Focusing on “A Day in the Life”: An Activity-Based Method for the Qualitative Analysis of Psychological Phenomena

This article addresses the increasing need in psychology to develop creative research methods that adjust both to the research objectives and to a given theoretical framework. By focusing on a study in health psychology, we propose a new tool that may be appropriate to analyse subjective well-being, in particular, but more generally other issues of human experience. Based on a socio-cultural approach, we present how our method embraces psychological phenomena as changing processes embedded within everyday life. Moreover, we describe its longitudinal design characterised by the possibility to access meaning through two stages separated by time yet closely interlinked: the first made up of a descriptive interview on “a day in the life” and the second one of a reflective interview, mobilising a “turning back” to daily activity in order to further develop related intentions and values. Through empirical results, we show how this method may be particularly fruitful in reaching in-depth qualitative data through indirect means. Implications for research in the psychological field are discussed.