Experience Sampling: Promises and Pitfalls, Strength and Weaknesses

Abstract

Since its inception in the late 1970s, experience sampling methodol- ogy (ESM) has enjoyed an explosion of popularity in psychological research. A literature search for ESM and related terms, such as eco- logical momentary assessment, on PsychINFO yielded 343 articles and dissertations, most of which have been undertaken in the past dozen years. Much of its popularity can be attributed to its ability to delve beyond single-time self-report measurement to answer complex ques- tions about lives, such as the role of situations in individual functioning, as well as its ability to provide solutions to nagging methodological problems, such as memory biases. Investigators have long recognized the need for an assessment tool that is more true to life experiences than laboratory assessments, global questionnaires, or observer ratings. Brunswik (1949) and Cattell (1957) addressed the importance of understanding how various psychological variables manifest themselves in different situations in order to under- stand the full constellation of behaviors and conditions that elicit them. Later, the call for studies of on-line experience was again taken up by Fiske (1971), who wrote that the assessment of on-line experiences should be one of the essential tools in assessing personality. More recently, Funder (2001) brought attention to the necessity of study- ing personality in a wide variety of settings, and the utility of ESM in meeting that need.