LHC Mobile Research Data Collection Application
BTM developed a bespoke tablet application to support Life History Calendar interviews for an international research project investigating belief and non-belief in Mauritius.
The challenge
A Brunel-led research project within the Explaining Atheism programme was investigating how experiences, material conditions and social contexts across people's lives contribute to religious belief and non-belief in Mauritius. The researchers planned to use Life History Calendar interviews to collect rich retrospective data from Hindus, Muslims and Christians. However, no suitable digital application existed to support this methodology in the field and at the scale required. The research team therefore needed a purpose-built tool that could make complex longitudinal interviews practical, consistent and efficient.
The solution
BTM assembled a large student development team, supported by academic experts, to design and build the Life History Calendar application from scratch within a demanding development period. The tablet-based system provided researchers with an interactive calendar for recording participants' life events alongside structured domains and interview questions. It also supported participant and survey management, assignment of surveys to interviewers, data upload and download, and voice recordings linked to interviews. Development was iterative, with the student team working closely with the researchers to resolve problems and adapt the application to the realities of field research.
The outcome
The application moved from development to field data collection within approximately six months. In Mauritius, eight research assistants used the system to interview 177 participants across the three target religious groups. The application enabled data from multiple interviewers to be collated immediately, reducing manual data-entry and processing requirements and helping the research team conduct a complex programme of Life History Calendar interviews within a matter of weeks. The project demonstrated BTM's ability to mobilise a substantial student team to transform a specialist academic research methodology into a practical, user-friendly digital research tool.
“We had a really good experience with the BTM. The students were skilled, very responsive to our queries, and got things done quickly on a tight timeline.”
