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Handbook of Research Methods for Studying Daily Life book cover

1st Edition

Handbook of Research Methods for Studying Daily Life

Edited By Matthias R. Mehl, Tamlin S. Conner Copyright 2012

    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.

    I. 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. Litt
    7. 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 the 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

    Biography

    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.

    "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, 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, The 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, University of Texas at Austin
    -Recommended. Upper-division graduates through faculty and professionals.--Choice Reviews, 10/1/2012
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