Diary Methods: Capturing Life as it is Lived

“The perils of retrospection have been reviewed elsewhere (e.g., Nisbett & Wilson 1977, Ross 1989, Tourangeau et al. 2000).”

“Techniques for studying people in their real life cover a wide range of assessment methods, such as diary methods (e.g., Bolger et al., 2003), experience sampling method (ESM; e.g., Hektner et al., 2007), ambulatory assessment (e.g., Conner & Mehl, 2015; Trull & Ebner-Priemer, 2013), or the…”

“in the present moment and thus avoid potential memory bias that is associated with retrospectively rating one’s experiences over prolonged periods of time (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“With this focus on employee proactivity in the off-job domain, we provide a novel bottom-up perspective on how employees may pro-actively achieve recovery from work stress in “life as it is lived” off the job (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“In line with Schnauber-Stockmann and Karnowski (2020), we distinguish between diary studies and those that employ the experience sampling method (ESM) (see also Bolger et al., 2003).”

“Finally, while the use of a daily diary study approach helped us to capture the employees’ experiences at work as it is lived (Bolger et al., 2003), including its fluctuations from day to day and with little retrospective bias, the way we measured the observation of conflicts has also some…”

“A consequence of this awareness of audience is that diaries do not represent a straightforward ‘window’ into participants’ worlds (as suggested by Bolger et al. (2003)), and that while researcher influence may be reduced in comparison to other methods, the researcher is still present to an extent…”

“Trait measures may indeed fail to capture intra‐individual variability, whereas a diary or week‐to‐week approach that measures real‐life worrying and well‐ being across multiple time points does allow for an assessment of state‐like variations across time (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“…intrusions as (or close to the time) they occur (Holmes et al., 2004, 2009, 2010), in real‐time (Palmier‐Claus et al., 2011), have been developed (see Bolger et al., 2003; Bolger & Laurenceau, 2013; Iida et al., 2012 for a review of the applications of diary methods; see also Rattel et al., 2019).”

“…of day-to-day variability in disruptions to care and school arrangements during Fall 2020; in order to match the time scale of family life, capture daily variation in context and behavior, and investigate the proximal processes connecting disruptions to child behavior (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“Event-contingent audio diaries were also utilised as a supportive data collection method (Bolger, Davis, and Rafaeli 2003; Hislop et al. 2005).”

“Having a dedicated platform for digital diaries that uses mobile communications technology also reduces the risk of losing data from devices malfunctioning or being misplaced (Bolger et al., 2003); however, data continuity and confidentiality are key issues with mobile phones.”

“One of the key promises of EMA studies is to “captur[e] life as it is lived” (Bolger et al., 2003), which includes variation across different contexts, situations, or activities.”

“In research projects, research diaries are a specific method which can be used to help participants report experiences narratively (Bolger et al. 2003).”

“These methods include, Diary study [6, 9, 17, 23, 31, 39, 64] and Experience Sampling Method (ESM) (or the equivalent Ecological Momentary Assessment) [19, 22, 43, 68].”

“An appropriate approach for this goal is diary report methods (Bolger et al., 2003; Esposito et al., 2005), which are used to study individuals' behavior on repeated measurements over a pre-defined period (ranging from days to months; Lischetzke, 2014).”

“All items in the daily experience procedure were assessed with one item each to minimize participant fatigue and attrition (Bolger et al., 2003), rated on a 7-point scale (0 = not at all to 6 = very much ).”

“We assessed the constructs of interest using truncated versions of the measures or the most representative single item from well-validated scales to keep the survey as brief as possible to reduce fatigue, increase efficiency, and minimize participant attrition (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“Including diary day in the model adjusted for the possibility that factors such as habituation can influence how individuals complete diary materials over time (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“Excellent models exist of studies using time-based daily diary methods to enhance the accuracy of repeated mood and physical symptom self-reports (e.g. Bolger et al., 2003).”

“This technique offers the advantage of intercepting and modifying the incoming data before it is rendered on the page, minimizing the need for direct interaction with the page interface.”

“To achieve such a purpose, it could be valuable for scholars to understand (a) differences between coach-parent interactions and relationships to avoid methodological inconsistencies; (i.e. using longitudinal approaches, such as the Daily Life Methods (Bolger et al., 2003), to adjust the research sensitive to the pare…”

“Given the longitudinal nature of the study, single-item measures were used to maximize participant retention and minimize fatigue (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“Texting logs allow researchers to examine the timing and content of interactions as they occur in everyday life, address the lack of ecological validity present in laboratory interaction studies, and eliminate recall biases associated with self-report measures (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“Research on daily stressors has almost exclusively depended on self-report data from daily diary or momentary sampling studies (e.g., Almeida, 2005; Bolger et al., 2003).”

“Our study used a daily diary and assessed communication information at the end of each day, which can minimize memory biases because of the proximity in time of the recalled experience and frequency of usage (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“The diary study is a contextual inquiry in which participants reflect on experiences in written form over an extended period of time, ranging from a few days to weeks (or longer) [8, 34].”

“Clear definition and understanding are essential for obtaining good data (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“We tested these hypotheses using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), an intensive longitudinal method that repeatedly measures constructs in daily life (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“In ESM, some devices, such as handheld computers and smartphones, are often used for repeatedly collecting data from participants’ daily lives [45, 46].”

