Handbook of Research Methods for Studying Daily Life

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 CsikszentmihalyiI. Theoretical Background 1. Why Researchers Should Think “Real-World”: A Conceptual Rationale, Harry T. Reis 2. Why Researchers Should Think “Real-Time”: A Cognitive Rationale, Norbert Schwarz 3. 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 Collection 5. 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. Litt7. Computerized Sampling of Experience and Behavior, Thomas Kubiak and Katharina Krog 8. Daily Diary Methods, Kathleen C. Gunthert and Susan J. Wenze 9. 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. Müller 13. 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 Lischetzke 22. 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 Fields 27. 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

"If you want to study life as it is lived--and do it by the numbers--then this volume is for you. This invaluable reference presents the latest theories, methods, and topics, and will provide inspiration and guidance for students and seasoned researchers alike. Mehl and Conner have assembled a team of experts at the forefront of the field who demonstrate that naturalistic sampling methods have developed into powerful tools for studying all facets of the human condition. The chapters have that rare combination of conceptual sophistication and methodological precision, making this book indispensable for anyone who wants to investigate how people feel, think, and behave in the moment-to-moment rhythms of their lives."--Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD, University Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Northeastern University"This volume--more than any other book published in the last two decades--will change the field of psychology. Psychological scientists have long recognized that ultimately, if their research is to have any meaning, they must venture out of the lab to study psychological processes unfolding in the 'real world.' But until now there has not been a comprehensive resource to show them how. As the first complete, authoritative, and practical guide to studying daily life, this handbook is set to change the way research is done. Every behavioral scientist should own a copy."--Sam Gosling, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin"This is an excellent and timely work of extraordinary breadth. It is both a primer for those new to daily experience research and a valuable reference for experienced researchers. Coverage ranges from conceptual foundations to applications and statistical methods, with discussions of self-report and objective measures; hardware and software; and research design, execution, and analysis. Rich with practical tips, this is truly a handbook that researchers will want to have close at hand as they navigate this exciting area. The book would serve superbly as a text for a graduate seminar."--Saul Shiffman, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh"Over the last decades, as researchers focused on increasingly sophisticated but narrow methods and theories, many forgot that human beings live impressively complex lives outside the laboratory. In the real world, emotions, thinking patterns, biological activity, and social relationships are constantly interacting and changing in ways that are poorly understood. Some new sheriffs are in town. This remarkable handbook brings together some of the most innovative research in all of psychology, pointing to new ways of measuring natural behavior across a wide array of contexts. Expertly written and broad in scope, this book heralds a new generation of real-world research that will touch all of us in the years to come."--James W. Pennebaker, PhD, Regents Centennial Professor of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin -Recommended. Upper-division graduates through faculty and professionals.--Choice Reviews, 10/1/2012