What is Experience Sampling Method (ESM)

Experience sampling method (ESM) and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) refer to a longitudinal research approach in which investigators collect self-reports and/or observational data at recurring intervals about study participants' everyday activities, affect, physical, and psychological states. Advances in Internet-enabled technology, along with the ubiquity of smartphone use among college populations, have vastly increased the feasibility of ESM/EMA research for higher education researchers. The chapter uses examples from higher education research to describe how existing and emerging technological affordances, including automated sensing, can be used to signal participant experience reports and to collect new forms of digital, written, visual, oral, and physiological data. The authors discuss problems and controversies in ESM/EMA research, present potential solutions to these issues, and consider the future of this evolving family of methods for higher education researchers.