The Questionable Ecological Validity of Ecological Momentary Assessment: Considerations for Design and Analysis
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: Experience sampling, diary, ecological momentary assessment, ambulatory monitoring, and related methods are part of a research tradition aimed at capturing the ongoing stream of individuals’ behavior in real-world situations. By design, these approaches prioritize ecological validity. This article examines how the purported ecological validity these study designs provide may be compromised during data analysis. After briefly outlining the benefits of ecological momentary assessment-type designs, the authors highlight design issues that threaten ecological validity, illustrate how the typical multilevel analysis of ecological momentary assessment-type data can compromise generalizability to “real-life,” and consider how unobtrusive monitoring and person-specific analysis may provide for more precise descriptions of individuals’ actual human ecology.
Source: Research in Human Development
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute, Penn State Biomedical Big Data to Knowledge (B2D2K) Training Program, ARRA: Tools for Articulating Within-Person Dynamic Models of Interpersonal Intera, Toward a Unifying Model of Self-Regulation and its Development, Population Research Institute, G9000228955, Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute, The Population Research Institute
OpenAlex ID: W2742182049