Getting Extreme Poverty Narrated: Methodological Challenges of Interviewing Older Persons

Abstract

Interviewing different groups involves different challenges and opportunities. Older persons living in extreme poverty are among those who warrant special methodological considerations. Building on the experiences of life-history interviews with extreme poor older persons in Bangladesh, this article contributes with a methodological reflection on the interview process from the start to the end. The article highlights the key practical, emotional, and ethical concerns that impact the interview process. Adopting an activist approach, it asserts that offering additional power and (or) agency to poor and vulnerable participants yields more benefit to research. The article challenges the traditional consent-seeking process as it remains short of protecting the participants fully. Period of silence appears to be crucial in interviews for which a researcher should devise schemes on how to manage and analyze silence as a non-textual interview content. The paper stresses on the need to frame plans and protocols for the researchers themselves as they can be exposed to mental, physical, or social harm. It recommends reformulation of the idea of accountability toward the research participants in relation to incentivisation, dissemination and reporting back to the community. Understanding all such nuances and careful dealing of micro-ethical aspects are crucial to succeed in an interview. The article can be particularly beneficial for early-stage researchers who conduct interviews with people living in extreme poverty, as it makes them more aware and prepared to deal with the possible challenges inherent in different stages of the interview process.

Family's roles as a welfare pillar: The case of older persons living in extreme poverty in Bangladesh

“…When the participants paused in their narration, we discussed key points of interest that required further investigation and explanation. Experience revealed that if participants are clearly informed about the objectives of the meeting and are given the autonomy to decide what to share and what to withhold, they become co-contributors to the research process (Akram, 2021). Thus, the participants were given the freedom to make these decisions.…”

Challenges and Strategies in Conducting Population Health Research during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experience from a Nationwide Mixed-Methods Study in Bangladesh

“…In the rural communities, it is likely that people believe that being interviewed would bring some sort of benefit (token money, project support) [33,34]. It is also likely that the curious masses around the interview place would cause a higher amount of person-to-person contact during the interviews in the community settings [21]. Interviewing the healthcare professionals required a minimal level of direct interaction, as the interviews were conducted in a private location at a convenient time (e.g., during the afternoon at their chambers).…”

“…In the context of Bangladesh, the existing literature presents a shortage of subjective reflective accounts on challenges and mitigating strategies in conducting population health research during the pandemic. To the best of our knowledge, a few studies reported challenges and/or strategies concerning population-based research in Bangladesh during pre-pandemic times [12,[19][20][21]. However, a detailed study account of the challenges faced by researchers conducting nationwide population health research during the COVID-19 pandemic and the mitigating strategies used to overcome them has not been reported.…”

Pandemi̇ Süreci̇nde Yaşli Bi̇reyleri̇n Gözünden Kirilganlik Ve Hi̇zmet Baskin Mantik

“…These durations include data collection directly aiming research topic. While making phone interviews raised difficulties for conversation, personal issues like mutual understanding or personal sensitivity (like not wanting to complain about something as they would be accepted as 'grumbling' when they do so) (Wenger et al, 2003;Akram, 2021) also created barriers for the researchers. As phone interviews are more demanding and follow a more rapid pace (Herzog et al, 1983), for these participants, we try to let them speak about their experiences which they attach importance by mentioning more.…”