30 Years and a Pandemic: Panel Discussion of the Impact on Research Methods from Social Distancing
Format Type
Plenary
Format Type
Panel
Start Date
13-1-2021 2:30 PM
End Date
13-1-2021 3:20 PM
Abstract
Our recent Covid-19 pandemic has largely accelerated the use of online and distance means for data collection and analysis. In this presentation we will discuss how the social distancing requirements during the pandemic may, and may continue to, impact the specific qualitative methods of: focus groups, narrative inquiry, phenomenology, action research, appreciative inquiry, and content analysis. In many ways the shift must be accounted for starting with topic selection, and the pandemic has offered new topics for inquiry including the shift within education to crisis online education. However, how might these studies be engaged if we are required to be socially distant, avoid in-person data collection techniques such as in-class observation or focus groups, and potentially limit the collaborative analysis of in-person research teams? An additional question becomes, “Has each method been impacted to the same extent?” Content analysis, for example, may be affected very little. Thus, it is important we discuss the ways different methods have been impacted, ways we might adapt, and how altered methods might also impact topic selection beyond the novel topics related specific to Covid-19.
Keywords
Covid-19, social distancing, data collection, data analysis
30 Years and a Pandemic: Panel Discussion of the Impact on Research Methods from Social Distancing
Our recent Covid-19 pandemic has largely accelerated the use of online and distance means for data collection and analysis. In this presentation we will discuss how the social distancing requirements during the pandemic may, and may continue to, impact the specific qualitative methods of: focus groups, narrative inquiry, phenomenology, action research, appreciative inquiry, and content analysis. In many ways the shift must be accounted for starting with topic selection, and the pandemic has offered new topics for inquiry including the shift within education to crisis online education. However, how might these studies be engaged if we are required to be socially distant, avoid in-person data collection techniques such as in-class observation or focus groups, and potentially limit the collaborative analysis of in-person research teams? An additional question becomes, “Has each method been impacted to the same extent?” Content analysis, for example, may be affected very little. Thus, it is important we discuss the ways different methods have been impacted, ways we might adapt, and how altered methods might also impact topic selection beyond the novel topics related specific to Covid-19.
Comments
Our research group at the University of Phoenix, College of Doctoral Studies is developing a series of interviews, blogs, and papers based on how the Covid-19 crisis has impacted research and research methods. This panel presentation would be a representation of our discussions on this topic. The URL of our page is: https://research.phoenix.edu/content/research-methodology-group/covid-19-effects-research-methods