The smartphone as a snapshot of its use: Mobile media elicitation in qualitative interviews

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
Beteiligte: Kaufmann, Katja
In: Mobile Media & Communication, 6, 2018, 2, S. 233-246
veröffentlicht:
SAGE Publications
Medientyp: Artikel, E-Artikel

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weitere Informationen
Umfang: 233-246
ISSN: 2050-1587
2050-1579
DOI: 10.1177/2050157917743782
veröffentlicht in: Mobile Media & Communication
Sprache: Englisch
Schlagwörter:
Kollektion: SAGE Publications (CrossRef)
Inhaltsangabe

<jats:p> Smartphones are increasingly used to advance mobile media methods. The devices’ capabilities to automatically log behavioural data as well as the integration of this log data into qualitative interviews for elicitation purposes promise increased validity. The paper argues that despite recent efforts in mixed methods, the methodological potential of the personalized user interfaces of smartphones has been overlooked. As these smartphone interfaces are the result of continuous personalization processes, they can be seen as snapshots of the phone’s current use. Thus, this form of data should have strong explanatory powers for understanding the related mobile media practices. The paper discusses the implications of this interface-based approach with two example studies where smartphone interfaces were integrated into qualitative interviews. It concludes that the approach is a useful addition to existing mobile media methods and enforces the notion that researchers need to discover new forms of data. </jats:p>