• Medientyp: E-Artikel
  • Titel: The Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) : A Method for the Naturalistic Observation of Daily Social Behavior : A Method for the Naturalistic Observation of Daily Social Behavior
  • Beteiligte: Mehl, Matthias R.
  • Erschienen: SAGE Publications, 2017
  • Erschienen in: Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26 (2017) 2, Seite 184-190
  • Sprache: Englisch
  • DOI: 10.1177/0963721416680611
  • ISSN: 0963-7214; 1467-8721
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  • Beschreibung: This article reviews the Electronically Activated Recorder (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. This 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.