement, tell me why in the comments below. How would you expand them? What follow-ups would you ask? Dream big: what open-ended questions would you include (the most time-consuming type of question)? Do you want to know about specific tracking activities? Frequency? Impact on the respondent’s overall health?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
I personally believe that if a survey question isn’t relevant and useful\u00a0then we need to re-examine it. Some of the best ideas for our health surveys have come from\u00a0our community (for examples, please see: Crowdsourcing a Survey 2008<\/a> and Crowdsourcing a Survey 2010<\/a>). Please leave comments on this blog post <\/a>or email me directly: sfox at pewinternet dot org. Thanks in advance for the input.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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