Reality Commons

brought to you by the MIT Human Dynamics Lab

Friends and Family Dataset

The experiment was designed to study (a) how people make decisions, with emphasis on the social aspects involved, and (b) how we can empower people to make better decisions using personal and social tools. This dataset was collected by Nadav Aharony, Wei Pan, Cory Ip, Inas Khayal, and Alex Pentland in 2011. The citation for this data set is:

The subjects were members of a young-family residential living community adjacent to a major research university in North America. All members of the community are couples, and at least one of the members is affiliated with the university. The community is composed of over 400 residents, approximately half whom have children. A pilot phase of 55 participants was launched in March 2010. In September 2010, phase two of the study included 130 participants, approximately 64 families. Participants were selected out of approximately 200 applicants in a way that would achieve a representative sample of the community and sub-communities.