Dear (Digital) Diary: Evaluating the Audio Diary Technique as a Research Method

This chapter investigates how individuals interpreted and considered the audio-diary technique, un- derstanding the interaction between the subject and the medium and the potential of new technological tools (e.g., smartphone, social network) in producing data. The research is based on a previous study conducted during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy, more specifically, the transition from phase 1 to phase 2. Each participant—11 female and 6 male, between 28 and 45 years old, and living in the northern part of Italy—was asked to register one audio per day for a week (7-13 May). After this period, the author undertook a final follow-up semi-structured interview to evaluate how much the audio-diary had an im- pact both on people’s daily lives and on their way of expressing information. The data collected suggest a number of advantages and disadvantages to the use of audio-diary to collect individuals’ experience. The author will briefly describe the steps of AD technique by using the collected material (interviews) and what has emerged from the analysis of qualitative data.