As an ecological behavioral observation method, the Electronically Activated
Recorder (EAR) seeks to accomplish that (Mehl et
al., 2001 ; Mehl et al., 2012 (link)).
Technically, it is a portable audio recorder that intermittently records ambient
sound bites. Participants wear it while going about their days, unaware when exactly
the device is recording. By tracking the ambient sounds of their lives, the EAR
yields acoustic logs of their days. In preserving a high degree of naturalism at the
level of the raw data, it resembles ethnographic methods. Through its sampling, it
protects privacy and enables large(r) empirical studies. The sampled recordings are
then transcribed and coded for aspects of participants’ momentary location,
activities, interactions, and affect expressions. Since its initial development in
1999 (with James Pennebaker), the EAR has evolved from a chip-triggered
microcassette recorder into a smartphone app (Figure
1 ). Currently, we are using a fourth-generation “iEAR”
system that runs on iOS; an Android version will be available in 2017.
Wearing the EAR is minimally bothersome (although it currently still requires
carrying an extra mobile device) and it has been successfully used, with good
acceptance and compliance, in age groups ranging from childhood to old age (3 years
to 93 years; Alisic et al., 2015 ; Bollich et
al., 2015) and with different healthy (Holleran et
al., 2011 ; Slatcher & Rhobles,
2012 ) and clinical (Baddeley et al.,
2013 ; Brown et al., 2014 (link); Tobin et al., 2015 (link)) populations. Practical
recommendations for how to use the EAR, including information about existing coding
systems, are available at Megan Robbins’ OSF EAR Repository:https://osf.io/n2ufd/ .
Recorder (EAR) seeks to accomplish that (
al., 2001
Technically, it is a portable audio recorder that intermittently records ambient
sound bites. Participants wear it while going about their days, unaware when exactly
the device is recording. By tracking the ambient sounds of their lives, the EAR
yields acoustic logs of their days. In preserving a high degree of naturalism at the
level of the raw data, it resembles ethnographic methods. Through its sampling, it
protects privacy and enables large(r) empirical studies. The sampled recordings are
then transcribed and coded for aspects of participants’ momentary location,
activities, interactions, and affect expressions. Since its initial development in
1999 (with James Pennebaker), the EAR has evolved from a chip-triggered
microcassette recorder into a smartphone app (
1
system that runs on iOS; an Android version will be available in 2017.
Wearing the EAR is minimally bothersome (although it currently still requires
carrying an extra mobile device) and it has been successfully used, with good
acceptance and compliance, in age groups ranging from childhood to old age (3 years
to 93 years; Alisic et al., 2015 ; Bollich et
al., 2015) and with different healthy (
al., 2011
2012
2013
recommendations for how to use the EAR, including information about existing coding
systems, are available at Megan Robbins’ OSF EAR Repository:
