Micro Decision-Making in everyday life: an investigation with subjective evidence-based ethnography

Oraee, Atrina (2024) Micro Decision-Making in everyday life: an investigation with subjective evidence-based ethnography. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

Micro Decision-Making (MDM) refers to the numerous, small-scale decisions individuals make daily. However, the subjective experience and micro-processes underlying MDM in natural settings remain largely unexplored. To address this gap, we employed Subjective Evidence-Based Ethnography (SEBE), a methodology combining first-person video recordings with wearable video glasses (subcams), self-confrontation interviews, and detailed activity analysis to capture the moment-to-moment dynamics, contextual factors, and subjective processes involved in everyday MDM. Approximately 50 hours of first-person perspective recordings from 51 UK adults aged 22- 60 engaged in typical daily activities such as cleaning, cooking, commuting, organising, and grocery shopping were collected, then analysed in detail and coded with the participants themselves. We developed a novel participative coding system, the Reinforced Replay Interview (RRIW), which enables the identification of reorientation and MDM instances based on participants’ subjective experiences, addressing a critical limitation in previous decision-making (DM) research that relied on self-reported data or memory, or external interpretation. We identified specific behavioural variables, such as pausing, hesitation, and scanning, that serve as observable markers of MDM instances. Their occurrence and combination reflect shifts between semi-automatic and deliberate processing modes. By analysing over 2700 instances of breaks in the flow of activity, of which around 84% were labelled by participants as connected with a “decision”, we built a grounded model of how the activity is oriented at the microscopic level. Our findings challenge and refine traditional DM models, such as rational choice theory and dual-process accounts; they provide an informed picture of how micro-decisions intertwine with the activity flow where the actor’s activity is channelled and fluidly coupled with the context. We forward the explanation that activity is controlled by prediction-error detection processes, where attention, exploration and reasoning are scarce resources that are mobilised only when necessary. With unprecedented, very detailed, material collected in natural settings and interpretations validated by the participants themselves, this thesis contributes to the body of research on naturalistic DM by providing a rich, contextualised description and understanding of the subjective experiences and micro-processes underlying MDM in everyday life. Its insights have important implications for developing interventions.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	© 2024 Atrina Oraee
Uncontrolled Keywords:	micro decision-making, subjective experience, everyday life, Subjective Evidence-Based Ethnography (SEBE), naturalistic decision-making, choice architecture, activity theory, installation theory, dual-process, flow
Library of Congress subject classification:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Sets:	Departments > Psychological and Behavioural Science
Supervisor:	Lahlou, Saadi
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/4756

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