13

Experience Sampling Methods in Critical

Event Studies: Theory and Practice
Jonathan Moss

Introduction
Borne of psychological investigation, experiential sampling methods
(ESM) began to come to prominence during the 1980s as a means to
investigate well-being (Schimmack, 2003). ey increased in promi-
nence, largely attributed to the work of Csikszentmihalyi and Larson
(1987) which highlighted research reliability and validity, and become
widely advocated by Csikszentmihalyi in a broad range of publications
(Csikszentmihalyi & Rathunde, 2014; de Vries & Csikszentmihalyi,
2006; Hurlburt & Schwitzgebel, 2007; Kubey & Csikszentmihalyi,
1990). ESM were therefore demonstrated to be able to measure peoples’
experiences; in situ, increasing eco-validity; in real time, minimising recall
bias and over an extended number of days. For this reason it was able
to contribute to the many experiential investigations including, a ect,
mood, behaviours and emotions of experience is signi cant and has been
widely used to investigate an expansive remit of experience(s) including
music in everyday life (Juslin, Liljeström, Väst äll, Barradas, & Silva,
2008), pre-competitive emotions in sport (Cerin, Szabo, & Williams,
2001) and identity (Burke & Franzoi, 1988).

© e Editor(s) (if applicable) and e Author(s) 2016 253

I.R. Lamond, L. Platt (eds.), Critical Event Studies,
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-52386-0_13
254 J. Moss

e aim of this chapter is to critically explore the author’s use of

ESMs for data collection in critical event studies (CES). Firstly, a con-
cise overview of the ESM design will be discussed. Following this the
chapter will consider the author’s doctoral work and how it utilised
a qualitative adaption of ESM called descriptive experience sampling
(DES). Phenomenological in approach, the chapter will thus provide
an outline to the di erence in ontological and epistemological perspec-
tive that this qualitative approach necessitates. As it moves away from
traditional positivistic explanations to more critical theory genera-
tion, it is this di erence in philosophical lens that is required by events
research. Following this, the chapter will discuss an overview of the
implementation of the DES to gather primary data needed to ensure
consistent and valid research. is will illustrate how, when the research
philosophy and method are aligned, the use of experience sampling can
provide an innovative approach to exploring experience at events and
festivals.

An Overview of Experience Sampling Methods

As mentioned in the introduction, ESMs are developed in the area of
psychology that investigates well-being and since their development have
become widely used in a number of di erent subject areas that wished to
investigate experience. Another example is market research that has also
adopted this approach when investigating a ective experience (Andrews,
Bennett, & Drennan, 2011) and for over a decade it has been supported
as a viable approach to gaining further understanding of experiences in
leisure activities (Mittelstaedt, 2001). Having ascertained its use in many
areas of experience research, the chapter will discuss the details of this
method.
As a method of investigating real-time subjective experience, ESMs
were initially designed using a quantitative framework and with a
positivistic grounding. Across a typical timeframe of 5–7 days, partici-
pants would be sent a number of signals through each day as a prompt
to complete a survey-style questionnaire (Hektner, Csikszentmihalyi, &
Schmidt, 2007). is provided insights about experiences in di erent
 13 Experience Sampling Methods in Critical Event Studies … 255

everyday settings from a within-person perspective and from a

methodologically robust approach (Scollon & Kim-Prieto, 2003).
Historically the information was recorded by the participants using
a pen and paper as a response to a pager beep that they would wear
for the duration of the data collection period. From these quantita-
tive and rudimentary foundations however, a number of variations
have been developed, embracing both new technology and di erent
epistemological perspectives. For example, where bleepers and hand-
held organisers were used, they have been superseded by smartphone
technology (Wood, Kenyon, & Moss, 2012). Furthermore, Smyth’s
ecological momentary assessment (2003), Riddle and Arnold’s (2007)
day experience method, and Kahneman’s (2004) day reconstruction
method are examples of variations drawn from the ESM template. It is
saliently noted, though, by Scollon and Kim-Prieto (2003), p. 8) that
‘many researchers do not make sharp distinctions between ESM and
other sampling methods.’

