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Getting started with personal science (edit)

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:''This page is about how to get started with your own personal science project. See'' [[Help:Getting started with wiki syntax|Getting started with wiki syntax]] ''for details on how to use this wiki.''
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:''This page is about how to get started with your own personal science project. See'' [[Help:Getting started with wiki syntax|''Getting started with wiki syntax'']] ''for details on how to use this wiki.''
    
Getting started with [[personal science]] can feel intimidating as there are a lot of components to consider when trying to answer personal questions. This page tries to accumulate best practices and advice to help both newcomers and experienced personal scientists in thinking and designing their personal science efforts. It is based on years of experience of personal scientists and is a living guide, which means that you are invited to edit and improve this article as well.   
 
Getting started with [[personal science]] can feel intimidating as there are a lot of components to consider when trying to answer personal questions. This page tries to accumulate best practices and advice to help both newcomers and experienced personal scientists in thinking and designing their personal science efforts. It is based on years of experience of personal scientists and is a living guide, which means that you are invited to edit and improve this article as well.   
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* Creatively expressing oneself through data and visualizations
 
* Creatively expressing oneself through data and visualizations
 
* Wanting to learn a new skill
 
* Wanting to learn a new skill
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Also see a more detailed [[Reasons for and against self tracking and quantification|exploration of reasons for and against self-tracking and quantifying yourself]] and different [[Self Tracking, Disambiguation|communities that approach self-tracking from different angles]].
    
==== Framing a question ====
 
==== Framing a question ====
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There is no fixed "best" way to record any type of observations. Methods for recording data can be as simple as using a notebook in which one can enter all observations by hand, over using spreadsheet software like [[Excel]] or [[Google Sheets]] to the automatic recording of observations through devices like [[Wearables]]. More complex ways of recording data are not necessarily better than simpler approaches. Indeed, if a data recording protocol is too complex, it is more likely that one will not be able to do it consistently (see convenience above). One can also use a tool like [[Google Form]] to create a bespoke survey that one can fill out in regular intervals.  
 
There is no fixed "best" way to record any type of observations. Methods for recording data can be as simple as using a notebook in which one can enter all observations by hand, over using spreadsheet software like [[Excel]] or [[Google Sheets]] to the automatic recording of observations through devices like [[Wearables]]. More complex ways of recording data are not necessarily better than simpler approaches. Indeed, if a data recording protocol is too complex, it is more likely that one will not be able to do it consistently (see convenience above). One can also use a tool like [[Google Form]] to create a bespoke survey that one can fill out in regular intervals.  
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If one decides to use a wearable device or a specific mobile application for recording observations, it is important to check whether one can export and access all observations. If all data is stuck within a device or the data store of a manufacturer it might be impossible to use this data for a personal science project.  
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If one decides to use a wearable device or a specific mobile application for recording observations, it is important to check whether one can export and access all observations. If all data is stuck within a device or the data store of a manufacturer it might be impossible to use this data for a personal science project. If the tool in question has a page in the [[:Category:Tools|tools category]] one might find the answer there.  
    
=== When to record observations ===
 
=== When to record observations ===
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== Reasoning ==
 
