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iHabit ™An experience sampling app to study first-year students
Tim Steenbergh, PhD, Professor of Psychology | [email protected] Fry, PhD, Professor of Sociology | [email protected] Wesleyan University | Marion, IN
www.ihabit4life.com
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Acknowledgements• Dr. Jason Runyan• Dr. Doug Daugherty• Dr. Lorne Oke• Dr. Don Sprowl • Necole Reno• Chuck Bainbridge• Ali Plutschack• Kate Denlinger• Nick Howard
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Mobile Technology Context• According to a recent
Educause report, mobile technology use by college-age students has increased from:• 1.2% in 2005 to• 62.7% in 2010
(Cited by Rossing in Liberal Education, 2012)
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Why EMA? So what?
During a typical week, I spend ___ per week using e-mail.
a. Less than 1 hourb. 1 – 3 hoursc. 4 – 6 hoursd. 7 – 9 hourse. 10 – 12 hoursf. More than 12 hours
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What is EMA?Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) protocols collect data differently than experiments and retrospective self-reports. EMA data collection methods:
1. repeatedly collect data2. on participants’ momentary (or current) states3. in their natural or real-life settings (Stone et al. 2007).
Ecological: people answer questions in their natural environment
Momentary: people report on their current (momentary) behavior and experiences
Assessment: researchers are trying to measure something (like cigarette craving, time usage, or spiritual practices) 5
If it could be boiled down to a onesie…
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And we record it!
EMA can be…
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• event-based / user initiated (after run, cigarette craving)
• interval-based (top of every hour)
• randomly assessed (Again?!)
EMA: random assessment in a day
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EMA: random assessment for a week
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EMA contrast with retrospective survey
One-shot Questionnaire EMA
In a typical week, what percentage of your time do you spend:
In the last 20 minutes, how much time have you spent:
In a typical day, how much time do you spend interacting with your professors face-to-face?
How much time did you spend today interacting with your professors face-to-face?
How satisfied are you with your marriage?
How do you feel about your relationship right now?
How satisfied are you with your current job?
How satisfied are you with your job right now?
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Met
hods
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First Year Students (N=81)
RANDOM ASSIGNMENT
PRETEST (Week 2) Self Efficacy | Social Support | Stress
No App Control
(n=37)(n=44)
POSTTEST (Week 14) Self Efficacy | Social Support | Stress
Life Satisfaction | App Ratings
Weeks 3, 8 & 13
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iHabit™ Platform SpecsRuns on iPhone, iTouch or iPad Free download from iTunesVisual and/or audible alarms notify user of questionCheck In questions can be randomized to gather a
representative sample of responsesBranching allows researcher to drill down on relevant
variablesEnd of Day feature works as electronic daily diaryFree Response allows user-initiated data inputData is automatically stored on device, then
uploaded to server when WiFi signal is availableData is time-stamped
Examples of iHabit™ Study QuestionsCheck in Questions
How many of the last 20 minutes have you…
End of Day Questions
spent working on academics? What time did you go to bed last night?
spent socializing? What time did you get up this morning?
spent playing sports/exercising? How much time did you spend in direct interaction with faculty today?
spent praying or thinking of God? How confident are you in your ability to succeed academically?
spent in recreational use of electronics (phone, computer, tv, etc)?
Overall, how confident are you in your academic ability?
wasted? How much effort did you put into your academics today?
Met
hods
ResultsIn the moment
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Socia
lizing
Electr
onics
Academ
ics
Wast
e Tim
e
Think o
f God
Exerc
ise0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
EMA of Time Spent on Activities
Resu
lts: I
n th
e M
omen
t
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Week 3 (n=44)
Week 8 (n=33)
Week 14 (n=26)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
EMA of Time Spent Over Course of Semester
SocializingElectronicsAcademicsWaste TimeThink of GodExercise
Resu
lts: I
n th
e M
omen
t
ResultsEnd of day
20
21Week 3 Week 8 Week 14
0
20
40
60
80
100
Academic Enjoyment and Effort Ratings
EnjoymentEffort
Resu
lts: E
nd o
f Day
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Week 3 Week 8 Week 140
5
10
15
20
25
30
EMA of Direct Interaction with FacultyM
ean
Min
utes
Resu
lts: E
nd o
f Day
Data collection
Upside• Easily integrated into
daily life- especially for iPhone users
• Data collection is automated
• Allows both within- and between-subjects analysis
Downside• Can quickly produce
overwhelming amounts of data
• Analysis can be difficult- HLM and time series
• Momentary data isn’t always a better predictor
• User fatigue
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Reactivity:The tendency to change our behavior when it’s measured
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Very Str
ongly Disa
gree
Strongly
Disagree
Mildly
Disagree
Neutral
Mildly
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Very Str
ongly Agree
0%5%
10%15%20%25%30%35%
The iHabit app made me more aware of how I spend my time
Postt
est R
esul
ts
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Very Strongly Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Mildly Disagree
Neutral Mildly Agree
Strongly Agree
Very Strongly
Agree
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
I changed how I spend my time in response to the app.
Postt
est R
esul
ts
ResultsFree response
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Free Responses
Some students freely offered comments suggesting reactivity:
These surveys make me feel a little guilty that I'm not working out enough or spending enough time with God. I admit that I am doing more of that stuff so I can answer better on the next survey.
Even after one day, I'm realizing I need to spend WAY more time alone with God.
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Evidence for Measurement Reactivity
Research Summary
• Studies have not found strong reactivity to drug-use monitoring (Hufford et al. 2002, cited in Shiffman 2009)
• Why? Moos (2008) speculates that habituation to monitoring blunts reactivity (cited in Shiffman 2009)
Our limited experience• Strong reactivity? No.
Some reactivity? Yes.• From a research methods
perspective: contamination• From a human flourishing
perspective: reactivity can help people live more thoughtful lives.
• Some factors may predispose people towards greater reactivity
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Possible EMA Applications at Your School
• First-year student time usage, study habits, etc.
• Classroom uses
• Responses to intercultural experiences (Chicago)
• Residence life satisfaction
• Your ideas?
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Your next step…
• Try it out:• Download iHabit™ from iTunes, select FYE survey• Use it for a couple of days to see how EMA works
• Decide what you want: EMA? EMI? Both• Assemble a software development team or go
with an established vendor:• Contact Invivodata at http://www.invivodata.com/• Contact us or visit http://ihabit4life.com/
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