Descriptive Experience Sampling

One distinction that is important to note though is that ESMs were
subsequently developed and adapted to collect not quantitative data but
instead qualitative data. is adaptation is at the core of the doctoral
research that this chapter discusses. It is an approach conceptualised
by Heavey, Hurlburt, and Le orge (2010) called the descriptive expe-
rience sampling (DES). is variation of the ESM method utilises a
similar signal-participant response as previously noted, but unlike other
ESMs the data collected is qualitative in nature. e DES was originally
designed to develop a greater understanding into the illness of schizo-
phrenia but it has been utilised in gathering data for many other subjec-
tive phenomena (Hurlburt & Schwitzgebel, 2007). At the centre of the
DES method is the capturing of what Hurlburt (1990, 1993) refers to as
pristine inner experiences. at is to say that once the signal has been sent
to the participant, they are not asked a range of survey-style questions but
are instead asked to record, ‘whatever was on going in her experience at
the last undisturbed moment before the onset of the bleep’ (italics in original,
256 J. Moss

p. 348). ese recorded inner experiences are then expanded upon dur-
ing in-depth interviews which take place within 48 hours of the initial
data collection period.
e application of both ESMs generally, as well as DESs, is broad
and has provided a large library of research into many di erent aspects
and experiences of life. eir use in events is very limited however,
with only one exploratory day-sampling approach (Riddle & Arnold,
2007) being used at a live music performance to provide any primary
research into this subject area (Wood & Moss, 2015). Furthermore,
they have as of yet not been used in a music festival setting. is is
despite being used to investigate other music experiences; for example,
everyday use ( Sloboda, O’Neil, & Ivaldi, 2001; Greasley & Lamont,
2011) and the importance of music in peoples’ lives (Krause, North,
& Hewitt, 2013; O’Neill, 2002). is research method is therefore
well positioned and with a large body of work to support it, as a
means to contribute to the growing investigations into festival experi-
ence. Moreover qualitative ESM/DESs can facilitate the development
of critical event studies by expanding psychological and sociological
investigations which are, at present, in their infancy and are primar-
ily quantitative in nature (Ballantyne & Packer, 2013; Laiho, 2004;
Packer & Ballantyne, 2010).

An Ontological and Epistemological Shift

Using new research tools that generate a di erent type of data which then
requires analysing and validating is not solely based on the appropria-
tion of various techniques. To have an impact requires the research and
researcher to consider events through a di erent and sometimes more
critical, philosophical lens. For the doctoral research discussed here, the
ontological perspective was critical realism and the epistemological stance
was existential phenomenology. Before considering the implementation
of the DES at a music festival, the chapter will concisely outline these
positions.
 13 Experience Sampling Methods in Critical Event Studies … 257

Critical Realism
Based upon the work of Bhaskar (1978), this research is underpinned
by a philosophical perspective that articulates that the tension between
a realist ontology and a relativist epistemology can provide a critical
contribution. at is to say that the postpositivist lens of natural sci-
ences and the interpretivist lens of social sciences can inform each other
to generate new truths. As Hartwig (2007) o ers, critical realism (CR)
is a social theory and a cognate practice that promotes truth and free-
dom by critiquing both science and other ways of knowing. Taking
this further, Dean, Joseph, and Norrie (2005), p. 7) contend that it
originates in transcendence theory of physical science and in doing so
bridged the gap between positivists and conventionalists.
Against positivisms, Bhaskar conceptualises natural lawfulness in terms
of powers or tendencies, rather than of regular recurrence of speci able
events. Against conventionalisms, he insists that natural things exist inde-
pendently of human theories about them.
It is the removal of lawlessness and thus determinism that places
science in a position to be understood as historico-cultural and pro-
vides CR with perspectivalism but that all perspectives are constrained
by the real nature of objects of study. It is this that grounds the phi-
losophy with an ontological realism and an epistemological relativism
(Collier, 1994 ). However, Bhaskar’s realism argues that while there
are intransitive things that exist independently of human activity,
the moment we study them, they become transitive and saturated
with human activity and knowledge. is means that we can have
true knowledge of real objects but that this knowledge is time and
space speci c and therefore can be replaced in the future. Moreover,
Bhaskar’s relativism is not an ‘anything goes’ (Dean et al., 2005 , p. 8)
perspective but one which admits the possibility and necessity of
truth. is, then, helps overcome the problems inherent within not
recognising how reality a ects our knowledge and thus, avoids the
epistemic fallacy (Gro , 2015 ).
258 J. Moss

