Re-Constructing The Subject: Aligning Theory and Method with Intensive Longitudinal Research

Abstract

This dissertation explores how ILD can help researchers better understand psychological processes, not just by collecting new kinds of data, but by critically aligning theory, measurement, and analysis. ILD is often argued to be both a technical solution to long-standing problems in psychology, and a tool to develop new theories concerned with dynamic, person-specific processes. However, building on the challenges I discussed above, I argue that this opportunity to re-construct the subject can only be realized if we adopt a reflexive research attitude: methodological tools are not neutral, and the assumptions built into them determine what kinds of psychological structures we are able to observe. This thesis provides practical resources for applied researchers to navigate this space of constraints and possibilities and to make informed design and analysis decisions when studying time-varying psychological phenomena.