%0 Journal Article
%T Linking GPS and travel diary data using sequence alignment in a study of children's independent mobility
%A Suzanne Mavoa
%A Melody Oliver
%A Karen Witten
%A Hannah M Badland
%J International Journal of Health Geographics
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1476-072x-10-64
%X GPS and travel diary data obtained from a study of children's independent mobility were linked using sequence alignment algorithms to test the proof of concept. Travel diaries were assessed for quality by counting the number of errors and inconsistencies in each participant's set of diaries. The success of the sequence alignment method was compared for higher versus lower quality travel diaries, and for accompanied versus unaccompanied trips. Time taken and percentage of trips matched were compared for the sequence alignment method and the manual method.The sequence alignment method matched 61.9% of all trips. Higher quality travel diaries were associated with higher match rates in both the sequence alignment and manual matching methods. The sequence alignment method performed almost as well as the manual method and was an order of magnitude faster. However, the sequence alignment method was less successful at fully matching trips and at matching unaccompanied trips.Sequence alignment is a promising method of linking GPS and travel diary data in large population datasets, especially if limitations in the trip detection algorithm are addressed.Global positioning systems (GPS) are increasingly used in health research to determine the location of study participants. Despite the utility of GPS in providing objective information about where participants travel and at what time, it does not reveal the purpose or meaning of their movement; what they were doing, who they were with, or why they were in that location. Therefore, in most health related studies GPS data is combined with other datasets that provide additional information about the participants, their behaviour and their immediate environment. For example, GPS data is commonly augmented with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data to identify and characterise locations visited. GPS data can also be linked with data collected using mobile monitors such as accelerometers and air pollution monitors to provide spat
%K GPS
%K travel diaries
%K sequence alignment
%U http://www.ij-healthgeographics.com/content/10/1/64