Experience sampling

Definition

Experience sampling or experience sampling method (ESM) refer to set of techniques to capture people's behaviors, thoughts, or feelings as they occur in real-time. This would include "naïve" accounts of critical events but also more "processed" representations.

Citation from Tamilin Conner's Experience Sampling Resource Page:

Originally, the term ESM was used to refer to a particular technique involving random signaling of participants during their daily lives, although today ESM is sometimes used more broadly to refer to any procedure that has three qualities -- assessment of experiences in natural settings, in real-time (or close to the occurrence of the experience being reported), and on repeated time occasions. As such, reports can be made in response to a random signal (e.g., emitted by a pager or PDA), at pre-determined times during the day (e.g., daily diary) or following particular events (e.g., interaction with a loved one). Some people refer to ESM in the strict sense (to refer to random signaling sampling), others in the general sense.

Experience sampling is a popular methodology in flow research and according to Conner it was Larson & Csikszentmihalyi (1983) who coined the term experience sampling method.

Links

1. Experience Sampling Resource Page. This website provides a starting point for researchers interested in conducting their own computerized experience sampling study. Includes pointers to software.
2. Experience Sampling Methods: the Theory and Practice of Measuring Behavior In Situ by T. Conner, Boston Colledge (| Slides in PDF format). (DSchneider likes this introduction).

References

• Conner Christensen, T., Feldman Barrett, L., Bliss-Moreau, E., Lebo, K. & Kaschub, C. (2003). A practical guide to experience-sampling procedures, Journal of Happiness Studies, 4, 53-78 [1] (Good primer - DSchneider)
• Larson, R., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1983). The experience sampling method. New Directions for Methodology of Social and Behavioral Science, 15, 41-56.