PIEL Survey | Experience Sampling Method (ESM) | Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA)

The PIEL Survey App is designed to gather survey data from people in their daily lives. This allows for a more nuanced understanding of a participant's patterns of thoughts and feelings than traditional survey methods. It is available from iOS 12 and Android 5. The app is free.

The complanion app, PIEL Data, provides researchers with the ability to merge multiple data files from participants. It is availabel from iOS 16.

Flexible questions and scheduling

The researcher can set a number of different styles of questions and schedule prompts for a participant to respond to the survey.

scheduled surveys to allow "in the moment" responses
on demand (contingent) surveys
run multiple different surveys at once
option to create random order questions
reminder notifications
can set surveys to run at the beginning and end of the project
no third-party server or database required
notifications are received in the user timezone even when offline

Broad Reach

The PIEL Survey can be distributed to participants using iOS or Android devices.

The same survey control file can be used on both types of devices
The participant interaction with the actual survey is simple and very similar.
The user instructions are very similar.

Pleasant User Experience

The PIEL Survey app has a simple and intuitive interface for research participants.

No user interface clutter with unnecessary information not directly related to the survey.
It uses large fonts so that participants don't need to search for glasses and can respond quickly "in the moment".
Navigation between questions can be made by the intuitive "swipe" movement (or buttons if preferred).
The interface makes it clear which responses have been made.
Participants must answer each question before proceeding to the next one. They can go back to edit them if necessary.

Powerful Research Capability

The PIEL Survey can be used for a research methodology known as Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) or Experience Sampling Method (ESM). These methods are recognised as a powerful tool which minimises recall bias and allows detailed study of influences on behaviour. The importance of being "in the moment" means that web-based surveys are of limited use. The PIEL Survey app receives notifications even when offline and surveys can also be run even when offline.

Secure

The PIEL Survey has been used in research projects in a wide range of universities and research institutions. The app has many privacy and confidentiality features that will facilitate an Institutional Review Board or Ethics Committee application.

Academic Tool

Researchers at the following institutions have published or presented results and many more projects are ongoing.

Ankara Yildrim Beyazit University, Turkey
Children’s Hospital Westmead, Australia
California State University, USA
Curtin University, Australia
Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey
Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands
Florida Atlantic University, USA
Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, USA
Helmut Schmidt University / University of the Federal Armed Forces, Hamburg, Germany
Hofstra University, USA
Johns Hopkins University, USA
Louisiana State University
Loyola University, Chicago, USA
Lund University, Sweden
Maastricht University, Netherlands
McGill University, Canada
National Taiwian University
Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
Sydney University, Australia
Sydney Children’s Hospital, Australia
Texas State University, USA
Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany
Université Grenoble Alpes, France
Université Paul Valéry, France
University of Adelaide, Australia
University of Akron, USA
University of Arkansas, USA
University of Bath, UK
University of California, Irvine, USA
University of Colorado, USA
University of Connecticut, USA
University of Georgia, USA
University of Liverpool, UK
University of London, UK
University of Louisville
University of Massachusetts, USA
University of Melbourne, Australia
University of NSW, Australia
University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA
University of Utah, USA
University of Pittsburgh, USA
University of Potsdam, Germany
University of Regensburg, Germany
University Politehnica, Romania
VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, Netherlands
Washington University, St. Louis, USA