Evan day 0: Introduction to sampling

Summary

This video introduces Evan to Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES), a method for studying a person’s immediate inner experience through randomly timed beeps followed by detailed interviews. Russ explains how to use the beeper and what kind of report the researchers are seeking.

How the sampling works

• Evan should wear the beeper during ordinary activities—not sit and wait for it to sound.
• The beeper selects random intervals, ranging from a few seconds to nearly an hour. Neither Evan nor the researchers know when the next beep will occur.
• When it beeps, Evan should try to capture what was present in his experience immediately before the beep began. Russ calls this the “moment of the beep”: the last undisturbed moment, as if the beep caught the experience in flight.
• Evan should stop the beep with the white button, then record notes about the experience. Notes can be brief or extensive and may be written, drawn, or recorded as audio.
• The goal is not to list every sensory input. Evan should report what was actually present to his awareness—whether that was a thought, a visual detail, a bodily sensation, or several things at once. A stimulus may reach his senses without being part of his conscious experience.
• Reports should concern that particular moment, not what Evan usually thinks or does. The researchers want to distinguish what he genuinely experienced then from what he knows was happening in the surrounding conversation or situation.

Beeper instructions

1. Turn the beeper on with the thumb wheel. It will begin beeping; press the white button to stop it.
2. To check that it is working, hold down the white button. This produces a test beep.
3. Connect and wear the earphone. The beep needs to be clear and sudden; a beep from a distant built-in speaker could be mistaken for something else and allow the original experience to fade.
4. While holding the white button, turn the thumb wheel to adjust the volume. Set it loud enough to be unmistakable but not startling. The appropriate level may depend on the setting.
5. After stopping a sampling beep, make notes about the moment. Turn the unit off when the day’s sampling is complete.
6. If the beeper is accidentally left on after a beep, it eventually stops the sustained tone and produces periodic chirps to conserve battery. The chirp is not a new sample; turn the unit off and restart it if needed.
7. If two beeps occur very close together, ignore the second one. If the first beep startles Evan during one or two early attempts, he may set that sample aside. If this continues, the group should discuss it.

The device’s initial startup sound differs from the sharp, sustained sampling beep. Russ emphasizes that a useful sampling beep should have a clear, abrupt onset so there is little ambiguity about when the moment to report occurred.

Sampling schedule and practice

• The target is about six beeps, which will usually take roughly three or four hours, though the time can vary substantially.
• Sampling is planned approximately once a week, in the day or so before the next interview. For this first round, Evan and the researchers plan to meet the following Friday, with sampling on Thursday or Friday.
• Evan should choose a normal stretch of life and, over time, include varied activities—such as working, walking, going to the gym, or podcasting—rather than sampling only at his desk.
• He may experiment with the equipment between scheduled sampling sessions, but the six samples discussed in an interview should be fresh.
• The first day is expected to be difficult and may be treated as practice or “artifact.” The researchers expect the procedure and the interpretation of reports to improve through repeated sampling and discussion.

Interviews, interpretation, and safeguards

• In follow-up interviews, Russ and Gualtiero will ask Evan about each beep and probe for details to clarify what was present in his experience. The questions and participants’ understanding are expected to improve over successive sessions as part of an iterative process.
• The team does not want to tell Evan what he should notice or give him a checklist of expected experiences. Russ says this could bias Evan toward reporting what he thinks the researchers want to hear.
• The researchers acknowledge that the method is imperfect: recalling an experience after a beep can be difficult, and the report may not capture everything that was present. The aim is to obtain useful, detailed glimpses—not a perfect account or the “deepest” essence of Evan.
• Evan may say that he is uncertain about a sample or does not want to discuss it. Participation is voluntary, and he can stop at any time.
• Evan retains control over whether the material is shared publicly. Russ describes possible transcripts and commentary but says Evan should have the decisive say about making his experience public.

First practice sample

A beep sounded during the introductory call, and Evan tried to report what had been in his experience. He mentioned thinking about whether he would be bad at the task, noticing the participants’ faces and objects behind them, and comparing a globe with a picture.

The group noted that it was difficult to tell which details were truly present just before the beep and which emerged while Evan searched his memory afterward. Russ considered this a poor DES sample because Evan had not yet learned to treat the beep as an unambiguous prompt to attend to the immediately preceding moment. The example illustrates why practice and iterative interviewing are central to the method.

Speakers and sources featured

• Russ Hurlburt — Explains the DES method and beeper. He describes his background as an aeronautical engineer and says he built the device.
• Evan McGlaughlin — The participant learning and preparing to use the sampling method.
• Gualtiero — A second interviewer who clarifies the distinction between contextual information and what was actually present in Evan’s experience. His surname is unclear in the subtitles.
• William James — Cited by Russ as the source of the phrase “footlights of consciousness.”