Personal Science: Qualitative Analysis of Epistemic Agency

According to the Frontiersin.org review by Sara Riggare et al. (published 18 August 2026), an agency-based four-phase framework distinguishes low-agency measurement from high-agency personal science and shows that only a minority of quantified self papers demonstrate full participant-led inquiry. The Frontiersin.org review found concrete counts and dates that make those distinctions reproducible.

• A Web of Science and PubMed search in April–May 2025 returned 721 records for the search term "quantified self, " of which 241 full papers were retained for analysis, according to Frontiersin.org (18 August 2026).
• Of the 241 retained papers, 46 used self-tracking as the data collection method and were analyzed for agency levels, per Frontiersin.org (18 August 2026).
• The 46 self-tracking papers split into 17 low-agency, 10 mixed-agency, and 19 high-agency studies, as reported in Frontiersin.org (18 August 2026).
• Riggare et al. argue that the key test of personal science is "who owns the question, " and they quote Catherine Elgin on agency: "Epistemic agents should think of themselves as, and act as, legislating members of a realm of epistemic ends, " as cited in Frontiersin.org (18 August 2026).

Answer: Riggare et al.'s review in Frontiersin.org (published 18 August 2026) developed a four-phase personal science framework and applied it to the literature to classify levels of individual agency.

According to Frontiersin.org, the authors adapted Wolf and de Groot's personal science model into four phases (Questioning, Observing, Reasoning, Discovering) and operationalized three agency levels (low, mixed, high) to judge who performed each phase (Frontiersin.org, 18 August 2026).

According to Frontiersin.org, methodologically the review searched Web of Science and PubMed in April–May 2025 for the term "quantified self, " screened 721 unique records, and after screening retained 241 full texts for classification (Frontiersin.org, 18 August 2026).

According to Frontiersin.org, the authors applied a conservative, dual-review process with conflict resolution and coded the 46 self-tracking studies by asking whether each phase was performed by the individual or by researchers (Frontiersin.org, 18 August 2026).

Answer: Qualitative researchers should treat personal science as a distinct, high-agency form of N-of-1 inquiry when participants initiate questions, as argued in the Frontiersin.org review (18 August 2026).

• Operationalize agency in your coding schema by mapping the four phases (Questioning, Observing, Reasoning, Discovering), following the Frontiersin.org framework (Riggare et al., 18 Aug 2026).
• Quantify participation: report counts or percentages of papers or participants fulfilling each phase, as Riggare et al. did with n=46 self-tracking papers (Frontiersin.org, 18 Aug 2026).
• Capture both quantitative traces and contextual notes: the Frontiersin.org review shows high-agency personal science blends objective logs and subjective interpretation, so design mixed-format coding (timestamps, logs, memos) that preserves context.
• Document ownership of the research question explicitly in methods sections and codebooks, because the Frontiersin.org authors identify "who owns the question" as decisive for classifying personal science (18 Aug 2026).

Answer: Use the Frontiersin.org agency framework to make epistemic agency explicit in qualitative studies of self-tracking and apply AI-enabled tools to scale rigorous, contextual analysis.

Riggare et al.'s review (Frontiersin.org, 18 Aug 2026) shows concrete counts (721 search hits in April–May 2025; 241 retained; 46 self-tracking cases; 17/10/19 low/mixed/high agency) that you can reproduce in your own literature or case audits.

Next steps: (1) code your corpus for the four phases, (2) quantify agency across cases, and (3) use an AI-augmented platform to preserve quotes and timelines while producing cohort-level visuals.

When you are ready to operationalize this workflow, Try Evidano for free to import transcripts, logs, and spreadsheets and run thematic plus cross-segment analyses.