Emotional risk work during the pandemic: Healthcare professionals' perceptions from a COVID-19 ward

In March 2020, COVID-19 wards were established in hospitals in Denmark. Healthcare professionals from a variety of specialities and wards were transferred to these new wards to care for patients admitted with severe COVID-19 infections. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in a COVID-19 ward at a hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, including focus group interviews with nursing staff, we intended to explore practices in a COVID-19 ward by seeking insight into the relation between the work carried out and the professionals' ways of talking about it. We used a performative approach of studying how the institutional ways of handling pandemic risk work comes into being and relates to the health professionals' emerging responses. The empirical analysis pointed at emotional responses by the nursing staff providing COVID-19 care as central. To explore these emotional responses we draw on the work of Mary Douglas and Deborah Lupton's concept of the ‘emotion-risk-assemblage'. Our analysis provides insight into how emotions are contextually produced and linked to institutional risk understandings. We show that work in the COVID-19 ward was based on an institutional order that was disrupted during the pandemic, producing significant emotions of insecurity. Although these emotions are structurally produced, they are simultaneously internalised as feelings of incompetence and shame.

It is not enough to register the field. Steps in the ethnomethodology that uses computational devices, social networks and the Internet to investigate the popular economy

The article describes the use of computing devices, social networks, and the Internet in the procedures to understand the supply of masks manufactured by the Ecolety cooperative and foundation. This methodology is part of a study that sought to know the characteristics of the interactions between the groups that create, adapt, and use artifacts to prevent COVID-19, in Coquimbo-Valparaiso and the Metropolitan Region of Santiago de Chile. The procedures were based on the digital ethnomethodology described by Hine, Kozinets and Pink, the data is in digital spaces of public access, and they were considered as results of intersubjectivity that expresses what is observable and accountable. At a theoretical level, the creative community category dealt with the case, the notion of bricoleur defined the researchers, and that of symmetry named the social control that produced reliability in the elaboration of interpretations. One result obtained is that the data are contingent results of the textual interactions that allow the existence of an intersectoral space of links between online and offline life.

Implementing fieldwork based on blended learning using geo-inquiry approach: will it work during the covid-19 pandemic?

Fieldwork is an important part of geography education in many countries. However, little fieldwork-related activities are being observed in Indonesia, specifically at the senior secondary level. In an effort to address this issue, investigators have developed a fieldwork-based blended learning model to be used in the country. This study involved 187 students from three high schools who followed the developed learning model. To measure the effectiveness of the developed model, a correlational analysis that examined the effect of location and session allocation on the test scores of students was used. Questionnaires were distributed to gain insight into the responses of students toward the learning system and qualitative methods were used to capture the learning experiences of these students while using the model. The obtained results show that the grades of the students were significantly affected by location rather than study sessions. Furthermore, students responded positively to the fieldwork-based blended learning model, although traditional classroom learning remained the most preferred option. Interestingly, it was found that students in Indonesia preferred to study with large groups of classmates over smaller groups. These findings confirmed the hypothesis that cultural and religious factors, specifically the concepts of "gotong royong" and "jama'ah" in Islam, respectively, influenced the perceptions of students and group preferences when studying.

Immersive and interactive three-dimensional virtual fieldwork: Assessing the student learning experience and value to improve inclusivity of geosciences degrees

Fieldwork is a pedagogical cornerstone of many geoscience degrees. During the academic years 2019–20 and 2020–21, the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic made outdoors fieldwork difficult, resulting in an urgent need to develop virtual alternatives. However, there is still more to learn about the impact of teaching fieldwork virtually on the student learning experience. This study aims to assess the student learning experience during immersive and interactive three-dimensional virtual fieldwork and establish the value of digital techniques to improve the inclusivity of geosciences degrees. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected to assess students' attitudes to virtual fieldwork in comparison to outdoor fieldwork in terms of accessibility, inclusivity and their learning experience. Our results show overall positive student responses to virtual fieldwork, with over half stating it adequately replicated the learning experience of outdoor fieldwork. Students also value outdoor fieldwork for the degree of autonomy it provides, and idea-sharing with peers;yet simultaneously the majority believed outdoor fieldwork is inherently exclusionary. This study concludes that virtual fieldwork, taught using interactive 3D virtual outcrops set within virtual worlds, replicates the outdoor fieldwork learning experience as closely as possible. However, students missed some fundamental and important aspects of outdoor fieldwork, as being outside and the social interactions with peers and staff that are specific to on-location fieldwork. This study recommends the use of virtual fieldwork in addition to residential on-location fieldwork, as for a significant number of students virtual fieldwork may be a better way of accessing this valued pedagogy of the geosciences. Furthermore, virtual fieldwork has the potential to make geosciences more inclusive and attractive to a wider range of students. © 2023 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Reflections on ethnographic fieldwork across a lifetime

