Alexander Wenz
Biographic Data
| ID | 3581216 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alexander Wenz |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alexander |
| FAMILY NAME | Wenz |
| SIGNATURE | WENZ A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Mannheim |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4621-2418 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 89 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 12 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Vox Populi, Vox AI? Using Large Language Models to Estimate German Vote Choice
“Synthetic samples” generated by large language models (LLMs) have been argued to complement or replace traditional surveys, assuming their training data is grounded in human-generated data that potentially reflects attitudes and behaviors prevalent in the population. Initial US-based studies that have prompted LLMs to mimic survey respondents found that the responses match survey data. However, the relationship between the respective target popu…
Measuring Smartphone Use
While digital technology use and skills have typically been measured with surveys, digital behavioral data that are passively collected from individuals’ digital devices have recently emerged as an alternative method of measuring technology usage patterns in a more unobtrusive and detailed way. In this paper, we evaluate how passively collected smartphone usage data compare to self-reported measures of smartphone use, considering the three usage …
Nonparticipation Bias in Accelerometer-Based Studies and the Use of Propensity Scores
Relatively little attention has been paid to the effects of nonparticipation on data quality in population-based studies that use accelerometers to measure physical activity. We examine these issues using data from the 2013 Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences (LISS) panel and 2013-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) accelerometer studies, both of which collected survey data in advance and therefore per…
Increasing the Acceptance of Smartphone-Based Data Collection
To study human behavior, social scientists are increasingly collecting data from mobile apps and sensors embedded in smartphones. A major challenge of studies implemented on general population samples, however, is that participation rates are rather low. While previous research has started to investigate the factors affecting individuals’ decision to participate in such studies, less is known about features of the study design which are under the…
Do you have your smartphone with you? Behavioral barriers for measuring everyday activities with smartphone sensors
The second-level smartphone divide
Smartphones have become one of the most frequently used devices for accessing the Internet. Although a growing body of research has examined the second-level digital divide with a focus on general Internet and digital media use, little is known about patterns of smartphone use and smartphone-related skills in the general population. This paper examines inequalities in the use of smartphone technology based on two nationally representative samples…
Health behaviors and mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic
A Review of Conceptual Approaches and Empirical Evidence on Probability and Nonprobability Sample Survey Research
There is an ongoing debate in the survey research literature about whether and when probability and nonprobability sample surveys produce accurate estimates of a larger population. Statistical theory provides a justification for confidence in probability sampling as a function of the survey design, whereas inferences based on nonprobability sampling are entirely dependent on models for validity. This article reviews the current debate about proba…
Covid‐19 policies in Germany and their social, political, and psychological consequences
Many policy analyses on COVID-19 have been focusing on what kind of policies are implemented to contain the spread of COVID-19. What seems equally important to explore are the social and political consequences of the confinement policies. Does the public support strict confinement policies? What are the social, political, and psychological consequences of the confinement policies? The question of how legitimate a policy is among the public is at …
The Covid-19 pandemic and subjective well-being
This paper provides a timely evaluation of whether the main COVID-19 lockdown policies – remote work, short-time work and closure of schools and childcare – have an immediate effect on the German population in terms of changes in satisfaction with work and family life. Relying on individual level panel data collected before and during the lockdown, we examine (1) how family satisfaction and work satisfaction of individuals have changed over the l…
The Effects of Personalized Feedback on Participation and Reporting in Mobile App Data Collection
Offering participants in mobile app studies personalized feedback on the data they report seems an obvious thing to do: Participants might expect an app to provide feedback given their experiences with commercial apps, feedback might motivate more people to participate in the study, and participants might be more motivated to provide accurate data so that the feedback is more useful to them. However, personalized feedback might lead participants …
Do Distractions During Web Survey Completion Affect Data Quality? Findings From a Laboratory Experiment
