Advantages of Experience Sampler
Why you should use Experience Sampler
Low Operational Costs
Most of the things you need to use Experience Sampler are free! We ed Experience Sampler with the goal of minimizing operational costs. There are only two costs currently associated with Experience Sampler: an iOS Enterprise Developer Account ($299 USD/ year) and a server. If you only want to distribute to Android devices, you only have to pay for a server! Best of all, there no limits on the number of devices, apps, or signals! That means you can run as many experience sampling studies as you want with as many participants as you want and beep them as many times you want! Just think about all that statistical power! The hardware costs are also low because you can just use participants' own devices. The devices don't need to be smartphones either! Tablets and iPod touches work with Experience Sampler too!
Greater Control Over Data Collection
Experience Sampler also provides you with greater control over the data collection process. Each response is time-stamped to the second, so you can determine whether responses were actually collected in the same moments, or whether participants were interrupted in the middle of completing the questionnaire and resumed at a later point in time. You can also disable the app for specified periods of time between beeps to prevent participants from hoarding (i.e., providing multiple reports from memory in a single moment). You can also have the questionnaire reset after a specific amount of time has passed so that responses from different moments are not grouped together in one set of responses.
No Cell Signal = No Problem
By using the local notification system in Android and iOS operating systems, we eliminate the need for a constant cell signal. The local notification system is the same system that reminds you of your next appointment in your favourite calendar app. This minimizes the costs to participants: They use less of their data plans and do not incur any costs that might be associated with receiving SMS messages. This also means that other mobile devices like tablets and iPod touches can also be used instead of smartphones because Experience Sampler stores the participants' data on their devices and sends the data whenever they are connected to the Internet through a cell signal or WiFi.
Minimize Selection Bias
Experience Sampler is compatible with both Android and iOS devices, the two most popular mobile operating systems currently available. In 2013, the majority of American smartphone users used either an Android or iOS device. In 2014, Android and iOS devices made up 96.1% of the worldwide smartphone market.
Open Source = Limitless Possibilities
Already know how to program in JavaScript or know someone who does? Need a function or a feature that isn't already available? Develop it yourself! Open Source means that as a community we can work together to make Experience Sampler one of the best tools for experience sampling available. Cordova also has an extensive library of plugins that can be used to take advantage of all the other features of a mobile device like GPS data, camera, location-based notifications, and the accelerometer.