Journal Publication

Measuring movement and social contact with smartphone data: a real-time application to COVID-19

Published: January 2021

Author(s): Victor Couture, Jonathan I. Dingel, Allison Green & Jessie Handbury

Researchers study the suitability of suitability of smartphone data for quantifying movement and social contact, particularly in the context of COVID-19.

Researchers find that smart phone data cover a significant portion of the U.S. population and tend to be representative of the residential characteristics and movement patterns of the general population. They create indices that description social exposure across locations and within venues. Researchers provided this data publicly from January 2020 through August 2021 with the aim of lowering barriers to pandemic-related research using smartphone data.

Abstract and Citation

Victor Couture, Jonathan I. Dingel, Allison Green, Jessie Handbury, Kevin R. Williams, JUE Insight: Measuring movement and social contact with smartphone data: a real-time application to COVID-19, Journal of Urban Economics, Volume 127, 2022, 103328, ISSN 0094-1190, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2021.103328.

Abstract

Tracking human activity in real time and at fine spatial scale is particularly valuable during episodes such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, we discuss the suitability of smartphone data for quantifying movement and social contact. These data cover broad sections of the US population and exhibit pre-pandemic patterns similar to conventional survey data. We develop and make publicly available a location exposure index that summarizes county-to- county movements and a device exposure index that quantifies social contact within venues. We also investigate the reliability of smartphone movement data during the pandemic.

Publication Link

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094119021000103?via%3Dihub=

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