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Assessing the Methods, Tools, and Statistical Approaches in Google Trends Research: Systematic Review
Amaryllis Mavragani1, Gabriela Ochoa1, Konstantinos P Tsagarakis2
1Department of Computing Science and Mathematics, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Journal of Medical Internet Research
|November 8, 2018
Summary
Google Trends data offers valuable insights into public health behaviors. However, its use in health-related forecasting remains underdeveloped, indicating a significant research gap.
Area of Science:
- Infodemiology and Public Health
- Big Data Analytics in Health
- Web-Based Data Analysis
Background:
- Web-based data analysis, or infodemiology, has become crucial for understanding public health issues.
- Google Trends is a widely utilized tool for accessing and analyzing online search data related to human behavior.
- This approach aids in assessing, predicting, and preventing health-related concerns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and analyze the methodologies, tools, and statistical approaches of Google Trends studies in health from 2006 to 2016.
- To provide an overview of Google Trends' utility in health research.
- To serve as a reference for future infodemiology research.
Main Methods:
- A systematic literature search was conducted on Scopus and PubMed using the term "Google Trends" (2006-2016).
- Studies were selected based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, focusing on health and medicine topics.
- Extracted papers were categorized by methodological approach: visualization, seasonality, correlations, forecasting, and modeling.
Main Results:
- All 109 reviewed papers utilized time series analysis; 104 included data visualization.
- Google Trends data was used for seasonality (23.1%), correlations (39.4%), and modeling (32.7%).
- A notable gap exists in the application of Google Trends for health-related predictions and forecasting (only 8.7% of studies).
Conclusions:
- Monitoring online search queries provides significant insights into human behavior.
- The field of infodemiology is rapidly expanding and offers access to previously unavailable data.
- Google Trends is a valuable tool for assessing behavioral changes and supporting future health research.
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