Chapter 6 - Diaries

Abstract

A diary is a document created by an individual who maintains regular recordings about events in his or her life; at the time those events occur, including recording activities, explanations of those activities, or personal reflections on those activities. When you are asking people to record information that is fluid and changes over time, such as mood, feeling, perception, time, or response, diaries are an appropriate method, since there needs to be a very short-time period between the occurrence of the event and the recording of the event, or else recall bias may occur. Diaries are a very good method for recording measurements that cannot be accurately collected by experimental or observational means, for instance, determining when a user intended to perform an action, but did not do so. Diaries are especially good at studying usage patterns that cross multiple technologies, multiple locations, and multiple environments. One form of diary is a time diary, which focuses on how individuals utilize their time in different technology related activities. The major difference between a general diary and a time diary is that general diary entries may be on an infrequent or nontemporal basis, whereas time diaries have a time focus. Diaries can be split into two types of purposes: feedback and elicitation. A feedback diary is one in which the data from the diary itself provides the feedback to the researchers. The feedback diary is the data collection method; the diary is not meant as a springboard to anything else. In an elicitation diary, the diary entries are used as a springboard for users to expand upon their entries when interviews take place at a later point. This chapter discusses different types of diaries, describes methodological concerns, and provides multiple examples of how diaries have been utilized in HCI research.