Abstract
As the mobile phone data (CDR data) has gained an increasing interest in research, such as social science, transportation, urban informatics, and big data, this study aims at examining the representativeness of the CDR data in terms of resemblance of the actual population density distribution from three perspectives; operator’s market share, urban-rural user population ratio, and user gender ratio. The results reveal that the representativeness of the data does not scale at the same rate with the operator’s market share, the urban-rural user population ratio of 80:20 can best represent the population density distribution, and an equal mixture of male and female user population can best resemble the population density distribution. This study is the first investigation into the representativeness of the CDR data. The findings provide useful information, which can serve an insightful guideline when dealing with the CDR data.
Highlights
Today, a mobile phone is not just a communication device anymore
The population density distribution across all districts was used as a measure of representativeness of Call Detail Records (CDR) to the actual population
Mobile phone data (CDR) has a great advantage over the traditional human behavioral datasets, such as national travel survey, household survey, and traffic count, that are typically cSyntax Warning: Invalid Font Weight ollected through questionnaires and interviews, which are expensive and time-consuming, as well as inaccurate as it may be based on recalling past activities, while CDRs provide longitudinal real-life behavioral data
Summary
A mobile phone is not just a communication device anymore. It has evolved significantly over the past few years with its additional advanced sensing technologies and useful features for handheld use, which makes it an indispensable part of our everyday lives. When connecting to the cellular network for voice, short. message (SMS), or data services, communication logs are collected by the telecom service providers for billing purposes, in forms of the Call Detail Records (CDR) where each record contains a timestamp, corresponding communication activity (e.g., voice, SMS, or data), and location of the connected cellular tower. Each time when the user connects for the cellular service, the user’s communication and location information are recorded. CDRs constitute a longitudinal behavioral data that can be analyzed methodically to reveal and understand variety aspects of human behavior at different aggregate levels both in time and space
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
