Analysis

The Day Reconstruction Method (DRM) was developed by Dr. Daniel Kahneman, Dr. Alan B. Krueger, Dr. David A. Schkade, Dr. Norbert Schwarz, and Dr. Arthur A. Stone. It was designed to assess individuals’ daily activities and emotional experiences. The method asks participants to recall and describe their activities and feelings throughout a typical day, offering a detailed picture of their everyday life.

Purpose

The purpose of the DRM is to provide detailed information about individuals’ daily activities and emotions, in order to identify patterns in daily life and gain a better understanding of the factors that influence well-being and quality of life.

Scoring

The DRM includes two subscales:
Activity Recording: Participants are asked to record all the activities they performed the previous day in chronological order, typically in 15–30 minute intervals.
Emotional Assessment: Participants then evaluate their feelings for each recorded activity using a 7-point Likert scale. Emotions may include joy, anxiety, anger, pleasure, etc.

References

Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D. A., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. A. (2004). A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: The Day Reconstruction Method. Science, 306(5702), 1776–1780.
Kahneman, D., & Krueger, A. B. (2006). Developments in the measurement of subjective well-being. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(1), 3–24.
Stone, A. A., & Mackie, C. (2013). Subjective Well-Being: Measuring Happiness, Suffering, and Other Dimensions of Experience. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.