Self-tracking practices are growing in popularity worldwide. From heart-rate monitoring to mood tracking, many believe that wearable technologies are making their users more mindful in exclusively positive ways. However, I will argue that consistent and deliberate self-tracking (with or without portable devices) necessitates a particular understanding of the self with consequences that have yet to be fully explored. Through an analysis of forum posts on a popular self-tracking discussion and informational site, QuantifiedSelf.com, I will claim that self-trackers approach the creation of self-knowledge in a manner that is particular to today’s society. I will discuss how the ubiquitous conflation of numerical identities with objective reasoning feeds into a mindset that supports quantification of the self, and how the views of self exhibited by these self-trackers can be considered a version of creating a “scientific self.” The notion of the scientific self supports both an individual and societal shift in the practice of “being”—a shift that carries with it many possible repercussions that have yet to be widely analyzed. This analysis, I will argue, is key to limiting the destructive potential of understanding people in terms of data, while simultaneously enabling new conceptualizations of self to be practiced in modern society.

Existing self-tracking tools for women concentrate on one’s general well-being and keeping track of ovulation and periods. With around 10% of women worldwide suffering from endometriosis there is an unmet need to leverage self-tracking for women whose cycles are affected by more variables. The disease is enigmatic with an unknown cause and cure and the ill­ness differs for each individual in symptoms and working treatments. It is therefore critical to understand how women can learn about their bodies and how to treat their condition. In this research I work with two sufferers to identify their secret de­sires through a workshop and a series of interviews. Results suggest that women with endometriosis could benefit from ex­perimenting with different habits and make personalized routines to suit their own needs. Finally I present design implica­tions for an existing menstrual app in the form of an add-on. The steps of the add-on tool included three steps. Firstly, choosing variables of one’s well being to track (mood, energy, pain etc.), choosing activities for one or more cycles (gluten-free diet, exercising etc.), and lastly viewing an analysis of any changes in the body. / Nuvarande self-trackers för kvinnor är centrerade kring användarens allmänna hälsa, ägglossning och menstruation. Cirka 10% av kvinnor i världen lider av endometrios, en vanligt förekommande men okänd sjukdom. Bland många tillgängliga ap­plikationer för kvinnor är få fokuserade på endometrios. Sjukdomen skiljer sig i symptom bland de drabbade. Därför är det viktigt att förstå hur kvinnor själva kan lära sig hur deras menstruationscyklar ser ut och behandla deras egna symptom med hjälp av self-trackers. I denna studie arbetar jag med två kvinnor för att förstå deras behov. Resultaten visar att kvinnor med sjukdomen kan dra nytta av att experimentera med olika vanor för att hitta en personlig rutin. Jag presenterar ett designför­slag på ett tillägg till en nuvarande mens-applikation. Tillägget är ett verktyg för att experimentera med olika vanor för att se hur det kan påverka ens välmående. Verktyget innehöll tre steg: Användaren får välja en eller ett par variabler att studera (humör, smärta etc.) samt en eller ett par rutiner att följa (ny matvana, träningsvana etc.) under en eller flera menscyklar. Därefter får användaren se en analys över hur rutinerna kan ha påverkat kroppen.

Thesis advisor: Natalia Sarkisian / The recent proliferation of technologies to collect and analyze “Big Data” has changed the research landscape, making it easier for some to use unprecedented amounts of real-time data to guide decisions and build ‘knowledge.’ In the three articles of this dissertation, I examine what these changes reveal about the nature of expertise and the position of the researcher. In the first article, “Monopoly or Generosity? ‘Rock Stars’ of Big Data, Data Democrats, and the Role of Technologies in Systems of Expertise,” I challenge the claims of recent scholarship, which frames the monopoly of experts and the spread of systems of expertise as opposing forces. I analyze video recordings (N= 30) of the proceedings of two professional conferences about Big Data Analytics (BDA), and I identify distinct orientations towards BDA practice among presenters: (1) those who argue that BDA should be conducted by highly specialized “Rock Star” data experts, and (2) those who argue that access to BDA should be “democratized” to non-experts through the use of automated technology. While the “data democrats” ague that automating technology enhances the spread of the system of BDA expertise, they ignore the ways that it also enhances, and hides, the monopoly of the experts who designed the technology. In addition to its implications for practitioners of BDA, this work contributes to the sociology of expertise by demonstrating the importance of focusing on both monopoly and generosity in order to study power in systems of expertise, particularly those relying extensively on technology. Scholars have discussed several ways that the position of the researcher affects the production of knowledge. In “Distance Makes the Scholar Grow Fonder? The Relationship Between Analytical Distance and Critical Reflection on Methods in Big Data Analytics,” I pinpoint two types of researcher “distance” that have already been explored in the literature (experiential and interactional), and I identify a third type of distance—analytical distance—that has not been examined so far. Based on an empirical analysis of 113 articles that utilize Twitter data, I find that the analytical distance that authors maintain from the coding process is related to whether the authors include explicit critical reflections about their research in the article. Namely, articles in which the authors automate the coding process are significantly less likely to reflect on the reliability or validity of the study, even after controlling for factors such as article length and author’s discipline. These findings have implications for numerous research settings, from studies conducted by a team of scholars who delegate analytic tasks, to “big data” or “e-science” research that automates parts of the analytic process. Individuals who engage in self-tracking—collecting data about themselves or aspects of their lives for their own purposes—occupy a unique position as both researcher and subject. In the sociology of knowledge, previous research suggests that low experiential distance between researcher and subject can lead to more nuanced interpretations but also blind the researcher to his or her underlying assumptions. However, these prior studies of distance fail to explore what happens when the boundary between researcher and subject collapses in “N of one” studies. In “The Collapse of Experiential Distance and the Inescapable Ambiguity of Quantifying Selves,” I borrow from art and literary theories of grotesquerie—another instance of the collapse of boundaries—to examine the collapse of boundaries in self-tracking. Based on empirical analyses of video testimonies (N=102) and interviews (N=7) with members of the Quantified Self community of self-trackers, I find that ambiguity and multiplicity are integral facets of these data practices. I discuss the implications of these findings for the sociological study of researcher distance, and also the practical implications for the neoliberal turn that assigns responsibility to individuals to collect, analyze, and make the best use of personal data. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

