Abstract
In this paper we examine how well two types of self-report measures adequately operationalize frequency of mobile phone use by comparing them to server log data. Our self-report measures of voice and SMS text messaging activity are drawn from a nationally representative survey of adults living in Norway. Our results show that self-report measures only correlate moderately to the server log data. This result poses serious epistemological implications for the many influential studies that use similar self-report measures. We further conduct an exploratory multivariate analysis to examine the extent to which demographic traits are associated with under- and over-reporting. Gender, age, household size, marital status, and employment status were all found to be significant predictors of under- or over-reporting.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 4 |
Pages (from-to) | 508-519 |
ISSN | 1083-6101 |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Keywords
- measurement
- mobile phones
- self-report
- log data