Web survey respondents are frequently distracted during survey completion, which potentially affects the quality of data they provide. This article reports on results from a laboratory experiment examining how distractions during web survey completion influence data quality. Participants were randomly assigned to experimental groups using a 2 (device type) × 3 (form of distraction) between-subject factorial design. They were asked to complete a w…
The Covid-19 pandemic and subjective well-being
This paper provides a timely evaluation of whether the main COVID-19 lockdown policies – remote work, short-time work and closure of schools and childcare – have an immediate effect on the German population in terms of changes in satisfaction with work and family life. Relying on individual level panel data collected before and during the lockdown, we examine (1) how family satisfaction and work satisfaction of individuals have changed over the l…
Covid‐19 policies in Germany and their social, political, and psychological consequences
Many policy analyses on COVID-19 have been focusing on what kind of policies are implemented to contain the spread of COVID-19. What seems equally important to explore are the social and political consequences of the confinement policies. Does the public support strict confinement policies? What are the social, political, and psychological consequences of the confinement policies? The question of how legitimate a policy is among the public is at …
Health behaviors and mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic
Do Distractions During Web Survey Completion Affect Data Quality? Findings From a Laboratory Experiment
Web survey respondents are frequently distracted during survey completion, which potentially affects the quality of data they provide. This article reports on results from a laboratory experiment examining how distractions during web survey completion influence data quality. Participants were randomly assigned to experimental groups using a 2 (device type) × 3 (form of distraction) between-subject factorial design. They were asked to complete a w…
Vox Populi, Vox AI? Using Large Language Models to Estimate German Vote Choice
“Synthetic samples” generated by large language models (LLMs) have been argued to complement or replace traditional surveys, assuming their training data is grounded in human-generated data that potentially reflects attitudes and behaviors prevalent in the population. Initial US-based studies that have prompted LLMs to mimic survey respondents found that the responses match survey data. However, the relationship between the respective target popu…
Increasing the Acceptance of Smartphone-Based Data Collection
To study human behavior, social scientists are increasingly collecting data from mobile apps and sensors embedded in smartphones. A major challenge of studies implemented on general population samples, however, is that participation rates are rather low. While previous research has started to investigate the factors affecting individuals’ decision to participate in such studies, less is known about features of the study design which are under the…
Measuring Smartphone Use
While digital technology use and skills have typically been measured with surveys, digital behavioral data that are passively collected from individuals’ digital devices have recently emerged as an alternative method of measuring technology usage patterns in a more unobtrusive and detailed way. In this paper, we evaluate how passively collected smartphone usage data compare to self-reported measures of smartphone use, considering the three usage …
Nonparticipation Bias in Accelerometer-Based Studies and the Use of Propensity Scores
Relatively little attention has been paid to the effects of nonparticipation on data quality in population-based studies that use accelerometers to measure physical activity. We examine these issues using data from the 2013 Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences (LISS) panel and 2013-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) accelerometer studies, both of which collected survey data in advance and therefore per…
The second-level smartphone divide
Smartphones have become one of the most frequently used devices for accessing the Internet. Although a growing body of research has examined the second-level digital divide with a focus on general Internet and digital media use, little is known about patterns of smartphone use and smartphone-related skills in the general population. This paper examines inequalities in the use of smartphone technology based on two nationally representative samples…
The Effects of Personalized Feedback on Participation and Reporting in Mobile App Data Collection
Offering participants in mobile app studies personalized feedback on the data they report seems an obvious thing to do: Participants might expect an app to provide feedback given their experiences with commercial apps, feedback might motivate more people to participate in the study, and participants might be more motivated to provide accurate data so that the feedback is more useful to them. However, personalized feedback might lead participants …
Do Distractions During Web Survey Completion Affect Data Quality? Findings From a Laboratory Experiment