The Theory of Emergence and False Beliefs

At the centre of this research are CRs theories of emergence and false beliefs.
CR recognises the role of natural sciences in uncovering the power of things
and that human sciences can be a science in that it uncovers speci cally
human powers and an explanatory critique of false beliefs (Hartwig, 2007).
is again is achieved by the transcendence of the tension between her-
meneutic and positivistic stresses; there is for Bhaskar a way to unite both
agency and structure of explanation and understanding (Collier, 1994).
Emergence is a concept that provides a non-reductive basis for explana-
tions of complex phenomena (Bhaskar, 1998). It is when existing entities
or powers combine and form a new power or entity. Collier (1994) uses
the properties of water to illustrate; while water is the fusion of oxygen
and hydrogen, its properties, while unable to exist without the properties
of this fusion, should not be reduced to them. In addition, water cannot
contain any properties that hydrogen and oxygen do not contain sepa-
rately. Water, then is the result of a Gestaltian (more than the sum of its
parts) emergence (Elder-Vass, 2004). e game of chess provides another
example of this because, despite the rules and the objective features of the
game, they cannot predict an outcome because the laws themselves are
unable to generate anything. e generation of the game and the result
come from the social world, the players and their decisions (Corning,
2002). is provides an understanding in a non-reductive way; the mind
and the brain are interdependent but on di erent levels. e mind needs
the brain and the brain needs phsyio-chemical processes to function but,
from a non-determining emergence perspective, it is from this that the
mind emerges. is clearly is distinct from a reductionist view of the
brain being nothing but the chemical processes.

False Beliefs
e nal aspect, or cornerstone of CRs contribution to this research,
to be discussed here, are its considerations of false beliefs. Freedom,
for a CR philosophy, is not the freedom written about in other critical
individualistic theories but that it comes with necessary constraints.
 13 Experience Sampling Methods in Critical Event Studies … 259

False beliefs however, are an obstacle to this freedom and CR provides an

understanding of the sources and nature so that it will more expediently
arrive. Complex powers compose both the natural and social world and
where empirical answers are unable to understand the real or the actual
is where false beliefs are to be found, either placed or having emerged.
True and false beliefs arise because the complexities of the natural and
social world are not presented in an immediately intelligible form and
it is therefore important to distinguish between those that are true
and then o er a critique of those beliefs and what they are about. us,
the cause will be revealed and the falsities apparent. Bhaskar argues that
it is capitalist societies generate false beliefs and they are accepted not
for varying, individual endowments of reason but because of the nature
of societies construction of everyday life. CR argues for providing expla-
nations to the source and nature in a drive to elucidate the individual
to the necessary and unnecessary constraints and thus move individuals
closer to emancipation (Hartwig, 2007). It is this explanatory critique
which exempli es the crux of the explicit value position not being at
the expense of explanatory, objective science. In summary, Dean et al.
(2005, p. 11) state, ‘It invokes the possibility that values may be dis-
covered as part of such a science, or that there may be well-grounded
arguments which reveal the conditions of human ourishing.’
With the key aspects of the ontology highlighted, the chapter will now
consider the epistemological stance that can be the link between critical
realism’s lens and DES’s method of data collection, that of existential
phenomenology.