In this ‘Tale from the Field', I reflect on the practice of ethnographic fieldwork with folk puppeteers over time, using my own experiences in a single fieldwork site at two points, 38 years apart. I describe my fieldwork as a graduate student in 1982 and as a professor towards the end of my career in 2020. I reflect on differences based on digital communication equipment and on my own changing positionality. My 2020 fieldwork was interrupted by the covid-19 confinement which adds a new wrinkle to contemporary participant observation.

Researching China During the COVID-19 Pandemic

For scholars based in North America who study various topics in China, the global spread of COVID-19 and resulting travel restrictions imposed by governments and research institutions have erected new barriers to field sites and local contacts. New disease-related travel restrictions are overlaid upon constrained political conditions for some research activities and a general climate of mistrust between the governments of the United States and China observed in recent years. How have scholars responded to these conditions? What research tools do scholars have at their disposal to see their research through? How has COVID-19 compelled or inspired scholars to reconsider their methods, their research subjects, and the ethics of interacting with people in new ways? This chapter assembles insights from a diverse group of scholars working in North American institutions who are re-tooling their China-related research during these times of great uncertainty. They discuss new methods to allow for continued engagement and note the limitations and possibilities that the pause in fieldwork presents for generating new knowledge. The overall picture is a frank assessment of a research landscape characterized by unprecedented constraints and new types of risks which may persist well into the future. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

COVID-19 and Tourism Geography at a Crossroads: Challenges, Opportunities and Moving Forward

The COVID-19 pandemic had widespread impacts for those engaged in tourism geography education and research. This chapter incorporates diverse international perspectives to consider the ways in which tourism geographers across 11 countries are responding to the challenges - and the opportunities - the pandemic presented in both teaching and research as we move forward in a post-COVID-19 world. Tourism geography educators were quick to adapt to the virtual delivery mode and the dramatic changes that occurred in 2020. However, educators were concerned about their inability to engage students in field experiences. Tourism geography researchers encountered challenges related to research topics, fieldwork, and methodologies. Yet, countless new short- and long-term research topics emerged from the pandemic. Overall, tourism geographers are optimistic that they will have a vital role to play in understanding and shaping patterns of tourism in the future. In particular, these geographers felt that increased engagement with communities is important in working toward a tourism landscape that is more resilient, sustainable, and equitable. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

The redesign of field placement for social work students during the pandemic. An Italian case study

The first wave of the spread of Covid-19 was contrasted by many countries through a severe lockdown of working and learning activities. One of the solutions for preserving the continuity of teaching activities was the adoption of different forms of remote teaching. A similar ‘translation' has been adopted by many universities for re-organizing field placement. This decision was undertaken by bachelor programs in Social Work in Italy too. However, since field placements rely on the physical presence and the participation of students in the activities performed by social workers, this shift was particularly challenging. Moreover, remote interactions hinder the possibility of observing the distinctive relational dimension of social work. This paper examines the process of re-organization of field placements enacted by a Bachelor's Program in Social Work in an Italian university. We propose a preliminary assessment of this experience, reflecting on the positive and critical aspects of the forced reorganization of field placement. We consider this phenomenon as a process of organizational learning, that crosses multiple domains of social work. We discuss whether this process can be the driver of a mechanism of double-loop learning, leading towards the enrichment of teaching and learning activities rather than a temporary adaptation to a contingent need.

