Experience Sampling in Media Research
The experience-sampling method (ESM), also called ecological momentary assessment, prompts participants at sampled moments throughout daily life to report what they are doing, using, and feeling right now. Applied to media research, it captures media use and its momentary correlates — mood, context, motivation — in real time and in situ, minimizing recall bias and revealing how media and experience interrelate moment to moment.
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Sources
- Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Larson, R. (1987). Validity and reliability of the experience-sampling method. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 175(9), 526–536. DOI: 10.1097/00005053-198709000-00004 ↗
- Bolger, N., Davis, A., & Rafaeli, E. (2003). Diary methods: Capturing life as it is lived. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 579–616. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145030 ↗
How to cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 22). Experience Sampling Method for Media and Communication Research. ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/en/communication/experience-sampling-media
Which method?
Set this method beside its closest kin and read them side by side — the library lays the books on the table; the choice is yours.
- Audience Reception AnalysisCommunication↔ compare
- Media-Use Diary MethodCommunication↔ compare
- Psychophysiological Measures in Media ResearchCommunication↔ compare
- Uses and Gratifications SurveyCommunication↔ compare