Phenomenology
Looking at this research through a critical realist lens, while also acknowl-
edging its basis in the exploration of experience and therefore within a social
science sphere of enquiry, the research takes an interpretivist, hermeneutic
perspective to this investigation. is again is a step away from the tradi-
tional events research perspective of reductive, positivistic view that aims for
widely generalisable ndings but instead, focuses on the idiographic, subjec-
tive details of the experience. In doing so, it aims to gather rich narratives of
260 J. Moss

the experience that illustrate deep insights into what music festival experi-
ence might be, not what positivistic research has reduced it to.

Phenomenology in Event Management

e study of events, like psychology nearly 30 years ago, is experiencing
a limitation in its current epistemological stance (Smith, Harre, & Van
Langenhove, 1995). e positivist logic and empiricist impulses do not
generate the theoretical insights required by a subject if it is to develop
and thrive (Aitchison, 2006; Getz, 2012). e epistemology of this
research then, is founded upon an interactive psychology that broke away
from the discipline’s strive to be seen as a natural science and applied to
a subject that is experiencing similar constraints. ese constraints in
psychology were de ed because they were increasingly seen as, ‘redun-
dant’ (Smith et al., 1995, p. 2). If this current research is to facilitate this
progression, what must existential phenomenological (EP) epistemology
in events research epitomise?
e rst response to this question is that, unlike positivistic approaches
to research, as is detailed by Giorgi (1995), the object of study in EP
comprises the same consciousness as the researcher. is means that while
phenomenological research can be systematic, methodological, critical,
and generalisable, these should be measured using di erent criteria to
that of the natural sciences. As an example, Giorgi (1995, p. 27) states:

One may perform cause-e ect analyses with things and one may come up
with universal laws about the behaviour of forces. But one would have to
speak of the unfolding of motivational relations over time with humans and
of the role of meaning in determining the value of human life. Causes and
motivations cannot be lumped together; neither can forces and meanings.

It is worth a rming that this research is not against the pursuit of

knowledge in the natural sciences. Remembering the ontological position
of the research, it understands the relationship of how both paradigms can
inform and develop new truths. What it is stating, however, is that if the
focus of the research involves humans, then their consciousness must be
accounted for in the research epistemology and thus, the choice of method.
 13 Experience Sampling Methods in Critical Event Studies … 261

Persson and Robson (1995) argue against an experimental and positivistic

approach to music experiences and that the research should be conducted
in a real-world environment. Sloboda, O’Neil, and Invaldi (2001) and
Juslin et al. (2008) both agree that it is important to consider the context
when seeking to understand musical experiences. In contract to determin-
istic approaches to music festival experience, this research undertakes a
di erent kind of investigation. Like that of Pike (1972), this phenomeno-
logical exploration focuses on the immediate lived experience and ‘is not
exclusively concerned with the objective musical events, but with these
events as they are psychologically integrated in experience’ (p. 262).

Existential Phenomenology
Phenomenology o ers new and challenging perspectives to events
research and the research in this chapter uses Ashworth’s (2015) adap-
tion of existential phenomenology as its epistemological foundation. is
strand of phenomenology is built upon Husserl’s early twentieth-century
work (1925/1977, 1931/1960) which contests two phenomenological
fundamentals. e rst was to address the disparity between concepts
and experience. Husserl saw that the former was not grounded in the
latter and, therefore, there was a signi cant lack of clarity and appropri-
ateness between the two. is meant that phenomenology had to, as the
Husserlian slogan states, return to the things themselves, as experienced.
is perspective was supported by Husserl’s other theoretical foundation
which states that there is nothing more fundamental than what is experi-
enced and all investigation should use this as its starting point. erefore,
as Ashworth (2015, p. 11) states:

e correspondence of a person’s experience to reality, the cause of that

reality, or its motivation, and any claim made in the literature about the
nature of such experiences—all must be set aside. Any assumption that one
aspect of phenomenon takes precedence over any other must be suspended
prior to experiential evidence.