== Reasoning ==
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Basically soon as one starts to record observations, one can start to reason about what one is seeing. There are myriads of ways to reason about data to gain insights from them, ranging from very simple to highly complex [[Statistical testing|statistical methods]] or [[Visualizing your Data|visualizations]]. This diversity of methods can make this step particularly daunting, but generally the majority of personal science projects that lead to interesting and meaningful insights do so using a range of simple methods to reason around the observations. This section gives some broad advice on things to consider when reasoning on personal science observations
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=== Establishing a baseline ===
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[[File:Lockdown-productivity.png|thumb|An example of a timeline visualization by [[User:Gedankenstuecke|Bastian Greshake Tzovaras]]. Red bars denote an external intervention that led to a change in observations. Observations have been summed up into daily totals for each category. ]]
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After establishing a personal science question and finding out how to collect observations it can be tempting to dive right into trying out any interventions ("let me drink less caffeine to see if my sleep improves", "How does diet X improve my weight loss", …). Before doing so it is advisable to collect enough data at a baseline before changing anything, as this will allow to compare the impact of any interventions against the "normal" state without any changes. Unless one has already recorded observations over a period of time to establish such a baseline, the start of a new personal science project is a good time to do so.
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How much observations are needed depends on the question one tries to answer and the frequency of the phenomenon in question. If one looks at events that happen quite frequently only a week or two of observations can be enough for a baseline, but when dealing with rarer events it might be necessary to record a longer baseline. If one has a lot of historical data available, it might also be necessary to not use all of it as a baseline but rather limit oneself to more recent observations, as the baseline might otherwise reflect historic trends, life changes (e.g. changes in job, location, …) and interventions which might bias it.
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=== Using a timeline ===
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A surprisingly effective way to reason about ones observations is looking at if and how they change over time as it can highlight patterns. While there are many ways to [[Visualizing your Data|visualize]] timeline data, for a start it might even be enough to just look at the observations one has recorded while they are in a spreadsheet, as in many cases this can already provide insights and facilitate reasoning about the observations. 
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If one decides to visualize the observations on a timeline there can be different strategies, depending on the granularity of the observations. If one recorded precise date & time information of events one can plot the data as it is or try to create bins that are easier to facilitate. For example, instead of visualizing each event on the timeline, one could sum them up into daily total values or averages. One does not need to be limited to creating daily bins, depending on the project and observations weekly or even monthly aggregates can be useful too. 
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[[File:Tweets-per-weekday.png|thumb|An example of a binning visualization by [[User:Gedankenstuecke|Bastian Greshake Tzovaras]]. Shown are the number of tweets send, binned by the day of the week, showing a drop of tweets during weekends.]]
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Timelines can also be useful when a personal science project includes doing an intervention and if one recorded data as a baseline. A timeline visualization can show if observations change after starting an intervention and if observations return back to the baseline after an intervention is stopped (see the first example visualization). 
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=== Binning observations ===
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Binning observations can be an effective way outside the use in timelines. Many phenomena are influenced not only by interventions but by rhythmic changes, either because of behaviour changes (e.g. the difference between weekdays and weekends, working hours etc.) or external factors (e.g. seasonal effects in relation to allergies). To investigate this it can be useful to bin observations according to such factors (see second example visualization).
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== Discovering ==
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In the personal science framework, the discovery stage focuses both on taking action following ones reasoning and on how to share the insights one has gained from doing a personal science project.
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=== Considerations when sharing insights ===
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Personal science projects take a first-person-stance by definition. Which means they are designed to answer a question for an individual or in some cases a small group of people (e.g. "Does this work '''for me'''? and "Does this work '''for us'''?"). As such, it is important to avoid the urge to make generalized claims that claim to work for everyone. These individual reports are valuable and useful.
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Furthermore, regardless of what a project is about, an honest account of what one did is important. Things that one tried and which did not fully work out are just as informative for others as the success stories.
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=== Where and how to share ===
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==== Show and Tell ====
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A common way of sharing insights from a self-research project within the personal science community are talks that follow the "Show & Tell" format, in which one presents a project along three main questions: 1. What did you do? 2. How did you do it? 3. What did you learn?
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This Wiki has a rich database of self-research projects that were presented at ''Quantified Self'' conferences or meetups over the years within the category [[:Category:Show and Tell|Show and Tell]] that can serve as inspiration.
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==== Keating Memorial ====
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Together, [[Open Humans]] and [[Quantified Self]] are organizing regular self-research meetings which happen every week and hold an annual online presentation event called the [[Keating Memorial]]. These weekly meetings provide a place to both share ones own self-research as well as discover what other people are doing research on.
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==== Sharing a project on the Wiki ====
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One can create a project page on this wiki within the [[:Category:Projects|Projects category]]. These pages can be free-form and can be used throughout the different stages of a personal science project, from the initial brainstorming to final reasoning steps.
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== Getting help ==
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This wiki collects knowledge on self-research [[:Category:Topics|topics]], [[:Category:Tools|tools]] used for personal science, as well as [[:Category:People|personal scientists]] and their [[:Category:Projects|projects]], with the goal of supporting people in developing and implementing their own self-research. Additionally, there are [[Personal Science Community Meet Ups|weekly self-research chats]] that take place each Thursday at 10am Pacific / 7pm Central European time, which provide a way to share self-research projects and get feedback and help.
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The forum of Quantified Self is another place where one can ask for advice and help<ref><nowiki>https://forum.quantifiedself.com/</nowiki></ref>.
    
== References ==
 
== References ==
 
<references />
 
<references />
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[[Category:Topics]][[Category:Experiment design]][[Category:Data analysis]]
Retrieved from "https://wiki.openhumans.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/3803...6540"

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