Handbook of Research Methods for Studying Daily Life

Bringing together leading authorities, this unique handbook reviews the breadth of current approaches for studying how people think, feel, and behave in everyday environments, rather than in the laboratory. The volume thoroughly describes experience sampling methods, diary methods, physiological measures, and other self-report and non-self-report tools that allow for repeated, real-time measurement in natural settings. Practical guidance is provided to help the reader design a high-quality study, select and implement appropriate methods, and analyze the resulting data using cutting-edge statistical techniques. Applications across a wide range of psychological subfields and research areas are discussed in detail.

Matthias R. Mehl, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Arizona. He received his doctorate in social and personality psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. Over the last decade, he developed the electronically activated recorder (EAR) as a novel methodology for the unobtrusive naturalistic observation of daily life. He has given workshops and published numerous articles on novel methods for studying daily life. Dr. Mehl is a founding member and the current Vice President of the Society for Ambulatory Assessment.

Tamlin S. Conner, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Otago in New Zealand. She received her doctorate in social psychology from Boston College and completed postdoctoral training in health and personality psychology at the University of Connecticut Health Center. She has published numerous articles on the theory and practice of experience sampling; is a leading expert on ambulatory self-report techniques; and conducts research on well-being, emotions, and the science of self-report. Dr. Conner is a founding member and current executive committee member of the Society for Ambulatory Assessment.

Foreword, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
I. Theoretical Background

1. Why Researchers Should Think “Real-World”: A Conceptual Rationale, Harry T. Reis2. Why Researchers Should Think “Real-Time”: A Cognitive Rationale, Norbert Schwarz3. Why Researchers Should Think “Within-Person”: A Paradigmatic Rationale, Ellen L. Hamaker 4. Conducting Research in Daily Life: A Historical Review, Peter Wilhelm, Meinrad Perrez, and Kurt Pawlik II. Study Design Considerations and Methods of Data Collection5. Getting Started: Launching a Study in Daily Life, Tamlin S. Conner and Barbara J. Lehman 6. Measurement Reactivity in Diary Research, William D. Barta, Howard Tennen, and Mark D. Litt
7. Computerized Sampling of Experience and Behavior, Thomas Kubiak and Katharina Krog 8. Daily Diary Methods, Kathleen C. Gunthert and Susan J. Wenze9. Event-Contingent Recording, D. S. Moskowitz and Gentiana Sadikaj 10. Naturalistic Observation Sampling: The Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR), Matthias R. Mehl and Megan L. Robbins 11. Ambulatory Psychoneuroendocrinology: Assessing Salivary Cortisol and Other Hormones in Daily Life, Wolff Schlotz 12. Bridging the Gap between the Laboratory and the Real World: Integrative Ambulatory Psychophysiology, Frank H. Wilhelm, Paul Grossman, and Maren I. Müller13. Ambulatory Assessment of Movement Behavior: Methodology, Measurement, and Application, Johannes B. J. Bussmann and Ulrich W. Ebner-Priemer 14. Passive Telemetric Monitoring: Novel Methods for Real-World Behavioral Assessment, Matthew S. Goodwin 15. Emerging Technology for Studying Daily Life, Stephen S. Intille III. Data-Analytic Methods 16. Power Analysis for Intensive Longitudinal Studies, Niall Bolger, Gertraud Stadler, and Jean-Philippe Laurenceau 17. Psychometrics, Patrick E. Shrout and Sean P. Lane 18. A Guide for Data Cleaning in Experience Sampling Studies, Kira O. McCabe, Lori Mack, and William Fleeson 19. Techniques for Analyzing Intensive Longitudinal Data with Missing Values, Anne C. Black, Ofer Harel, and Gregory Matthews 20. Multilevel Modeling Analyses of Diary-Style Data, John B. Nezlek 21. Structural Equation Modeling of Ambulatory Assessment Data, Michael Eid, Delphine S. Courvoisier, and Tanja Lischetzke22. Analyzing Diary and Intensive Longitudinal Data from Dyads, Jean-Philippe Laurenceau and Niall Bolger 23. Investigating Temporal Instability in Psychological Variables: Understanding the Real World as Time Dependent, Ulrich W. Ebner-Priemer and Timothy J. Trull 24. Modeling Nonlinear Dynamics in Intraindividual Variability, Pascal R. Deboeck 25. Within-Person Factor Analysis: Modeling How the Individual Fluctuates and Changes across Time, Annette Brose and Nilam Ram 26. Multilevel Mediational Analysis in the Study of Daily Lives, Noel A. Card IV. Research Applications: Perspectives from Different Fields27. Emotion Research, Adam A. Augustine and Randy J. Larsen 28. Close Relationships, Shelly L. Gable, Courtney L. Gosnell, and Thery Prok 29. Personality Research, William Fleeson and Erik E. Noftle 30. Cross-Cultural Research, William Tov and Christie Napa Scollon 31. Positive Psychology, Jaime L. Kurtz and Sonja Lyubomirsky 32. Health Psychology, Joshua M. Smyth and Kristin E. Heron 33. Developmental Psychology, Joel M. Hektner 34. Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Daniel J. Beal 35. Clinical Psychology, Timothy J. Trull, Ulrich W. Ebner-Priemer, Whitney C. Brown, Rachel L. Tomko, and Emily M. Scheiderer 36. Psychiatry, Inez Myin-Germeys