TUNING INTO THINGS: Sensing the Role of Place in an Emerging Alternative Urban Community

This chapter introduces a specific phenomenological approach in a suggestion to sense organizing as a productive encounter between a place and its potential futures. In particular, it draws on the work of the anthropologist Kathleen Stewart to propose a ‘sensing' approach to tune in to the role of place in the emergence of an alternative urban community of entrepreneurs and activists. While the field of management and organization studies (MOS) has been experiencing a very vibrant spatial turn, so far scholarship in this area has been focusing mostly on the ‘here and now' of spaces and places. This has a lot to do with the specific epistemological commitments of MOS, including a realist focus in the field of organizational ethnography. This chapter suggests that a focus on what can be seen only goes so far, and that research on new or emergent organizations needs tools in order to sense the not-yet-there, and that this requires an affective attention that moves beyond the visual. The case presented, based on a field visit to an alternative urban community in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, offers insights into how such early-stage organizing can be seen sensed through an attention to things in a certain place, and how they are named and cared for. © Oxford University Press 2023. All rights reserved.

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

Introduction: Globally, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic poses fundamental challenges in everyday life. Various controlling measures, including nationwide lockdowns, movement restrictions, travel bans, social distancing, and improved hygiene practices, have been widely introduced to curtail transmission of the disease. Notably, these measures have affected the execution of population health research that typically involves face-to-face data collection. This paper details a subjective reflective account of the challenges and mitigating strategies in conducting a nationwide study during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. Challenges and strategies: The research team faced a wide range of challenges in conducting this study. The major categories of challenges were defined as follows: (i) challenges relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as insufficient access to field sites; (ii) challenges related to contextual factors, such as cultural and gender sensitivity and extreme weather events; and (iii) challenges related to data quality and validity. The key mitigating strategies to overcoming these challenges included engaging a local-level field supervisor, hiring data collectors from respective study sites, incorporating team members' reviews of literature and experts' views to develop research instruments, modifying original research instruments, organizing regular meetings and debriefing, adjusting field operation plans, building gender-sensitive teams, understanding local norms and adopting culturally appropriate dress codes, and conducting interviews in local languages. Conclusions: This paper concludes that despite several COVID-19-related challenges coupled with contextual factors, data were successfully collected through timely and successful adaptations of several mitigating strategies. The strategies adopted in this study may be useful for overcoming unforeseeable challenges in planning and conducting future population-based health research in similar circumstances elsewhere.

Researchers on ice? How the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Antarctic researchers

The COVID-19 pandemic and pandemic-related measures have impacted the lives and work-related activities of Antarctic researchers. To explore these impacts, we designed, piloted and disseminated an online survey in English, Russian, Spanish and Chinese in late 2020 and early 2021. The survey explored how the pandemic affected the productivity of Antarctic researchers, their career prospects and their mental wellbeing. Findings exposed patterns of inequities. For instance, of the 406 unique responses to the survey, women appeared to have been affected more adversely than men, especially in relation to mental health, and early-career researchers were disadvantaged more than their mid- or late-career colleagues. Overall, a third of the research participants reported at least one major negative impact from the pandemic on their mental health. Approximately half of the participants also mentioned that the COVID-19 pandemic had some positive effects, especially in terms of the advantages that working from home brought and opportunities to attend events, network or benefit from training workshops online. We conclude with a series of recommendations for science administrators and policymakers to mitigate the most serious adverse impacts of the pandemic on Antarctic research communities, with implications for other contexts where scientific activities are conducted under extreme circumstances.

