Continuing Qualitative Data Collection During the COVID 19 Pandemic: Lessons Learnt from A Study Among Tribes in Manipur, India

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions in carrying out research activities in the field. The estab-lished methods of data collection for both qualitative and quantitative research could not be implement-ed. Researchers worldwide adopted contactless data collection methods, including the use of mobile phones for research purposes.This paper presents the experiences of conducting interviews among trib-al population using mobile phones in three villages of Manipur during the pandemic.The interviews proved to be successful and effective. Minor technical glitches were a challenge but were not significant to affect the quality of the data. During unprecedented times such as the current pandemic, conducting interviews via mobile phones could be a viable alternative to face-to-face interviews for collecting quali-tative data from the communities.