Request for participation in “Our Neighborhood Walk” research study

Midvale Heights residents that walk their dogs, are being invited to participate in a research project by Dr. Jonathan Nelson and PhD student Alton Hipps from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Geography Department.

The “'Our Neighborhood Walk” research study investigates the role of GPS-based personal data tracking technologies and interactive story maps in creating and understanding the co-constructed sense-of-place experienced between pet guardian and companion dog while walking together. Specifically, this research study employs a mixed methods approach to collecting, analyzing, and visualizing data collected by pet guardians and their companion dogs to unlock new insights into how humans and canines collectively and individually perceive the built and natural environment while walking together.

This research is being conducted by Dr. Jonathan Nelson and PhD student Alton Hipps from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Geography Department. To be eligible for the study, participants must be 18 years of age or older, speak fluent English, own a smartphone or tablet with a geo-enabled camera, and provide guardianship to at least one dog that they walk on a regular or semi-regular basis.

The study consists of three parts:

1. Onboarding Questionnaire in which participants are introduced to study aims/procedures and asked to share background information about themselves, their companion dogs, walking environments/routines, and experience using maps and personal tracking technologies (no more than 10 minutes to complete online).
2. Field Study in which participants collect a combination of qualitative (e.g., photographs and survey responses) and quantitative data (e.g., GPS traces and heart rate) during a typical dog walk to assess elements of the built and natural environment that they believe influence their personal wellbeing, may influence the well-being of their companion dogs, and make these public spaces more or less conducive for dog walking (no more than 1.5 hours to complete).
3. Concluding Questionnaire in which participants receive an interactive storymap recreating their neighborhood walking experience and are asked to: (a) draft a short reflective essay in response to a series of questions assessing the extent to which the map causes new insights into the places experienced by both pet guardians and their companion dogs while walking together and (b) rate how well twenty one indicators of map trust and design describe the resulting interactive storymap (no more than 30 minutes to complete online).

Participation in this study is voluntary.

If you have questions about the study, please email the Principal Investigator, Jonathan Nelson at and/or Co-Investigator Alton Hipps at .

If you agree to participate, please select the "I agree" button below to advance to the onboarding questionnaire. The first page of the questionnaire will be an information sheet where you can consent to participating in the study.

"I Agree" (links to consent and onboarding questionnaire)