Ecological Assessment in Research on Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts: Basic Concepts, Common Questions, and Gentle Warnings

Aesthetics, creativity, and arts researchers employ a variety of methods to answer their research questions. Ecological methods-assessing people in their everyday environments-are becoming more common, but researchers curious to try conducting a daily life study often find these methods complex and intimidating. Here, we provide a brief overview of ecological assessment techniques and how to go about using them. Specifically, we focus on what types of research questions are appropriate for ecological measurement, different ecological assessment designs, strategies for item development, suggestions for the nuts and bolts of data collection, and statistical issues unique to daily life data.