Returning to the ontological position of this research, whilst taking

note of Bhaskar’s theory of emergence as a Gestalt concept, the sense
262 J. Moss

of things being more than the sum of their parts is again discussed.
In Husserl’s (1936/1970) book e Crisis of European Science and
Transcendental Phenomenology, he uses this phrase to unify existentialism
and phenomenology. is is reasoned by establishing experience as not a
matter of lawful response to variables but as a system of interconnected
relationships and meanings which he termed ‘lifeworld’. is can only be
researched from a rst-person perspective and one that acknowledges the
consciousness of the participants.

Lifeworld
In correspondence to Smith’s (1996) adaptation of Husserl’s fundamen-
tals, this research was undertaken with the phenomenological exploration
of the participant’s lifeworld in relation to their lived experiences at live
music festivals. It also pursued this investigation with Ashworth’s (2006)
assertion that these subjective lifeworlds have universal features that must
be considered when undertaking research from a phenomenological per-
spective. ese are as follows:
Selfhood: Concerned with social identity; ‘Identity is undeniably part
of sociality our identity links us to others and is provided by interaction
with others’ (p. 216).
Sociality: Concerned with how the experience a ects our relationships
with others; ‘Other people are a central a part of our lifeworld especially
because the evidence from them of our selfhood is so direct’ (p. 216).
Embodiment: Concerned with how the situation relates to feelings of
a person’s body and how we see vulnerabilities and physical strength.
Temporality: Concerned with how the meaning of time, duration, and
biography relates to the experience the person is in.
Spatiality: How people perceive the space that is laid out as part of the
experience and the variables of meaning the space can have; ‘Moreover,
this “geography” will not merely be a physical, but there will be social
norms and a host of other meanings associated with the place’ (p. 217).
Project: ‘How does the situation relate to the person’s ability to carry
out the activities they are committed to and which they regard as central
to their life?’ (p. 217); this includes emotions of pride and regret. is
project may be at the core of their lifeworld.
 13 Experience Sampling Methods in Critical Event Studies … 263

Discourse: Concerned with the type of terms used to describe the situa-
tion; what are the social, educational, commercial, and ethical expressions.
Mood-as-atmosphere: ‘Moodedness’ (Ashworth, 2015, p. 13), or
being there as a state of mind.
So far, this chapter has discussed the DES method: its origins, develop-
ment, and how its use must be underpinned by a philosophical position
that is contrary to a large body of event research. is was detailed to
demonstrate that the research has a strong foundation and methodologi-
cal approach. e following section of this chapter discusses how DES
was implemented for primary data collection with the aim of acquiring a
phenomenological exploration of experience at live music events.

Implementing a Descriptive Sampling Method

e aim of the author’s doctoral research was to explore the meaning
of experience at live music events from a phenomenological perspective.
is was to be achieved by gathering data in situ, collected in real time
and also enabled the participants the opportunity to provide their mean-
ing of what these experiences involved. erefore, the method that was
used was a descriptive sampling method supported by phenomenological
interviews, and the data yielded was then analysed using Smith’s (1996)
interpretative phenomenological analysis. is was done as a means to
provide the research with a uni ed approach that would gather rich and
deep data which when analysed using a consistent technique would then
demonstrate the results of strong reliability and validity. e method-
ological issues of implementation for this approach are discussed below
and begin with consideration of the sample.

