Using Solicited Written Qualitative Diaries to Develop Conceptual Understandings of Sleep

Methodological Reviews and Insights From the Accounts of University Lives

Bibliographic Data

ID2410693
AuthorsTim Gawley (0000-0001-9874-4347)
Year2018
Volume17
Issue1
Pages160940691879425
Publication date2018-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Qualitative Methods (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1609-4069 • E-ISSN: 1609-4069
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1609406918794255
OpenAlexW2889075235
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited50

This article presents the use of the solicited written qualitative sleep diary as a method for understanding sleep experience. The article reviews selected quantitative and qualitative research to contextualize contemporary sleep circumstances and concerns. It continues with a summary of previous diary applications in social scientific sleep research. The article then outlines the diary template, data collection procedures, and sampling. Diaries were received from a sample of 48 university students at a Canadian university campus who enrolled in a fourth-year course on sleep and society. The method's analytical potential is highlighted by student accounts that construct meanings of sleep around academic accomplishments which are conceptualized as 'rituals of obligation.' Students interpret sleep as a shutting off from ritual obligation. 'Shut off' is observed in four ways: personalized management techniques, calendar rhythmicity, introspective bargaining, and the sleep fritter. The methodological discussion of the sleep diary echoes previously articulated observations about the method while offering additional strengths, precautions, and possibilities relating to the diary's trustworthiness as a prioritized data collection method. The solicited written qualitative sleep diary benefits from its access and flexibility of participation, the encouragement of creative expression, the adoption of incentives and support mechanisms, and research reflexivity

Cognitive psychology · Construct (python library · Data collection · Flexibility (engineering · Introspection · Medical education · Obligation · Qualitative research · Reflexivity · Sleep (system call · Social science · Sociology · Computer Science · Medicine · Psychology · Sleep and related disorders · Sleep and Wakefulness Research

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