The Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR)
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: This article reviews the Electronically Activated Recorder or EAR as an ambulatory ecological momentary assessment tool for the real-world observation of daily behavior. Technically, the EAR is an audio recorder that intermittently records snippets of ambient sounds while participants go about their lives. Conceptually, it is a naturalistic observation method that yields an acoustic log of a person's day as it unfolds. The power of the EAR lies in unobtrusively collecting authentic real-life observational data. In preserving a high degree of naturalism at the level of the raw recordings, it resembles ethnographic methods; through its sampling and coding, it enables larger empirical studies. The article provides an overview of the EAR method, reviews its validity, utility, and limitations, and discusses it in the context of current developments in ambulatory assessment, specifically the emerging field of mobile sensing.
Author: Matthias R. Mehl
Institution: University of Arizona
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: McKnight Foundation, Wake Forest University, National Institute of Mental Health, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Awards: Biomarkers, social, and affective predictors of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in adolescents, The Daily Interactions of Couples Coping With Breast Cancer: With Whom, About Wha, Mechanisms of Meditation, G4737527516, Sleep and Divorce: Identifying Bidirectional Vulnerability and Resilience, Understanding the Interplay of Social Context and Physiology on Psychological Outcomes in Trauma-Exposed Adolescents, G7325493445, Neurobiological bases of paternal nurturance
OpenAlex ID: W2604865985