Sample
e number of participants in this research was nine using a typical
case approach. e sample size, appropriate to this research, based on
Englander’s (2012) work is to acquire a number of participants that are
experienced in the phenomenon under investigation. e focus, therefore,
264 J. Moss

should not be on representativeness or generalisability of statistics and

requires the researcher to know, beforehand, what the phenomenon is all
about and that it is legitimate. Taking this further, contests that the verb
‘sampling’ is inappropriate for this type of research because the activities
within the de nition of sampling do not apply when ‘choosing cases’ for
qualitative research (p. 1); this will be the terminology used from this
point as echoed in the work of Smith and Osborn (2007, 2015). Patton
states that when selecting cases for research, ‘ e point is to do what makes
sense, report fully on what was done, why it was done and what the impli-
cations are for the ndings’ (p. 72). Moreover, they should be selected
with a high regard for their ability to answer the research question. ‘ e
critical question to be answered by quantitative researcher in terms of
selection of participants is thus: Does the subject belong to the population
that I am studying?’ (Italics in original) (Englander, 2012, p. 20).
erefore, the most appropriate selection method of the cases for this
research was typical case selection. Emmel (2013) notes that this is when
the ‘researcher chooses typical example cases to describe and illustrate
the phenomenon they are investigating to the unfamiliar’ (p. 39). In this
research, a typical case selection, the ‘knowledgeable participants’ (ibid,
p. 39) were shaped by their previous music festival experience as this will
drive the research to be information rich and credible, which are the key
goals for qualitative investigation validity (Punch, 2013). In line with
this sampling approach and exploratory research question, the literature
supports a sample size of between 6 and 10 participants as being suf-
cient to provide rich and useful data (Miles, Huberman, & Saldana,
1994). Giorgi (2006) explains that this approach to choosing cases allows
the phenomenological nature of the experiences to be explained as the
research asks each individual, ‘What was it like?’.

Recruitment

e sample was recruited through a social media advert, and follow-

ing this, any individuals who expressed an interest where invited to an
online group forum for further information. From the registering of ini-
tial interest to the formation of the group the number of prospective
participants was 21. From here, as the speci cs of the research (date,
 13 Experience Sampling Methods in Critical Event Studies … 265

time, and involvement) became communicated, the sample was nalised

at nine participants. Due to the research approach this number of partici-
pants was considered suitable.

Participant Incentives

e participants were already attending the music festival and had pur-
chased their tickets independently of the research and thus, they had
already expressed their own desire to experience this festival. Due to the
length of time the participants would be involved in the research and as
a means to avoid issues of low morale, motivation, and dropout (Juslin
et al., 2008), the participants were incentivised with the o er of food pay-
ment over the duration of the festival. In addition, the participants were
also provided with external battery packs to ensure their smartphones
would last the duration of the music festival without having access to
an AC mains supply. is was important because while not having a
functioning mobile phone may not have impacted upon their personal
experience of the festival, it would have led to the participants dropping
out of the research.

Research Site

e phenomenological nature of this research requires a deep understand-

ing of the individual experiences of each participant involved. erefore,
the music type, size, or location of the festival was not the primary focus
of this experiential exploration. e festival chosen was e Green Man
festival and was chosen because it occurs late in the festival calendar
(14–18 August 2014) which provided the research preparation with more
time to ensure it was well planned.

Equipment

e participants all had use of their own smartphone; these were used so
that the participant burden was minimised and they could also be used
when there was no Wi-Fi/internet availability. ey were also provided
266 J. Moss

with an external battery so that they could ensure their phones were
charged during the entire research period. ey were all asked to down-
load the Supernote app (available for both iPhone and Android models)
into their smartphone.
e improvements in technology and the lowered cost have signi cantly
developed from pen, paper, and pagers, to palm-top personal organisers, to
mobile phones, and now the latest research using ESM can do so with a
smartphone application. is is supported by Raento, Oulasvirta, and Eagle
(2009) who discuss the two main arguments for smartphone use in research
is that rstly their ‘ exible control’ and secondly their ‘cost e ciency’
(p. 429). Furthermore, they recognise the smartphone’s role in improving
ecological validity. Firstly because they are an ‘integrated and nonintrusive
part of both the individuals’ as well as social life,’ so their ‘Access’ is strong
and secondly, ‘those phenomena accessible to smartphones can be studied
without the researchers being present,’ so they are capable of ‘unobtrusive
data collection’ (p. 429). ese factors, combined with real-time self-doc-
umentation provide greater control in ESM studies (Raento et al., 2009).
Randall, Rickard, and Vella-Brodrick (2014) used the MuPsych application
(app) to study music-based emotional regulation. is app has demon-
strated high ecological validity (Randall & Rickard, 2013) but personal
biases and expectations are still present in this type of approach due to the
reliance on self-reporting (Bylsma & Rottenburg, 2010). In relation to this
research, the app is not suitable for data collection due to its quantitative
design and while there are qualitative apps available as illustrated in https://
faculty.unlv.edu/hurlburt/desinfo.pdf, there were no means to download it,
at least in the U.K. at the time of the primary research.

