Should participants be given a mobile phone, or use their own? Effects of novelty vs utility

Abstract

Due to their ubiquity, mobile telephones may herald a great opportunity for ecological momentary assessment data collection. To access samples which do not own a mobile, or do not own a mobile that supports the preferred mode of response (i.e. apps), researchers may wish to provide participants with an appropriate mobile telephone for the purposes of participation. This often involves replacing a phone already in use. This study investigated the impact of providing a mobile telephone to participants for the purposes of participating in research, comparing the response behaviour of participants using their own mobile telephone against those using one provided by the researcher. Using iPhone 3s, 179 undergraduate participants completed a six-item questionnaire, 20 times over 2 day via app or text message. The three experimental groups consisted of those using their own iPhone, those using their own SIM in a provided iPhone, and those using a provided SIM in a provided iPhone. Results suggest that researchers seeking to conduct self-report research using mobile phones should be aware that the choice to provide a mobile telephone to standardise participant response platforms can impact on response behaviour.