Ecological Validity for Patient Reported Outcomes

Abstract

Self-reports often serve as outcomes in all manner of behavioral science and medical research; as such, it is essential that they be measured as accurately as possible. In this article, we discuss the concept of ecological validity as it relates to methodologies used to collect self-report data. When phenomena are responsive to the environment and memory of them is questionable, we argue that ecological validity is necessary to adequately construct self-report measures and that global and retrospective assessment techniques are often not up to the task. Repeated momentary data collection incorporating careful sampling protocols can be achieved with electronically based data capture systems. These technologies are described and strengths and limitations are reviewed. It is now possible to collect self-report data to be truly representative of the participants' everyday environments.