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New Approaches to Human Mobility: Using Mobile Phones for Demographic Research

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  • John Palmer
  • Thomas Espenshade
  • Frederic Bartumeus
  • Chang Chung
  • Necati Ozgencil
  • Kathleen Li

Abstract

This article explores new methods for gathering and analyzing spatially rich demographic data using mobile phones. It describes a pilot study (the Human Mobility Project) in which volunteers around the world were successfully recruited to share GPS and cellular tower information on their trajectories and respond to dynamic, location-based surveys using an open-source Android application. The pilot study illustrates the great potential of mobile phone methodology for moving spatial measures beyond residential census units and investigating a range of important social phenomena, including the heterogeneity of activity spaces, the dynamic nature of spatial segregation, and the contextual dependence of subjective well-being. Copyright Population Association of America 2013

Suggested Citation

  • John Palmer & Thomas Espenshade & Frederic Bartumeus & Chang Chung & Necati Ozgencil & Kathleen Li, 2013. "New Approaches to Human Mobility: Using Mobile Phones for Demographic Research," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(3), pages 1105-1128, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:50:y:2013:i:3:p:1105-1128
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-012-0175-z
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    11. Haley, Danielle F. & Matthews, Stephen A. & Cooper, Hannah L.F. & Haardörfer, Regine & Adimora, Adaora A. & Wingood, Gina M. & Kramer, Michael R., 2016. "Confidentiality considerations for use of social-spatial data on the social determinants of health: Sexual and reproductive health case study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 49-56.
    12. Luigi Curini & Stefano Iacus & Luciano Canova, 2015. "Measuring Idiosyncratic Happiness Through the Analysis of Twitter: An Application to the Italian Case," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(2), pages 525-542, April.
    13. Wenfei Xu, 2022. "The contingency of neighbourhood diversity: Variation of social context using mobile phone application data," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(4), pages 851-869, March.
    14. Emma Zang & Jessica West & Nathan Kim & Christina Pao, 2021. "U.S. regional differences in physical distancing: Evaluating racial and socioeconomic divides during the COVID-19 pandemic," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(11), pages 1-17, November.
    15. Shareck, Martine & Kestens, Yan & Frohlich, Katherine L., 2014. "Moving beyond the residential neighborhood to explore social inequalities in exposure to area-level disadvantage: Results from the Interdisciplinary Study on Inequalities in Smoking," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 106-114.
    16. Nolan E. Phillips & Brian L. Levy & Robert J. Sampson & Mario L. Small & Ryan Q. Wang, 2021. "The Social Integration of American Cities: Network Measures of Connectedness Based on Everyday Mobility Across Neighborhoods," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 50(3), pages 1110-1149, August.
    17. Lee Fiorio & Emilio Zagheni & Guy J. Abel & Johnathan Hill & Gabriel Pestre & Emmanuel Letouzé & Jixuan Cai, 2020. "Analyzing the effect of time in migration measurement using geo-referenced digital trace data," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2020-024, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    18. Hipp, John R., 2020. "Simulating spatial crime patterns: What do we learn in standard ecological studies of crime?," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    19. Delclòs-Alió, Xavier & Miralles-Guasch, Carme, 2017. "Suburban travelers pressed for time: Exploring the temporal implications of metropolitan commuting in Barcelona," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 165-174.

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