Nothing Replaced the Snacks...

Hello Qualitative Minds,

More than one year ago we released a resource called “12 Questions to Ask Yourself While Conducting Qualitative Health Research During COVID-19,” and as I write this blog post I’m thinking we might soon archive that resource. In Canada, many people are fully vaccinated, and various activities are resuming to our pre-pandemic days. 

When I reflect on the qualitative research projects I was involved with during the pandemic, I feel thankful for everything that I learned, and each milestone my clients and mentees achieved. There were many pivots, and sometimes they weren’t simple or easy. When I think about the things COVID-19 took away from qualitative research, the first one that comes to mind is food. 

Yes, you read that correctly. The snacks and meals we shared with participants and communities during the qualitative research process couldn’t be replaced with anything else because the whole thing wasn’t just about giving people food. It was more so about the experience of sharing food. 

During my PhD research with Northeast African women, we shared a lot of food before, during and after focus groups. Because of that I have some strong beliefs about the role of food in the qualitative research process. In my opinion, food is a way to engage with participants, to build trust, to facilitate data collection, to enable dialogue, and to enrich knowledge translation and mobilization. 

So the pandemic took away the snacks we shared during research activities, and I can’t help but think about what that meant for the data we collected and our findings. After all, you know me…I say that every decision in qualitative research isn’t necessarily good or bad but they all carry implications and meanings for the research process. 

Sadly, I don’t think anything replaced (or ever could have fully replaced) sharing food in a research setting with participants, especially in the context of cross-cultural research. Food allows people to talk about the experiences and meanings in their socio-cultural contexts in a way that is quite unique. It brings us close to our participants, and makes encounters and dialogues in research settings feel more natural. 

Many research activities and ways of working together we had to implement in the past year worked reasonably well. They even had their own advantages, and created new opportunities. However, I can’t say that about the food! The snacks and meals couldn’t be replaced without losing the human connection, so I do hope they’ll be making a strong comeback. {Yes, we might get grumpy about the logistics, catering, food safety, etc. But, we’ll know it’s worth it!}

Next time we sit back and observe people sharing food during research activities, we’ll fully appreciate the optimal conditions snacks and meals create for qualitative researchers to truly learn from their participants.

As for me, I hope to never take eating together for granted again. I missed this so much!

Talk soon,

Maira