Bachelor Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Computer Science - Commercial Information
Technology grade: 1 3 University of Frankfurt (Main) language: English abstract: Nowadays
people do not only pursue an activity in order to stay healthy they track this activity to
gain a rational judgement about their activity. Through this data the user gains insights into
intangible metrics of everyday life in order to simplify daily activities due to the
transparency of the generated data. Is this data more than just the simplification of everyday
life? How do the users value their generated data? This thesis focuses on the question of how
users value their data generated through tracking. Furthermore it will be investigated what
emphasizes the feeling of loss if an activity remains inadvertently untracked. This bachelor
thesis solely focuses on the subjective valuation of data generated through tracking physical
activities. To evaluate the subjective value this work differentiates between activities that
the users tracks and activities that accidentally remain unmonitored. This work assumes that
this difference between these activities is the added value of tracking data. To evaluate
possible factors that emphasize the value of perceived value of data an empirical study is
conducted. This study examines the influence of personality traits on the value of data.
Furthermore the users' level of engagement in social comparison to evaluate his or her
abilities and levels of trait curiosity are examined as potential factors that affect the value
users give to their data. The paper begins with providing a theoretical background of the
practice of self-tracking and the applied psychological concepts associated with it. A
definition of self-tracking and distinction from similar practices classifies this concept in
practices of self-monitoring. Furthermore the process of self-tracking is explained. Then this
paper presents possible factors that could drive the valuation of data in the self-tracking
context. Here this paper focusses on the characteristics of the generated data and the
associated practices of self-reflection. Furthermore this paper will shed light onto the role
of curiosity and social comparison in self-tracking context. Lastly psychological concepts and
their relevance for the thesis will be introduced. Next the empirical study is presented which
terminates with the data analysis and its associated results. This paper ends with a discussion
of the results in which possible limitations are mentioned and a recommendation for future
papers is given.
