Tomer Sharon

several types of questions you should avoid in an experience sampling study because they will never help you uncover needs:
Questions about opinions: Asking for someone’s opinion about something several times a day or week is useless. Opinions don’t change five times a day or week, and there’s no point in asking for them that much. Examples might include:
• What do you think about hiring a Web developer for updating your website?
• Should links be blue or black?
Questions that speak to “average” behavior: A common trap people who phrase questions for experience sampling fall into is asking them in a way that vaguely refers to a time frame about which the question is asked. For example, when you ask, “What frustrates you most about boarding a train?” you are setting yourself up for failure. Let’s assume the person who tries to answer this question has boarded trains 300 times during her lifetime, 50 of them in the past year, one last week. This person will probably not remember all of the frustrations about boarding a train and will try to come up with an answer that “averages” the ones she does remember (maybe the last five). She will also try to satisfy you with the answer and give you a real interesting one with a nice anecdote

anecdote. The answer will probably not represent many real frustrations very well. The best way to avoid this trap is to ask about the last time the behavior happened. This way, her memory is still fresh, and it is less likely the participant will pick and choose an answer she thinks will satisfy you. Here are some examples for questions that ask people to “average” their behavior:
• What frustrates you the most when you board a plane?
• How do you spend time while you wait in a long line?
Questions that are too general: While taking a broad approach to learning from people is usually a good thing to do, asking a general question in experience sampling is going to force you to deal with a lot of noise. If you are interested in one aspect of a topic, ask about that aspect rather than asking about the entire topic. For example, if you decided that the scope of your research was uncovering needs related to finding a parking spot, don’t ask, “What annoys you about driving in a city?” Instead, ask, “What was the most frustrating thing that happened to you the last time you were looking for a parking space?” Here are some more examples of questions that are too general:
• What frustrated you recently?
• How did you decide which smartphone to purchase?

anecdote. The answer will probably not represent many real frustrations very well. The best way to avoid this trap is to ask about the last time the behavior happened. This way, her memory is still fresh, and it is less likely the participant will pick and choose an answer she thinks will satisfy you. Here are some examples for questions that ask people to “average” their behavior:
• What frustrates you the most when you board a plane?
• How do you spend time while you wait in a long line?
Questions that are too general: While taking a broad approach to learning from people is usually a good thing to do, asking a general question in experience sampling is going to force you to deal with a lot of noise. If you are interested in one aspect of a topic, ask about that aspect rather than asking about the entire topic. For example, if you decided that the scope of your research was uncovering needs related to finding a parking spot, don’t ask, “What annoys you about driving in a city?” Instead, ask, “What was the most frustrating thing that happened to you the last time you were looking for a parking space?” Here are some more examples of questions that are too general:
• What frustrated you recently?
• How did you decide which smartphone to purchase?
• What is email good for