Shared motivations, goals and values in the practice of personal science: a community perspective on self-tracking for empirical knowledge

This paper investigates the motivations, goals, and values of individuals engaging in "personal science," a form of self-research and self-experimentation using self-tracking data. Through 22 semi-structured interviews with members of self-research communities, the study identifies intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, shared goals, and values aligned with citizen science and scientific ethos. Findings reveal that self-researchers are driven by a combination of improving health and well-being, enjoying data analysis and technological aspects, and contributing to empirical self-knowledge and community learning. The study concludes that personal science can be considered a specific type of citizen science, promoting a more participatory and inclusive scientific culture.

Enric Senabre Hidalgo, Mad P. Ball, Morgane Opoix, Bastian Greshake Tzovaras