By Greg Griffin, Ph.D., AICP, April 26, 2023
(Cross-posted on Strava.)
Those of us on this platform enjoy seeing and sharing each other's activities, perhaps inspired and connected by the distances and climbs we record as much as the photos, narratives, and now videos. Researchers are catching up to understand how to understand the richness of experience cannot be clearly identified by algorithms.
A new study by a Vancouver-area team based at Simon Fraser University shows that both quantitative and qualitative information from Strava was needed for "accurate, useful, and intuitive categories" (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/26349825231163140).
After downloading thousands of Strava running segments in the Vancouver area through the API, they attempted to use distances, elevation changes, and other quantitative measures to categorize segments, but better categories just resulted in more exceptions to the rules they came up with. When considering why athletes create and record on given segments, the research team found that qualitative categories (called 'codes' or 'labels') showed their application: "...the difference between these sorts of segments is not necessarily proximity or other easily measurable factors (as our previous quantitative efforts have partially revealed), but highly emotional and affective characteristics that lend themselves to a qualitative approach".
This is meaningful to those of us who think about the meaning of new platforms as much as we enjoy practical uses. Strava is not only useful for individuals but to understand more about where and why people get active outdoors. In this latest work, Strava is even a platform for understanding how culture and technology favoring "big data" approaches can miss what's most important about the human experience.
Runners: how do their codes of "urban, scenic, natural, grind, and track" connect with your experience? What do they miss?
I get excited about some of these new perspectives after having conducted some of the original research in transportation (https://osf.io/e3hbc/download) and health (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2014.12.001) with Strava. Since 2014, I've learned a lot in partnership with the company's work with the research community, and there's still a lot more to explore.
A new study by a Vancouver-area team based at Simon Fraser University shows that both quantitative and qualitative information from Strava was needed for "accurate, useful, and intuitive categories" (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/26349825231163140).
After downloading thousands of Strava running segments in the Vancouver area through the API, they attempted to use distances, elevation changes, and other quantitative measures to categorize segments, but better categories just resulted in more exceptions to the rules they came up with. When considering why athletes create and record on given segments, the research team found that qualitative categories (called 'codes' or 'labels') showed their application: "...the difference between these sorts of segments is not necessarily proximity or other easily measurable factors (as our previous quantitative efforts have partially revealed), but highly emotional and affective characteristics that lend themselves to a qualitative approach".
This is meaningful to those of us who think about the meaning of new platforms as much as we enjoy practical uses. Strava is not only useful for individuals but to understand more about where and why people get active outdoors. In this latest work, Strava is even a platform for understanding how culture and technology favoring "big data" approaches can miss what's most important about the human experience.
Runners: how do their codes of "urban, scenic, natural, grind, and track" connect with your experience? What do they miss?
I get excited about some of these new perspectives after having conducted some of the original research in transportation (https://osf.io/e3hbc/download) and health (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2014.12.001) with Strava. Since 2014, I've learned a lot in partnership with the company's work with the research community, and there's still a lot more to explore.
