Dissertation Proposal Defense - Li Zeng
You are cordially invited to join us for the Dissertation Proposal Defense of Li Zeng, to be held on Wednesday, April 18, beginning at 10 a.m. in Husky Union Building Room 238. Below, you will find the dissertation proposal abstract and the Supervisory Committee.
Title: Connecting, Interacting and Engaging: Examining Social Interaction Dynamics and Fitness Behaviors in an Online Fitness Community
Abstract:
Physical activity is known to provide important and wide-ranging physical and mental benefits. However, a large proportion of the world population fails to achieve recommended levels of physical activity. With the development of pervasive technology, increasing attention has been paid to promoting positive fitness behaviors through social interaction mechanisms in online fitness communities. Online fitness communities log activity-related data and help users analyze their performance. Online fitness communities also serve as an activity-based network that connects users, providing them with social interaction features meant to encourage behavioral change and healthy life-style promotion. However, limited work has comprehensively investigated the associations between various social interaction mechanisms and fitness behaviors in these online communities. Further, online fitness communities capture information on physical activities as well as peer-to-peer interactions at larger scale and lower cost. Such behavioral trace data allow researchers to observe how individuals really engage in physical activity and social interaction, rather than how they report on their participation. Therefore, utilizing a large-scale behavioral trace dataset collected from an online fitness community Strava, this dissertation aims at addressing one core question - how social interaction dynamics are associated with people's fitness behaviors in online fitness communities? This work will deepen the understandings of social interaction and fitness behavior as well as provide new insights into health promotion and intervention.
Supervisory Committee:
- Emma Stuart Spiro, Chair
- Joshua Blumenstock, Member
- Robert Mason, Member
- Gary Hsieh, GSR