The email-diary: a promising research tool for the 21st century?

Abstract

The global research community has identified that, as society becomes ever more mobile and 24/7-oriented, data collection methods that reflect the day-to-day experiences of its participants need to be developed. This article reviews the success and issues of using a solicited email-diary, developed to investigate the impact on commuters of London hosting the 2012 Olympic Games. Research on the effectiveness of diaries as a method of data collection is limited, while there appears to be no analysis using email as a method of soliciting diary responses. The article identifies the research opportunities for an email-diary and the solutions it provides to a number of the problems and limitations experienced with a traditional pen-and-paper diary.