Web survey respondents are frequently distracted during survey completion, which potentially affects the quality of data they provide. This article reports on results from a laboratory experiment examining how distractions during web survey completion influence data quality. Participants were randomly assigned to experimental groups using a 2 (device type) × 3 (form of distraction) between-subject factorial design. They were asked to complete a w…
A Review of Conceptual Approaches and Empirical Evidence on Probability and Nonprobability Sample Survey Research
There is an ongoing debate in the survey research literature about whether and when probability and nonprobability sample surveys produce accurate estimates of a larger population. Statistical theory provides a justification for confidence in probability sampling as a function of the survey design, whereas inferences based on nonprobability sampling are entirely dependent on models for validity. This article reviews the current debate about proba…
Covid‐19 policies in Germany and their social, political, and psychological consequences
Many policy analyses on COVID-19 have been focusing on what kind of policies are implemented to contain the spread of COVID-19. What seems equally important to explore are the social and political consequences of the confinement policies. Does the public support strict confinement policies? What are the social, political, and psychological consequences of the confinement policies? The question of how legitimate a policy is among the public is at …
The Covid-19 pandemic and subjective well-being
This paper provides a timely evaluation of whether the main COVID-19 lockdown policies – remote work, short-time work and closure of schools and childcare – have an immediate effect on the German population in terms of changes in satisfaction with work and family life. Relying on individual level panel data collected before and during the lockdown, we examine (1) how family satisfaction and work satisfaction of individuals have changed over the l…
The Effects of Personalized Feedback on Participation and Reporting in Mobile App Data Collection
Offering participants in mobile app studies personalized feedback on the data they report seems an obvious thing to do: Participants might expect an app to provide feedback given their experiences with commercial apps, feedback might motivate more people to participate in the study, and participants might be more motivated to provide accurate data so that the feedback is more useful to them. However, personalized feedback might lead participants …
Health behaviors and mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic
Do you have your smartphone with you? Behavioral barriers for measuring everyday activities with smartphone sensors
The second-level smartphone divide
Smartphones have become one of the most frequently used devices for accessing the Internet. Although a growing body of research has examined the second-level digital divide with a focus on general Internet and digital media use, little is known about patterns of smartphone use and smartphone-related skills in the general population. This paper examines inequalities in the use of smartphone technology based on two nationally representative samples…
Increasing the Acceptance of Smartphone-Based Data Collection
To study human behavior, social scientists are increasingly collecting data from mobile apps and sensors embedded in smartphones. A major challenge of studies implemented on general population samples, however, is that participation rates are rather low. While previous research has started to investigate the factors affecting individuals’ decision to participate in such studies, less is known about features of the study design which are under the…
Measuring Smartphone Use
While digital technology use and skills have typically been measured with surveys, digital behavioral data that are passively collected from individuals’ digital devices have recently emerged as an alternative method of measuring technology usage patterns in a more unobtrusive and detailed way. In this paper, we evaluate how passively collected smartphone usage data compare to self-reported measures of smartphone use, considering the three usage …
Nonparticipation Bias in Accelerometer-Based Studies and the Use of Propensity Scores
Relatively little attention has been paid to the effects of nonparticipation on data quality in population-based studies that use accelerometers to measure physical activity. We examine these issues using data from the 2013 Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences (LISS) panel and 2013-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) accelerometer studies, both of which collected survey data in advance and therefore per…
Vox Populi, Vox AI? Using Large Language Models to Estimate German Vote Choice
“Synthetic samples” generated by large language models (LLMs) have been argued to complement or replace traditional surveys, assuming their training data is grounded in human-generated data that potentially reflects attitudes and behaviors prevalent in the population. Initial US-based studies that have prompted LLMs to mimic survey respondents found that the responses match survey data. However, the relationship between the respective target popu…
Psychology (9 works) · Computer Science (8 works) · Medicine (7 works) · Applied Psychology (5 works) · Population (5 works) · Applied Psychology (4 works) · Internet privacy (4 works) · Social Psychology (4 works) · Statistics (4 works) · Survey Methodology and Nonresponse (4 works)