« Records, self-monitoring and everyday data practices »

Summary :

Records, self-monitoring and everyday data practices

Kate Weiner (University of Sheffield) and Catherine Will (University of Sussex)

In this presentation we discuss everyday practices of self-monitoring focussing particularly on record keeping, charting and visualising. We draw on a study focussed on 2 cases: blood pressure monitoring and BMI/weight monitoring. Looking across the range and combinations of digital and paper records people create and keep, we ask what is being made visible and to whom? We are interested in the meaning of records made as well as those misplaced, forgotten or discarded, and readings not taken or recorded. We are also interested in practices of sharing in different ways. In our research we find people who keep no records, or make records but do not review them, and instances where people do not record unwanted or disappointing readings. We note also the continued role of paper charts and records even for those who track digitally. In thinking about what is made visible through everyday tracking practices we extend the notion of 'filtration work' (Nielsen, 2015) to include not only what data is shared with others, but also which data is committed to record at all.  Further, in trying to understand instances where numbers are unremarkable, not recorded or reviewed, we pursue the idea that monitoring may provide information to be consumed rather than data to be tracked (Knorr Cetina, 2010). In elaborating what is and is not made visible in the local settings of health monitoring, we offer insights into what might remain inaccessible to clinicians and to companies in the digital economy.

Kate Weiner, Lecturer in Sociology, Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield.

Kate works at the intersection of medical sociology and science and technology studies. She is interested in the construction of biomedical knowledge and the interplay between lay and professional knowledge, user-technology relations, and health identities and responsibilities. Kate has undertaken research in the areas of genetics, heart disease and patient’s organisations. She is increasingly interested in consumer health technologies.

Catherine Will, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Sussex.

Catherine works on health technology, practices and participation drawing on theory from Science and Technology Studies and sociology. She is particularly interested in knowledge production - how people experiment or develop their understanding of their world - and the moments when knowledge claims are linked with the negotiation of standards or policies, but also seeks to explore situations that are more about caring and doing than knowing.