This thesis investigates self-tracking practices of users of MyFitnessPal calorie counting app. The thesis researches everyday self-trackers users who have started using the app on their own and are not part of any self-tracking community and focuses on the practices of self-tracking. The thesis responds to the literature on self-tracking that has often neglected everyday self-trackers and practices of self-tracking. First, many studies, whether sociological investigations or human-computer interaction research, focus on members of Quantified Self (QS) community (Choe, Lee, Lee, Pratt, & Kientz, 2014; Li, Dey, & Forlizzi, 2010; Neff & Nafus, 2015; Sharon & Zandbergen, 2016). QS is a community of individuals who are interested in learning more about themselves through, oftentimes unusual and complex, self-tracking, which involves modification of existing technologies or even creation of new ones. Thus, focusing on QS members neglects the individual everyday self-trackers, their experiences and practices. Second, existing studies have mainly focused on health or social implications of self-tracking (Lupton, 2012b, 2013d, 2014a, Swan, 2012b, 2013). These include, but are not limited to, potential of self-tracking to assist diagnosis (Wile, Ranawaya, & Kiss, 2014), or behaviour change (Chiauzzi, Rodarte, & Dasmahapatra, 2015), self-tracking increasing surveillance, public pedagogy (Rich & Miah, 2014) and subjection to neoliberal values and promotion of healthism (Lupton, 2012b, 2013a) or leading to monetisation of exercise (Till, 2014). While these studies have yielded important insights, they do not help us to understand what people actually do when they self-track, i.e. what practices self-tracking involves and how people engaged in self-tracking manage them. Guided by the STS approach that highlights the importance of observing the mundane practices and need to focus on technology users, this thesis explores the practices of everyday self-trackers. The exploration of the practices of self-tracking among the everyday self-trackers is based on 31 interviews with early mid-life individuals, who were mainly recruited from gyms and shared their self-tracking experience of using the MyFitnessPal calorie counting app. The analytical chapters answer three questions: What is self-tracking by calorie counting in the everyday like? How is self-tracking by calorie counting done? What are the practices through which self-tracking affects those engaged in it? To answer the first question, I juxtapose self-tracking goals, use and effects as they are represented in the literature on the QS to those of my participants. Doing this reveals that self-tracking in the everyday is perceived and done quite differently than the QS metaphor would allow us to believe. The goals of the participants are mundane (weight loss), they do not use the sophisticated features of the app and are not interested in the historical data, the effects of the app are not life-changing and temporary closely tied to the use of the app. This stands in contrast to QS metaphor where self-tracking is geared towards continuous self-improvement, driven by intricate data analysis and biohacking. To answer the second question, I focus on self-tracking by calorie counting with MyFitnessPal as a dieting practice. I explore how self-tracking affects the daily practices as well as is incorporated in participants lives. The users, thus, aim to find an approach to temporal aspects of tracking and precision that would fit most conveniently with their other daily practices. They manipulate their use of the app to accommodate any meals that are not in their usual dieting routine. This highlights that dieting through self-tracking is not a straightforward data collection and involves practical strategies and negotiations, and can both influence and be influenced by other everyday practices. The third question focuses on quantification, that is the production and communication of numbers (W. N. Espeland & Stevens, 2008, p. 402). Quantification has usually been discussed at institutional levels, in terms of government, science or, in the case of Espeland and Sauder s (W. N. Espeland & Sauder, 2007) seminal work, in terms of academic rankings. I adopt the insights from these studies to make sense of the quantification at the individual level using MyFitnessPal. I draw out two features of individual quantification that distinguish it from institutional one, mainly that quantification is done for oneself only and it relies on self-governance. Further, I outline how quantification affects such decisions as whether to eat, what to eat and how much to eat. Quantification also works as commensuration as participants compared different foods referring to their calorie value. However, unlike in the case of institutional quantification, individual quantification did not have to be accepted unquestionably and often other values of food would be weighted in relation to calories when participants made choices what to eat. Ultimately, this thesis contributes a new perspective on self-tracking as it explores the mundanity of it. It adds fine-grained insights into the everyday practices of self-tracking by adopting a novel analytical angle that centres on practices and by exploring a neglected user group of everyday self-trackers.

