June 1-10, 2026 MWF
10:00am - 1:00pm
A live course via Zoom. Registration and payment are required a minimum of two weeks prior to the start of the course.

Founded in 1948, the Summer Institute in Survey Research Techniques is designed specifically to meet the needs of professionals and graduate students seeking to deepen their expertise in survey methodology and data collection. Offered through the Michigan Program in Survey and Data Science within the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, the program provides a rigorous and flexible curriculum that blends theoretical foundations with practical application — entirely online.

Data Collection Using Wearables, Sensors, and Apps in the Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The recent proliferation of mobile technology allows researchers to collect objective health and behavioral data at increased intervals, in real time, and may also reduce participant burden. In this course, we will provide examples of the utility of and integration of wearables, sensors, and apps in research settings. Examples will include the use of wearable health devices to measure activity, apps for ecological momentary assessment, and smartphone sensors to measure sound and movement, among others. Additionally, this course will consider the integration of these new technologies into existing surveys and the quality of the data collected from the total survey error perspective. We will discuss considerations for assessing coverage, participation, and measurement error when integrating wearables, sensors, and apps in a research setting as well as the costs and privacy considerations when collecting these types of data. Participants will work in groups to discuss a research study design using new technology and have the opportunity for hands-on practice with sensor data.

Heidi Guyer is Senior Public Health Research Scientist at RTI International. Before joining RTI, she was a Senior Survey Director and oversaw data collection on large national and international health research projects at the University of Michigan. She received a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan and a Master of Public Health from the University of Texas. She has extensive experience in population-based data collection, cross-sectional and longitudinal health surveys, and adapting clinical measures and new technology in health research. Her substantive areas of research have focused on the association between health behaviors, such as sleep and diet quality, and the development of chronic health conditions.