EMA is characterized by four features: (1) collection of data in real-world environments; (2) assessments that focus on individuals' current or very recent states or behaviors; (3) assessments that may be event-based, time-based, or randomly prompted (depending on the research question); and (4) completion of multiple assessments over time (Stone and Shiffman 1994).
I-EMA ibonakala ngezici ezine: (1) iqoqo lemininingwane ezindaweni zangempela zomhlaba; (2) ukuhlolwa okugxila ekushiwo abantu noma kwamanje ukuziphatha noma ukuziphatha okukhona; (3) ukuhlolwa okungahle kusekelwe emlandweni, isikhathi esisekelwe, noma ngokungahleliwe (kuye ngokuthi umbuzo wocwaningo); futhi (4) ukuphothula ukuhlolwa okuningi ngokuhamba kwesikhathi (Stone and Shiffman 1994).