Pre-brie ng

e key part of this preparation was ensuring the participants were suf-
ciently well informed so that they were able to e ectively engage and
undertake their role as co-researcher. e purpose of the pre-brie ng
meeting was to enable this. In addition this type of meeting helps develop
trust in DES research (Fuller-Tyszkiewicz et al., 2013; Scollon & Kim-
Prieto, 2003) as well as in-depth interviews (Englander, 2012).
 13 Experience Sampling Methods in Critical Event Studies … 267

During the meetings, each participant was told that the research would
cover a 5-day period beginning on ursday 14 August at 12:00 midday
and ending on Monday 18 August at 12:00 midday. During this time,
they would receive noti cations on a random basis via SMS messages.
e message would state one word, ‘Capture’, and upon receiving it, the
participants would be expected to record what they were experiencing
at the moment they received the message. e smartphone application
Supernote was used and enabled them to capture their experiences using
words, photographs, or voice recording as well as logging the time and
date at which it was received. How to use this app was also part of the
pre-brie ng. It was explained to them that they should feel empowered
to ‘capture’ whatever they were experiencing at that time and that there
was no ‘right or wrong’ response to the noti cation. e signals, while
randomly organised, had been planned by the researcher. It was designed
for the participants to receive them at unpredictable moments because as
Hulbert and Heavey (2001) argue from their own research using DES,
it means:
e bleep catches experiences in ight and most subjects report that
the disruption is small and that it is possible to capture at least a substan-
tial portion of the ongoing experience.
It was then explained to the participants that following the 5-day
DES period, a one-to-one interview would take place with them within
the next 48 hours and that it would last about an hour. e location
for this was chosen by them as somewhere they felt relaxed. ey were
informed about their anonymity and the con dentiality and security
of their data. ey were also assured that this research had been subject
to, and had passed, all She eld Hallam University’s criteria for ethical
research. eir right to withdraw at any time during the research col-
lection and analysis process without the information that they provided
being used was also made clear to them. ey were also provided with
a written copy of this information, a site map, and emergency contact
information.
e DES was implemented as outlined but while the data collected
was invaluable to the overall research, it provided only a starting point for
the collection of the deeper phenomenological information. e inter-
view technique that was used is discussed next.
268 J. Moss

The Phenomenological Interview

e reason behind the use of phenomenological interviews was because
it has strong support from past research and across disciplines as an
e ective approach to exploring peoples’ lived experiences, a key aim of
this research. When combined with Smith’s (2009) interpretative phe-
nomenological analysis it yields insights into those experiences that past
studies have shown to be valid and, as a piece of qualitative research,
generalisable.
e purpose of the phenomenological interview, as Roulston (2010:16)
highlights, is:

To generate detailed and in-depth descriptions of human experiences.

us, an interview structure that generates detailed information concerning
these experiences as well as the participant’s responses to the phenomenon
of investigation is crucial. Since researchers want to understand the partici-
pants’ feelings, perceptions and understandings, open questions are par-
ticularly useful in providing a format for interviewees to answer in their
own words.

