Conducting qualitative interviews via VoIP technologies: reflections on rapport, technology, digital exclusion, and ethics

Qualitative research has been strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the possibilities that Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technologies such as Skype, WhatsApp, and Zoom offer to qualitative scholars. Based on the experience of using such technologies to collect qualitative data for our PhD studies, we present how we dealt with the challenges of this interview mode. Precisely, we discuss problems related to rapport, technology, digital exclusion, and ethics frequently pointed out in the methodological literature on online interviews. Thereby we put forward strategies and techniques that helped us to 1) build a rapport, 2) manage technical difficulties, 3) reflect on risks of digital exclusion, and 4) comply with the ethical standards of our institution. In doing so, we draw on our qualitative data to support the arguments. The aim of this paper is, thus, to deepen the methodological debate on online interviews in social sciences. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Using Creative Approaches and Facilitating Remote Online Focus Groups With Children and Young People: Reflections, Recommendations and Practical Guidance

The importance of engaging and involving children and young people (CYP) in research is widely recognised, especially for educational research exploring CYP's perceptions and experiences of school processes. Historically, working with CYP to collect qualitative data has involved face-to-face interactions, however the social distancing requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic meant there was a need to move ‘online' and work ‘remotely'. In this paper we share our experiences of undertaking remote online synchronous focus groups with CYP and discuss how we overcame the challenges associated with conducting qualitative research with CYP ‘from a distance'. We used remote online synchronous focus groups to explore CYP's perspectives on how education settings can support social, emotional, and mental wellbeing. We reflect on approaches used to uphold rigour and quality, and work ethically and sensitively. We have organised this into five topics reflecting distinct parts of the planning, design and practice: 1) working with CYP as research advisors to shape the design, feasibility and suitability of the methods and approach;2) developing creative approaches within the online focus groups to increase engagement and inclusion;3) considering logistical and technical practice;4) considering ethical practice underpinning online group data collection with CYP;and 5) valuing participation and disseminate findings when working from a distance with participants. We present reflections and guidance for other researchers considering the use of remote online synchronous focus groups with CYP, as a feasible and valuable means for collecting data in both a time- and cost-effective manner.

A Creative Conversation for Re-imagining Creative Visual Methods with Children and Young People in Pandemic Times and Beyond

In this project we forward insights about the importance of being in ‘the room where it happens’ – creating tactility and togetherness in the research encounter – for research with children and young people in times of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Created in response to the intense uptake of digital methods catalysed by COVID-19, in this project we productively re-imagine moments from our creative visual research with children and young people from before the COVID-19 pandemic. This re-imagining began early in 2020 and has continued to evolve, incorporating our shifting perspectives and ‘thinking with’ the scholarship of leading creative methodologists. The creative output is in the form of a ‘Prezine’ which is our concept and is a portmanteau bringing together ‘Prezi’ a presentation tool, and ‘zine’. The Prezine charts our creative conversation, moving between four connected rhizomes of thinking about creative research with children and young people: ‘the room where it happens’, being in the encounter, spaces for the unexpected, and what we are calling ‘methodological alchemy’. The Prezine documents our experiment in thinking about research futures where we openly and creatively explore the process of making this reflective resource about research ‘becomings’.

Collecting Local Views on the Post-Covid Future of Flying Using Online Qualitative Methods: A Case Study of Bristol, UK

The aviation sector represents an important terrain for contemporary environmental politics and policy. This position has been complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to a dramatic slowdown in international travel and threatened the position of the aviation and airline sectors. The temporality of this decline remains unclear. In this article, we present online qualitative research that explores how people think their flying habits might change in the future-in the wake of both Covid-19 and resultant social restrictions and awareness of climate breakdown. To do so, we foreground our analysis in Bristol, United Kingdom-a city characterized by a strong brand of green politics and debates surrounding airport expansion and the role of aviation in a net-zero future. This work adopted a research design conducted entirely online, incorporating surveys disseminated via local media and online focus groups. Findings from this work demonstrate that close to 60% of those surveyed will likely fly less in a post-Covid future. Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic has prompted a "reimagination" of flying-with important behavioral, policy, and justice implications. Our objective in presenting this work is twofold-first to illuminate emergent patterns of behavioral change in flying post-Covid and, second, to critically reflect on conducting online qualitative research in a pandemic. © 2022 by the Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Using online technologies to improve diversity and inclusion in cognitive interviews with young people.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to assess the feasibility of using multiple technologies to recruit and conduct cognitive interviews among young people across the United States to test items measuring sexual and reproductive empowerment. We sought to understand whether these methods could achieve a diverse sample of participants. With more researchers turning to approaches that maintain social distancing in the context of COVID-19, it has become more pressing to refine these remote research methods. METHODS: We used several online sites to recruit for and conduct cognitive testing of survey items. To recruit potential participants we advertised the study on the free online bulletin board, Craigslist, and the free online social network, Reddit. Interested participants completed an online Qualtrics screening form. To maximize diversity, we purposefully selected individuals to invite for participation. We used the video meeting platform, Zoom, to conduct the cognitive interviews. The interviewer opened a document with the items to be tested, shared the screen with the participant, and gave them control of the mouse and keyboard. After the participant self-administered the survey, the interviewer asked about interpretation and comprehension. After completion of the interviews we sent participants a follow-up survey about their impressions of the research methods and technologies used. We describe the processes, the advantages and disadvantages, and offer recommendations for researchers. RESULTS: We recruited and interviewed 30 young people from a range of regions, gender identities, sexual orientations, ages, education, and experiences with sexual activity. These methods allowed us to recruit a purposefully selected diverse sample in terms of race/ethnicity and region. It also may have offered potential participants a feeling of safety and anonymity leading to greater participation from gay, lesbian, and transgender people who would not have agreed to participate in-person. Conducting the interviews using video chat may also have facilitated the inclusion of individuals who would not volunteer for in-person meetings. Disadvantages of video interviewing included participant challenges to finding a private space for the interview and problems with electronic devices. CONCLUSIONS: Online technologies can be used to achieve a diverse sample of research participants, contributing to research findings that better respond to young people's unique identities and situations.