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Experience Sampling Methods to Study Social Psychology in the Field

Semester

Semester 2, 2024-2025

Type of course

Methodological and Practical Courses

Date

February 5 and February 6, 2025

Location

University of Amsterdam

Duration

2 days

Maximum number of participants

ECTS

1 EC will be appointed for participation in the complete course

Staff

Terence Dores Cruz (UvA), Catherine Molho (IAST Toulouse), Wilhelm Hoffman (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)

Content, learning goals, preparation

An important goal of many PhD projects is to understand our social behavior as it occurs in everyday life. While social psychological research commonly builds on tightly controlled experimental studies, a comprehensive understanding of the factors shaping our social behavior requires insights beyond the lab. A key methodology for such social psychological field research is experience sampling, which provides the methodological tools to study social psychological phenomena as experienced in everyday life. In this two-day workshop, we will introduce experience sampling methods and how to apply them. Prior to the course, participating students are asked to read a paper on experience sampling in social psychology and will create a research proposal applying experience sampling to their field of interest during the course.

The first day familiarizes participating students with experience sampling methods and how these methods could be used. In the first part of the day, we will discuss the research questions that experience sampling can answer and different forms of experience sampling. We will illustrate different experience sampling approaches by discussing examples of published research. In the second part of the day, we discuss the specific benefits of experience sampling methods, concrete examples of experience sampling, and practical tips for using experience sampling methods. At the end of the day, participants will form small groups to discuss how experience sampling could be used to answer research questions (relevant to their PhD project). During this time, participants will form small groups and work on a short pitch for an experience sampling study.

The second day will focus on more practical elements. In the first part of the day, we will simulate running an experience sampling study and give a tutorial on how to analyze the resulting data using R (please install R studio prior to the second day). The second part of the day will allow students to receive feedback on their experience sampling study ideas and get practical advice on running such a study. The groups of participating students will shortly pitch their proposed experience sampling studies and receive feedback from their peers and the teaching staff. We will close with the discussion on creating a plan to do an experience sampling study (e.g., following the research proposals).

Literature

Compulsory:

Hofmann, W., & Grigoryan, L. (2023, March 16). The Social Psychology of Everyday Life. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/bvga5
Bolger, N., Davis, A., & Rafaeli, E. (2003). Diary Methods: Capturing Life as it is Lived. Annual Review of Psychology, 54(1), 579–616. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145030

Optional:

Weiss, A., Michels, C., Burgmer, P., Mussweiler, T., Ockenfels, A., & Hofmann, W. (2021). Trust in everyday life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 121(1), 95–114. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000334
Balliet, D., Molho, C., Columbus, S., & Dores Cruz, T. D. (2022). Prosocial and punishment behaviors in everyday life. Current Opinion in Psychology, 43, 278–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.015
Conner, T. S., & Lehman, B. J. (2012). Getting started: Launching a study in daily life. In M. R. Mehl & T. S. Conner (Eds.), Handbook of research methods for studying daily life (pp. 89–107). The Guilford Press.