Research Project

Using Big Data to Analyze Interaction Barriers

Research Team

Lead Researchers:

Dr. Li Liu, College of Engineering and Computer Science

Collaborators:

Scott Davidoff

Student Team:

Jaime Garcia, College of Arts, Media, & Communication, College of Engineering & Computer Science
Summayah Waseem, College of Engineering & Computer Science

Funding

Funding Organization:
Funding Program:

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to validate any observed relations between environmental factors and participation as well as suggest instrument development, all of which will be grounded in the first-hand experiences of user-generated data.

Motivation/Research Problem

Participation restrictions are created when people encounter barriers in their physical, sociocultural, political, and economic environments that must be overcome to improve participation outcomes, and therefore the quality of life. Research suggests that environmental factors can either disable or enable full participation to the same degree or more than the individual impairment or function.

Research Questions and Research Objectives

The goal of our research is to improve human-technology interaction through a systematic analysis of their videos, regardless of specific disabilities. We hope to highlight gaps within the themes of IT access and assistive technologies at the micro (individual) level from which future research and technologies can be proposed. Our research impetus can be encapsulated by one fundamental question: what are some of the most common barriers for people with disabilities, and how can they be successfully overcome?

Research Methods

Our project is a constant comparative, qualitative and quantitative analyses of transcripts from a focus group of community-dwelling people with diverse disabilities (within the categories of hearing, visual, speech, mobility, cognitive & neural, and other health impairments) primarily from the United States but also from other English-speaking countries. Our focus group consists of hundreds of video channel content creators documenting their experiences in home, community, work, and social participation settings. The main outcome measures of our research are environmental barriers/supports to individual participation using statistical and big data analytical methods.

Research Deliverables and Products

Publications

Research Timeline

Publications are expected in late 2022 and 2023.