Diary Studies in Organizational Research

Abstract

Abstract. In recent years, researchers in work and organizational psychology have increasingly become interested in short-term processes and everyday experiences of working individuals. Diaries provide the necessary means to examine these processes. Although diary studies have become more popular in recent years, researchers not familiar with this method still find it difficult to get access to the required knowledge. In this paper, we provide an introduction to this method of data collection. Using two diary study examples, we discuss methodological issues researchers face when planning a diary study, examine recent methodological developments, and give practical recommendations. Topics covered include different types of diary studies, the research questions to be examined, compliance and the issue of missing data, sample size, and issues of analyses.

The power of presence: The role of mindfulness at work for daily levels and change trajectories of psychological detachment and sleep quality.

“…For event sampling and diary studies, different data collection modalities are available, such as handheld computers or online surveys, which all have specific advantages and disadvantages (Ohly, Sonnentag, Niessen, & Zapf, 2010). In the present study, we chose to use paper-and-pencil surveys in order not to restrict the sample to a potentially preselected group of participants who had Internet access or basic computer/smartphone skills (cf.…”

“…In the present study, we chose to use paper-and-pencil surveys in order not to restrict the sample to a potentially preselected group of participants who had Internet access or basic computer/smartphone skills (cf. Ohly et al, 2010). Participants self-reported times of filling in the respective surveys provided some indication that they complied with study instructions and did indeed fill in the daily surveys separately within the instructed time frames.…”

Divergent effects of detachment from work: a day-level study on employee creativity

“…Such a day-level approach enables us to learn more about variations in levels of creativity during the day and the underlying processes in terms of daily changing circumstances (see also Ohly, Sonnentag, Niessen, & Zapf, 2010).Further, we will use the Demand-Induced Strain Compensation Recovery (DISC-R) Model (De Jonge & Dormann, 2003De Jonge et al, 2012) as a theoretical framework for this study. This model provides the opportunity to investigate the influence of specific daily work conditions on detachment effects, because along with detachment, it incorporates job demands and job resources.…”

Keep the fire burning: Reciprocal gains of basic need satisfaction, intrinsic motivation and innovative work behaviour

“…In addition to the previously mentioned autoregressive path-analytical model and in line with commonly encountered analytical procedures applied to this kind of repeated measurement data (e.g., Binnewies, Sonnentag, & Mojza, 2009;Ohly, Sonnentag, Niessen, & Zapf, 2010), we also ran a multilevel model with repeated measurements (level 1) nested within individuals (level 2). In a sense, this is an aggregated model, which does not allow for identifying a pattern in the observed relationships over time, and as a consequence does not provide the high level of confidence that can be obtained from our autoregressive path-analytical model.…”