“In comparison to longer-term retrospective recall (e.g., over a period of a month or year), objective events and subjective sentiments are less prone to recall biases when asked towards the end of the day or even the next day (Bolger et al., 2003; Freedman et al., 2014).”

“In recent decades, intensive longitudinal data (ILD) obtained through methods such as daily diaries (Bolger et al., 2003) and ecological momentary assessments (EMA; Smyth & Stone, 2003) have been widely used to reveal dynamic processes within individuals over time.”

“Moreover, it increases research reliability by reducing retrospection bias; naturally, the time elapsed between an event and its record remains relatively short (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“During the following week, participants chose two days on which to complete a short diary task; these time intervals were designed to strike a balance between collecting enough data, whilst not being too intrusive or onerous for participants [55,56].”

“Daily diary methods excel at capturing dynamic variations in ecologically valid contexts (Bolger et al., 2003; Newman & Stone, 2019; Nezlek, 2012).”

“Second, using diaries can minimize retrospection (and its problems, see Bolger et al., 2003: 580), if an account of an experienced event is written chronologically close to the actual experience of the event.”

“Zoom diaries are a particular kind of qualitative longitudinal research method (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“Such reports capture the dynamic nature of daily interactions more accurately than the more conventionally used retrospective, static assessments (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“The diary method was selected owing to its ability to capture reflective thoughts and subjective experiences in natural environments [9].”

“People’s daily language habits profoundly reflect their psychological world (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“A combination of time-and event-based diary design was used (Bolger, Davis, and Rafaeli 2003).”

“(2012), participants completed a daily diary protocol (Bolger et al. 2003) for 15 consecutive days.”

“Yet, we were aware that because of a time lag between the occurrence of an event and reflection on it, the accounts provided in interviews could be colored by retrospective sensemaking (Bolger, Davis, and Rafaeli, 2003; Rouse, 2013).”

“Indeed, authors have written about such issues related to daily diary designs, yet the discussions largely surround the types of RQs that can be asked, participant burden, and associations with the type of data collected and associated analyses (see Bolger et al., 2003; Iida et al., 2012).”

“For example, to account for the daily variability in the condition of interest, daily assessment is often summarized over a time period such as a week by taking the mean of all assessments in that week [13].”

“It has been pointed out that these two types of UX evaluation require participants’ dedication over time [14], with assessments typically spanning intervals ranging from a few days to a month or more.”

“Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) encompasses a set of intensive longitudinal methodologies employed to identify and describe the interplay of situational or contextual factors on participants’ thoughts, emotions, and behavior (Bolger, Davis, & Rafaeli, 2003).”

“The goal of the present study was to examine the temporal dynamics between worry about and occupation with COVID-19 using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM; see Bolger et al., 2003; Larson & Csikszentmihalyi, 2014).”

“Other methodologies, including daily dairies studies (Bolger et al. 2003; Barta et al. 2012), or ecological momentary assessment (Murray et al. 2022), represent useful data collection methods that might offer a finer understanding of these relationships beyond trait‐based measures.”

“This method allows participants to record real-life scenarios over time, offering insights from their perspective and tracking changes in their engagement patterns (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“We chose the diary study method in order to capture otherwise mundane and easily forgettable actions participants might take throughout the day [3, 50].”

“First, we focus on introducing a feasible research methodology that can address challenges for HCI Outdoors, the diary study [10, 40, 73].”

“Namely, because people provide frequent reports on the ”important” events and experiences of their daily lives, personal diaries offer a unique window on human phenomenology [35].”

“Second, ratings collected through EMA are more ecologically valid than traditional surveys since they can include information on contextual factors that may influence ratings [11,12].”

“To capture experiences with Equi in an as timely manner as possible, participants were provided with a smartphone to record their experiences with Equi via voice recording [3].”

“Compared with the interview, the diary method can help researchers collect dynamic and real-time data from respondents, effectively shorten the time interval of recall, reduce the risk of retrospective bias, and ensure the authenticity of research results [44,45].”

“, data can be collected in daily life at low cost, participants can fill out the reading diary easily whenever and wherever they want, a better control of the timing and reliability of the entries, and finally a higher compliance (Bolger et al., 2003; Fahrenberg et al., 2007).”

“One promising methodological approach to address the blind spots previous studies have left behind, are diary studies (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“Constructs of interest were measured using truncated versions of primary measures for the purpose of brevity and in order to lessen participant fatigue and attrition (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“To ascertain the temporal effects of the daily behaviors, the study used the lagging approach to create a one-day lagged version of the daily constructs (Bolger et al., 2003).”

“Maintaining ongoing personal contact will therefore be important as this retains participants more than monetary incentives or dependence upon goodwill towards science [45].”

“In our methodology, we used event-based triggers, where the events were defined by acoustic parameters rather than having participants try to determine whether a specific event has occurred, which may be a problem if the event cannot be clearly defined for participants (Bolger et al. 2003).”

“In addition, following the recommendations for analyzing diary data [53] and in accordance with prior diary studies [54], we controlled for the previous day’s measures of gratitude and ego depletion (i.”

“…between the time-lagged values of the variables) from the simultaneous part (i.e. the relationships between the contemporaneous variables), the model enables inferences about the temporal order of the effects, also known as Granger causality (Rosmalen et al., 2012; Brandt and Williams, 2006).”