Experience sampling with elderly persons: an exploration of the method.

The daily lives of a sample of elderly widows (greater than 69 years of age) were studied using the method of experience sampling developed by Csikszentmihalyi and his colleagues. The purpose of the study was to investigate the response of elderly people to experience sampling as a means of collecting information about their activities, thoughts, and moods during the course of one week. The method proved acceptable to the majority of participants and yielded reliable, valid data about their home lives, particularly from among the younger, more physically able women. Experience sampling was, within certain limits, a useful method of obtaining information from elderly people.