Practical Considerations in Qualitative Health Research During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced both quantitative and qualitative health researchers to adapt and strategize data collection strategies without causing any harm to the participants or researchers. This has resulted in utilizing various types of strategies such as online surveys and synchronous virtual platforms such as Zoom and Webex. This transition from face-to-face to synchronous online platforms has helped in increasing coverage as well as reaching participants who are otherwise unreachable. While quantitative health researchers seem to have made a seamless transition to synchronous online platforms, qualitative health researchers who rely on studying participants in their “real-world-settings” are facing unique challenges with online data collection strategies. This article critically examines the benefits and challenges of implementing qualitative health research studies via synchronous online platforms and provides several practical considerations that can inform qualitative health researchers. It can also assist Institutional Review Board members in reviewing and implementing qualitative health research study protocols in a manner that preserves the integrity, richness, and iterative nature of qualitative research methodology.

Online Interviews During a Pandemic: Benefits, Limitations, Strategies and the Impact On Early Career Researchers

“…Conducting interviews online has a number of advantages when compared to more traditional face-to-face methods (Dodds & Hess, 2020). Online interviews can provide added convenience for the participant by allowing them to participate from the comfort of their home or place of work (Sah et al, 2020;Varma et al, 2021). By avoiding the need to travel, online interviews are less time consuming for participants.…”

“…Online interviews allow researchers to contact participants that would otherwise be hard to reach due to geographical or access-related limitations, thus increasing the ability to capture a range of perspectives and experiences (Sah et al, 2020;Varma et al, 2021). Attending interviews online may also help to address potential power imbalances between researcher and participant.…”

“…A key limitation of conducting interview research online is that it may be less conducive to facilitating rapport between researcher and participant (Varma et al, 2021). Developing a certain affinity between researcher and participant can help to provide a comfortable environment and is necessary for eliciting in-depth participant responses.…”

“…Developing a certain affinity between researcher and participant can help to provide a comfortable environment and is necessary for eliciting in-depth participant responses. As the interviewer is the instrument of data collection, an online setting may inhibit the fostering of trust and proximity, thus restricting the research findings (Salmons, 2012;Varma et al, 2021). This lack of proximity may also make it harder for the researcher to pick up on non-verbal cues which could hinder their ability to successfully steer the discussion and could influence data collection (Tremblay et al, 2021).…”

“…This lack of proximity may also make it harder for the researcher to pick up on non-verbal cues which could hinder their ability to successfully steer the discussion and could influence data collection (Tremblay et al, 2021). An interaction limited to a computer screen and audio may miss more subtle or nuanced responses which can be key to fully understanding a participant's perspective or experience (Varma et al, 2021). Crucially, the distance created between interviewer and interviewee, could impede the researcher from being able to effectively detect signs of distress that would ordinarily be recognised during a face-to-face interaction, creating the potential for unintended harm or discomfort.…”