Scenario: A group of friends are drinking at the local pub, when one gets a cell phone call. He takes it in a quiet corner; nothing unusual.
But this isn't a "What's Up" call from a friend: It's a "What-are-you-doing-right-now?" call from an automated voice system programmed to collect data in real time, via cell phone, from participants enrolled in research studies on alcohol, marijuana and the situational factors that surround their use.
"This is an interesting and useful way to collect data," said Collins. "It eliminates the problems associated with study participants having to recall their behavior, and cell phones are ubiquitous with young people, who are our main targets in these studies. We capture their data right away. It's all computerized and stored immediately."
