William & Mary Studies of Daily Life Demonstration Site.
Questions and comments about this page or the studies described on this site should be sent to
john.nezlek@wm.edu
Organization of the site:
From this introductory page you can link to demonstration pages of different studies, some illustrating interval-contingent data collection and others illustrating event-contingent data collection. For participants, the first page of each study links to a password and registration page; however, for the demonstration site, registration is not needed. These demonstration pages are designed so that you do not have to enter data. You can scroll through them at your leisure without having to answer the questions. To progress through the pages of a study, simply click on "Go to next page", a box which appears at the bottom of many pages. At any time, you can return to the home page for any particular study by clicking on "Return to home page", displayed at the bottom of each page. You can return to this page from the home page of any study by clicking on "Return to demo home page", displayed on the bottom of the home page for each study. Please note these pages present only the data entry protocols (with the exception of the Chemnitz study for which instructions are available on-line). Before they begin the study, participants are given a thorough explanation and demonstration of what they need to do.
Some advantages of Web-based data collection:
As you examine these pages keep in mind that Web-based data collection such as that illustrated here provides numerous advantages over various other techniques.
Data are stored on the server making them more secure than data stored in other formats.
Precise monitoring of participant compliance is possible. The database is updated instantaneously, and the time of each entry can be recorded, so participants whose compliance is waning can be contacted. For large applications, automatic reminders can be sent.
Data can be checked as they are entered, and participants can be prompted to supply missing data or correct incorrect responses.
Data can be collected from anyone in the world who has access to the WWW.
Overview of the studies:
This site displays the web pages used to collect data for two types of what are sometimes referred to as "intensive repeated measures designs". They are called this because many observations are taken of the same person across time and situations. The two types of studies have been described as "interval contingent" and "event contingent". In interval contingent studies, data collection is triggered by the passage of certain interval of time. For all the studies displayed here, the interval was the day. In event contigent studies, data collection is triggered by the occurrence of a specific event. For two of the three studies displayed here, the triggering event was a social interaction. For one of the studies, the triggering event was a sexual contact.
Studies such as these produce what are called nested data structures. The term nested refers to the fact that obsrvations at one level of analysis (e.g., days or interactions) are nested within another level (people). This nested design is reflected in the data collection protocols of these demonstration studies. Some data are collected every day or for every event, whereas other data are collected only once. Typically, such data structures suggest hypotheses about three types of relationships, hypotheses that can be examined using multilevel modeling.
Relationships between stable individual differences (e.g., sex, traits, etc.) and means describing intervals or events. For example, in a daily study, hypotheses of interest might concern the relationship between a trait level measure of a construct (e.g., anxiety) and the corresponding daily measure of this construct (e.g., daily anxiety). In a social interaction study, hypotheses of interest might concern the relationship between a trait level measure (e.g., extraversion) and reactions to interactions (e.g., satisfaction).
Within-person relationships among interval or event based measures. For example, in a daily study, hypotheses of interest might concern within-person relationships between daily events and daily well-being. In a social interaction study, hypotheses of interest might concern relationships between two characteristics of interaction such as satisfaction and the presence/absence of different relational partners.
How within-person relationships vary as a function of stable individual differences. For example, in a daily study, hypotheses of interest might concern indiivdual diffrences in the strength of within-person relationships between daily events and daily well-being. In a social interaction study, hypotheses of interest might concern how relationships between two characteristics of interaction such as satisfaction and the presence/absence of different relational partners vary across the sexes.
Interval-Contingent Studies of Day-to-day Variability:
In these four studies data were collected each day. At the end of each day, participants described various aspects of themselves and their days. In addition, participants completed various background measures, measures usually administered at the beginning (START button) and end of a study (FINISH button). In these studies, numerous data have been collected, and the descriptions below note only the distinguishing characteristics of each studies. Common to all these studies are measures of daily events, daily well-being, and daily mood. In addition, various trait level measures were also collected.
- A study of collegians and how their daily activities correspond to their plans for these activities.
Collaborators: Monica Allen and Marilyn Groff
Note: Trait level measures not collected via web.
- A study of daily well-being in collegians with an emphasis on relationships between well-being and spirituality and racial differences in such relationships.
Collaborators: Monica Allen, Richard Sorrentino (University of Western Ontario)
Note: Some trait level measures were not collected via the web.
- A study of daily well-being in high school students with an emphasis on self-concept, well-being, and school performance.
Collaborator: Rebecca Plesko
- A study of daily variations in self-esteem with self-esteem operationalized multidimensionally.
Collaborators: Greg Webster and Lee Kirkpatrick
Event Contingent-Studies of Daily Social Interaction
In these three studies (also referred to as "social interaction diary studies), individuals describe the social interactions they have using a variant of the Rochester Interaction Record (Wheeler & Nezlek, 1977). Such data structures allow researchers to address a variety of questions which can concern quantity or quality of interaction and can focus on interaction per se or the relationships between interaction and other measures.
Participants in these studies typically describe numerous events simultaneously. After each event is described, participants are given the option to describe another or to exit. In addition, in two of the studies, daily measures similar to those described above were also collected.
- A study of relationships between social identity and various characteristics of interaction among collegians. The study has a specific emphasis on participants' social identities in terms of their membership in social orgnizations (i.e., fraternities and sorotories).
Collaborator: Carrie Smith
Note: Trait level measures not collected via web.
- A study of daily sexual activity and people's reactions to these activities
Collaborator: Carrie Smith
- A study of impression management in daily social interaction.
Collaborators: Astrid Schütz, Ina Sellin, University of Chemnitz
Note: All these pages are in German.
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