Diary method

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The term diary method ( synonym "diary procedure") is a survey method . It describes the use of systematic records of periods of time, observations and objects of attention by writers, scientists or z. B. Project staff from media research companies. It should not be confused with the sporadic, whimsy (or lack of) notes from private diaries.

Qualitative and quantitative research

Basically, the use of such a method differs depending on whether

Qualitative diary method

The psychologist couple William Stern and Clara Stern , who between 1900 and 1918 systematically and unadulterated the development of their three children Hilde, Günther and Eva are among the founders of the developmental psychological diary method. This human scientific longitudinal study is now available in a scientifically searchable transcription CHILDES and generates further in-depth specialist studies internationally. At the time of behaviorism , the diary study was frowned upon because it could not withstand the definition of objectivity and scientificity applied there . With the turn to cognitivism came a renaissance in diary study. While diary studies aimed to answer very large complexes of questions at the beginning of this century, smaller studies now deal with narrower complexes of questions. The question, but also the idea of ​​scientificity, determines the adequacy and application of a method. The diary study is recommended for long-term and individual studies . First language acquisition research in particular makes use of the diary study. It puts the individual at the center and has different requirements than quantitative methods.

In qualitative social research , namely sociological biography research and sociology of knowledge , the use of diaries and the evaluation of existing ones is a common procedure. A special case of historical science that has become popular is the echo sounder project of the Rostock writer Walter Kempowski , who has compiled the private diaries from the Second World War that he has compiled into an impressive composite of the culture of remembrance .

In medical psychology , too, research into the causes of unclear physical pain states, for example of the back, is carried out using methodical records of the test subjects over a period of several weeks. The method finds immediate practical application in the context of psychological behavior therapy .

On the other hand, the systematic, daily records of writers are completely different , as they are not shaped by an externally directed, scientific purpose but rather by an internally directed, personal goal of organizing one's own thoughts, experiences and impressions. These types of diaries are not intended for publication either. If they are published later because of great public interest, this is usually done in a heavily edited, smoothed form. Almost all writers keep their diaries consistently and methodically. After their death, German philologists use it to write secondary literature about the famous or popular among them.

Quantitative diary procedures

Standardized diaries are common in consumer research and media impact research . It is about selection actions and their exact frequency and process relationships. Private preferences , priorities , switch-on behavior , attention curves , and shopping behavior are recorded as precisely as possible and made available for processing by advertising psychology and advertising agencies . The respondents for an agreed, low fee are required to enter the exact times during which they use the media, the shopping times and routes in a strictly pre-structured diary scheme in a predetermined period of time . Regular daily routine surveys are common .

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