Finlay (2012:4) sees that phenomenology is now an umbrella term

for a diverse means of enquiry, some of which contradict one another.
O ering 5 points of unity, however, it is the following that should be,
and is for this research, at the heart of phenomenological research:
Phenomenological research starts with the researcher who has a curios-
ity or passion that is turned into a research question. ey want to better
understand a particular phenomenon (be it a lived experience, event, or
situation) and they forge a ‘strong relation’ (van Manen, 1997, p. 33) to
the topic.
Punch (2013) notes that while the interview technique has been classi-
ed using a variety of typologies, the two main factors that are considered
are structure and depth. e type of approach advocated here would sit at
the far end of Punch’s (ibid.) continuum. at is to say these interviews
aim to yield a great depth and insight and do so with a largely unstruc-
tured questioning style. is is supported by Mittelstaedt (2001) who
sees the open-ended or unstructured interview as a means to ‘illuminate
 13 Experience Sampling Methods in Critical Event Studies … 269

the salient dimensions’ of experiences (p. 151). For this research, the
interview design was structured around the responses to the signals sent
during the rst part of the DES. ere were, however, no predetermined
questions and participants are able to discuss each entry in as much detail
as they wished. It is this type of interview that allows the interviewees to
focus on their experience and what they see as important in relation to
it. Furthermore, this degree of ‘structure’ will help maintain the partici-
pant’s focus and thus increase the chance of generating useful data which
can be criticism, or concern at least, for this type of interview technique
(Roulston, 2010).
From Mittelstaedt’s (2001) comparative study of research methods it
was found that 95 % of the sample found that the capturing aspects of
experience using experience sampling to be very accurate because there
was very little memory loss or bias. Furthermore 57 % found that the
in-depth interview was the most accurate picture of their experience.
is provides strong support for combining these two approaches by
using a descriptive sampling method followed by the in-depth interview.
Smith and Osborn (2007) support this by recognising this approach as
the foundation of interpretative phenomenological analysis. is inter-
view technique and the analytical process have been used to successfully
explore the experiences of people in a number of health- and medical-
related situations (Brocki & Wearden, 2006). Since then, it has been used
to investigate a wide range of socio-psychological phenomena includ-
ing identity, well-being, and parenting and occupational health (Clarke,
2009; Smith, 2015). e potential richness of the data from using this
type of interview technique, while also providing strong, credible, and
reliable because of the analytical framework, demonstrates its suitability
and applicability to this investigation into the experiences of live music
festivals. is perspective is supported by Reid, Flowers, and Karkin
(2005), p. 23) who conclude their review of the research approach by
stating that it is becoming increasingly diverse in its application with
research:
Going beyond traditional health psychology journals, and into social
psychology, nursing studies, religious and existential studies, music, art
and occupational therapy, and the ‘traditional’ journals of the medi-
cal profession…[It] is particularly suited to researching in ‘unexplored
270 J. Moss

territory’, where theoretical pretext may be lacking. Bypassing the closed

systems of borrowed hypotheses and theories, it can instead provide
meaningful and unexpected analysis of psychosocial issues.
Generally speaking, in-depth interviews are a more traditional
approach to qualitative research so the speci cs of implementation will
not be detailed further here but Smith and Osborn (2015) provide a
good overview and information regarding how to use them in primary
research. As was noted earlier, the data was analysed using interpretative
phenomenological analysis, and this is detailed in Smith, Flowers, and
Larkin (2009). e details of this analytical process will, however, have to
be reserved for another chapter.

Conclusion
e chapter was written to illustrate a new direction for event research.
Using the psychological research tool of DES can generate new insights
into events and festivals. e chapter discussed, however, not simply a
new method of data collection but also a new research philosophy. is
new philosophical lens sees not only events di erently, but in addi-
tion, the very focus and reason for doing research. It is a critical socio-
psychological perspective that can develop theory, permit new voices to
be heard, and experiences to be explored. It is this type of methodological
consideration and advancement, supported by those in social sciences,
which will drive events studies forward.

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