Abstract
Swan surveys quantified self prediction techniques — personal biological and behavioural streams feeding forecasting, intervention, and discovery.
Swan, M. (2013). Big Data, 1(2), 85–99. DOI
Key findings
- Beyond tracking — Personal data aim at prediction, not dashboards for their own sake.
- Self-experiment loop — Individuals run n-of-1 trials — measure, intervene, re-measure.
- Biological discovery — Aggregated self-data can shift scientific questions — citizen-led hypotheses.
- Technique families — Regression, clustering, and anomaly detection appear in personal toolkits.
Limits
2013 Big Data review — field moved fast; some examples dated.
Application
When your tracker piles numbers without insight — the point is prediction and experiment, not collection alone. See Data selfie.