Behavioral data records what people do: their actions, interactions, and decisions. On a website or in an application, it may capture page views, clicks, or purchases. It can also include records such as sales or helpdesk tickets. Its value depends on the question: a record of action is useful only when that action helps measure the behavior you care about. section 2.1.2 section 6.2.1
Clickstream data is one type of behavioral data. It records activity and navigation within a website or application, potentially including the order of events in a session, time spent on pages, and elements clicked. These records help product and marketing teams examine usage patterns and support work such as A/B testing, attribution modeling, and website analytics. section 2.1.2
Table 6.1 Examples of self-report and behavioral data you may encounter at a software company
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Self-report data
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Behavioral data
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|---|---|
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Employee satisfaction survey
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User interaction logs (e.g., clicks, page views)
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User feedback survey on software features
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Time logs of employees on project management software
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Self-assessments of productivity
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Reports of software bugs or problems
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User surveys on software ease of use
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Version control history
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User biographies in the software
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Helpdesk ticket data
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The table places interaction logs, time logs, version-control history, and helpdesk tickets alongside self-report examples, making the distinction between recorded activity and user-provided responses concrete. section 6.2.1
A behavioral measure uses direct observation or a recorded action; a self-report measure uses information a person provides about themselves. The distinction matters when choosing evidence for a decision. A survey can assess perceived ease of use or satisfaction, while an interaction log can show recorded use. Neither automatically answers the other’s question. Behavioral measures can be direct and precise, but collecting them can require substantial setup and raise ethical or intrusiveness concerns. section 6.2.1 section 6.4
Measuring a workplace wellness program
To assess employee engagement or workplace stress, an analyst might examine available records of hours, project completion times, and deadlines alongside employee questionnaires. Before treating any recorded action as a measure of engagement, the analyst needs to ask whether the data has the right characteristics, how the sources can be connected, and whether the chosen measures are reliable and valid for the intended concepts. section 6.2.4 section 6.3.3
Start with the decision to be made, then identify an observable action that could inform it. Check what was captured, whether the record represents the intended behavior, and what a complementary self-report measure might add. When reporting findings, distinguish observed actions from inferred experiences and make collection costs and privacy concerns part of the measurement choice. section 6.2.1 section 6.2.4
