Exploring the efficacy of Ecological Momentary Assessment as a tool to explore the impact of different academic spaces for academic staff within Higher Education.

Bendall, Amy and Phelps, Ceri and Hutchings, Paul B. and Rendón-Guerrero, Yolanda and Bartlett, Gary and Jenkins, Sean (2023) Exploring the efficacy of Ecological Momentary Assessment as a tool to explore the impact of different academic spaces for academic staff within Higher Education. [Data Collection]

Abstract

With the increase of hybrid working and flexible workspace design following the recent global upheaval, it has become imperative to more deeply examine the needs of the workforce into the changing future. This paper reports on a small-scale feasibility study which utilised an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) methodology to measure the impact of different academic workspaces on key job-related and psychological variables, over the period of one working week. The efficacy of using an EMA methodology within the context of Higher Education staffing teams is discussed, with consideration given to the ability of EMA to gather nuanced and contextual data from knowledge-work engaged individuals, whose working practices are often flexible and/or uncertain. Alongside the insights gathered from the research project itself, emergent issues such as participant recruitment and attrition are recognised and addressed, and recommendations for future research practices are suggested.