Qualitative Health Research During COVID-19
Hello Qualitative Mind,
When the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic back in March 2020, the world changed, the air space emptied (so did grocery store shelves #toiletpapertales), and many things we had planned were no longer viable options. In response to the global circumstances, I wrote a five-part blog series about qualitative research during a pandemic. At that time there were two things I didn’t know...First, for how long and to what extent COVID-19 would impact research activities, and that a few months later I’d be deciding to focus Quali Q on qualitative health research. Now I know what I didn’t know then!
I decided to go back to the blog posts about qualitative research during a pandemic and compile all the information that still holds true today, on September 29th, 2020, for qualitative health research. Each paragraph ends with questions you, as the researcher, might need to consider when making decisions about your qualitative research project.
Research medium: i.e., going from in-person, face-to-face interviews or focus groups to online, long-distance methods of data collection. Research activities are still suspended in many clinical settings, and where they’ve resumed they’re mostly happening online or via telephone. Six months into the pandemic, participants are more used to Zoom, Google Meets, Skype, Adobe Connect, etc. yet the concern about accessibility remains.
What concerns do I have about my participants being able to access a mobile device and stable internet connection for research activities? What steps do I need to take to address or mitigate my concerns?
In addition to accessibility, it’s key to consider how you’ll connect and build rapport with your participants. In my opinion, in-person meant “getting to know one another” from the minute researcher-participant(s) met and shook hands, and those things aren’t happening right now. Also, there aren’t snacks to be shared and parallel/side conversations to be heard. {Side note: This whole paragraph made me feel slightly sad for the limitations of online methods of data collection.} However, I want you to remember that it’s not all doom and gloom. Some topics might flow better through online mediums, and some participants might feel more comfortable talking when physically distancing.
How am I assessing the implications of online methods of data collection on the qualitative data I’m collecting? How am I responding to any concerns I have about data validity, ethics and participant/researcher well-being?
Research topic: I’m encouraging qualitative health researchers to embrace the moments their participants take to talk about COVID-19. I believe qualitative health research is about bringing humanity back to health research and, in order to fully do that at this point, we must allow humanity to acknowledge, talk and grieve the 2020 pandemic. There will be life post-pandemic, and qualitative health research can elucidate ways we can support people in moving forward. For now, though, researchers are going to deal with the natural fact that participants want or need to talk about COVID-19 during interviews or focus groups (and that should be okay)! With that being said, if you feel your research topic became irrelevant in the current circumstances (and perhaps you do), I’m 100% sure you’re not alone. I had a chance to see many people pivoting their research questions and methods to align with the 2020 climate; where issues of social justice, health inequity and racism became the centre of debates in the US and worldwide. One person I talked to back in April was going to explore university students’ well-being and supports, and decided to change their research questions in response to the current pandemic. I think there will be so much to be learned in so many areas, and the opportunities can be exciting yet feel overwhelming.
In what ways have I embraced the pandemic as a topic in MY qualitative health research? What has changed in the way I think about the relevance of my research? How am i supporting my participants’ emotions through what has been a challenging year for most?
Ethics: Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)/Ethics Boards have had a record number of decisions and amendments to assess and adjudicate in 2020. So many health researchers had questions about informed consent through online methods of data collection, as well as confidentiality and privacy. Months after the pandemic was declared, there are more guidelines and information to support ethical decision making in health research, including qualitative health research. Confidentiality and privacy during online methods of qualitative data collection –especially when participants are at home and not alone- can be tricky. It’s important to remember that participants might live in unsafe places or be in abusive relationships that prevent them from feeling safe when sharing thoughts, perceptions and experiences with researchers. One simple thing to discuss with participants is a safe word they can use to signal the need to end an interview, for example. Additionally, you can encourage them to use headphones. In the case of focus groups, as researchers, we always ask participants not to share any comments outside of the group, and to be respectful of others.
So, what do we need to do in order to create a sense of responsibility and respect online? How do we address the fact that a print screen or an unauthorized recording is unacceptable and might have unintended, harmful consequences? In my opinion, these are all questions that need to be discussed with participants before any data collection begins. Participants need to be part of setting the ground rules if they are going to be really, truly following them. This is one reason why patient engaged research has gained even more traction in the last few months.
How will I make sure my participants can safely answer my questions? How am I going to ask for participant consent? What is my plan to reiterate consent for participation and agreement with audio or video recording? What steps will I take to ensure optimal confidentiality? How will I store the data on my personal computer at home?
The circumstances surrounding COVID-19 and health research will continue to evolve. Yet, the questions asked here will likely continue to be applicable. Hopefully they become easier to answer as we learn more and gain more experience living and working through a pandemic.
Yours truly,
Maira