Equilab is a specific solution of a self-tracking application specially developed for the field of horse riding. The aim of the thesis is to study the effects of the application on already existing rider-horse relationship from the rider's perspective. The study examines human-horse relationships in history and today, considering the possibilities of Equilab and use of wearable electronics in animals. The qualitative research was based on structured interviews with open questions.

Technical advancements allow for increasingly sophisticated methods of self-tracking. Despite this, the ways in which we interact with our numerical representations seem not to have progressed equally, making it challenging to use the data in meaningful ways. This prevents us from making the most of self-tracking in order to facilitate a healthier lifestyle and self-improvement. In this study, we show how Dourish’s Embodied Interaction can motivate acting based on self-tracked data, with the example of walking. We conducted evaluations with experts and users of a software prototype that is built on the notion of embodiment. Based on the results, we draw a number of conclusions about the usefulness of Embodied Interaction in this area: That digital applications can support physical activity through providing context, motivation and feedback; that self-tracking applications should focus on goals rather than data; that motivation might be increased by placing the users efforts in a context that transcends them as individuals; and that Embodied Interaction offers a rich field of possibilities which are yet to be discovered.

In this dissertation, we discuss a reading profiling system, a biological data visualization system and a sports visualization system. Self-tracking is getting increasingly popular in the field of personal informatics. Reading profiling can be used as a personal data collection method. We present UUAT, an unintrusive user attention tracking system. In UUAT, we used user interaction data to develop technologies that help to pinpoint a users reading region (RR). Based on computed RR and user interaction data, UUAT can identify a readers reading struggle or interest. A biomarker is a measurable substance that may be used as an indicator of a particular disease. We developed CancerVis for visual and interactive analysis of cancer data and demonstrate how to apply this platform in cancer biomarker research. CancerVis provides interactive multiple views from different perspectives of a dataset. The views are synchronized so that users can easily link them to a same data entry. Furthermore, CancerVis supports data mining practice in cancer biomarker, such as visualization of optimal cutpoints and cutthrough exploration. Tennis match summarization helps after-live sports consumers assimilate an interested match. We developed TennisVis, a comprehensive match summarization and visualization platform. TennisVis offers chart- graph for a client to quickly get match facts. Meanwhile, TennisVis offers various queries of tennis points to satisfy diversified client preferences (such as volley shot, many-shot rally) of tennis fans. Furthermore, TennisVis offers video clips for every single tennis point and a recommendation rating is computed for each tennis play. A case study shows that TennisVis identifies more than 75% tennis points in full time match.

Topic of work is an impact of digital self-tracking technologies such as wearable fitness trackers and smartphone self-tracking applications on individual. With using the methodology of semi- structured interviews, conducted with students who are engaged in self-tracking and comparative discourse analysis, when data received from interviews were compared with healthy lifestyle discourse, manifested in Czech internet media portals, research question of "How self-trackers perceive the impact of the technology of self-tracking on their physical activities and lifestyle, respectively differentiated among themselves in terms of impact and usage of self-tracking technology, and to what extent they perceive it similarly to the way self- tracking is presented in Czech internet media portals?" was answered in a following way: respondents were categorized as 'engaged' and 'sportsmen' users, and their relation to discourse was not complete, although they were using a proposed by media conceptualization of healthy lifestyle. In addition, paper proposes a theoretical overview over a problem of self- tracking and discusses the possibilities for future research.

The topic of the work is an impact of digital self-tracking technologies such as wearable fitness trackers and smartphone self-tracking applications on an individual. I used the methodology of semi-structured interviews, conducted with students engaged in self-tracking and comparative discourse analysis, when data received from the interviews were compared with healthy lifestyle discourse, partly manifested in the Czech internet media portals. The research question of "How self-trackers perceive the impact of the technology of self-tracking on their physical activities and lifestyle, respectively differentiated among themselves in terms of impact and usage of self-tracking technology, and to what extent they perceive it similarly to the way self- tracking is presented in Czech internet media portals?" was answered in the following way: the participants were categorized as 'engaged' and 'sportspeople' users, and their relation to discourse was not complete, although they were using the conceptualization of a healthy lifestyle proposed by media. In addition, the work proposes a theoretical overview of the issue of self-tracking and discusses the possibilities for future research.

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