Ethnological Fieldwork in Crisis. Remarks on a Case Study

In the first months of 2020, the whole world was affected by the restrictions caused by the authorities' attempts to stop the spread of SarsCov2 as far as possible. Initially, the most effective measure was quarantine, which could slow the spread of the virus. In Romania, the first case of Covid19 was confirmed on 23 February 2020, and after a period of hesitation, the national authorities imposed the quarantine on 15 March, i.e., a series of restrictions on the movement of persons and on participation in events involving more than eight persons. Obviously, the introduction of this special regime for the movement of persons affected all areas of social and economic life, including its vital branches, such as the industrial and educational activity. Of course, under these conditions, the first temptation of any ethnologist was to observe the transformations of the rhythms of life, practicing a kind of armchair ethnography and transforming into the observed "field" even their own home, their own life or the lives of those close to them, but also what came to them from the outside world via online. In contrast to these approaches, this paper studies several cases where, through contractual obligations, the ethnologist had to do the field in the classical sense of the term, i.e. to observe real (not virtual) communities, located far away (even geographically), and to participate in their social and cultural life. The constraints imposed by quarantine practically forced ethnological fieldwork to reinvent itself, making researchers reflect on the criteria for selecting their informants under the new conditions, on the manner of interacting with them, on the logistics involved in producing interviews and, last but not least, on the ethical implications of approaches of this kind. The remote field experiences of two projects were presented and analyzed: Educational and Networking Tools on Development of Authentic Performance for Professional Integration - PAN and Colec.ie digitala a patrimoniului alimentar romanesc.i transfer spre societate - FOODie. Analyzing in particular the interviews conducted in the FOODie project, the paper highlights a number of advantages of remote fieldwork, such as: the possibility to overcome quarantine restrictions, the possibility to make a quality video recording, the openings of a collaborative ethnology. A number of difficulties of this type of remote research are also highlighted, such as: communication difficulties due to lack of direct interaction, internet signal fluctuation problems, difficulties in understanding some aspects due to ignorance of the informant's living space.

Investigating student experiences of botanical field work using a semi-immersive virtual botanical fieldtrip

Field teaching is an essential component of botany and ecology;however, field classes were among the most likely to be cancelled during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual alternatives that could be used to meet learning outcomes for botany (e.g. plant identification, surveying skills development) were largely unavailable at this time. To address this, a semi-immersive virtual botanical fieldtrip was developed using H5P. The resource consists of a 360 site tour, an interactive book with a series of interactive videos to mimic quadrat analysis and plant identification, and a plant identification guide to aid students in identifying species. Students responded largely positively to the resource, although they had a clear preference to undertake fieldwork in person in a more traditional manner. The resource is the first such virtual botanical fieldtrip and allows the retention of most learning outcomes for a traditional field class. This type of resource has considerable potential in a post-pandemic world to widen participation and let students experience ecosystems that they might otherwise not have the opportunity to investigate. The resource is available for use under a CC BY-NC-SA licence. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Biological Education (Routledge) is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Ethical and mental health considerations for research into trade and trafficking of natural resources

Arguably, researching the trade and trafficking of natural resources, such as wildlife crime, environmental crime, trafficking of natural commodities, unregulated and unreported fishing, factory farming, human–wildlife conflict, to name a few examples, involves all four areas of threat. [...]research can be extremely emotionally taxing for both the researcher and research participants. [...]it offers the researcher an opportunity to think through potentially "risky”, dangerous, harmful, and ethically compromising fieldwork situations, while reflecting on their own positionality and protection of themselves, research participants, and data. [...]they are required to fill out risk assessments and complete specialized training for hostile environments. With increasing use of qualitative research methods within the wildlife trafficking research field, coupled with the growing importance of human–wildlife interactions exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this disparity in ethical regulations needs imminent addressing. [...]with the current emphasis on ‘decoloniality', an ethical review process could ensure that parachute social science is avoided, and equity and sustainable collaboration between stakeholders are foregrounded in the research.

Listen to the shopkeeper.

His mosquito control project heading for failure, a field entomologist recalls how a chance encounter led to a Eureka moment.

Program evaluation of digital clinical experiences used for occupational therapy level I fieldwork

Shifts in the healthcare environment, particularly the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, have resulted in the cancelation of most Level I experiential learning opportunities for occupational therapy students limiting required hands-on learning experiences and impacting the required academic content for graduation for occupational therapy students. The decline in Level I fieldwork placements occurred before COVID-19 because of changes to legislative and licensure regulations, increased demand, and reimbursement criteria (Harvison, 2020). The decline in Level I fieldwork sites demands that the profession explore strategies to provide innovative experiential learning opportunities to address the occupational therapy educational needs set by the 2018 Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) Standards (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2019). This program evaluation aimed to assess Digital Clinical Experiences (DCE) effectiveness as an alternative to traditional Level I fieldwork at a private mid-Atlantic health sciences college. The study determined the efficacy of the DCE product by comparing the outcomes reflected in students' performance on the Level I Fieldwork Competency Evaluation for OT and OTA Students. Scores of students who participated in Level I fieldwork using DCE were compared to scores of students who participated in traditional Level I fieldwork. The comparison of scores indicated that there is no significant difference. The context, input, process, and product (CIPP) model guided this evaluation. The product evaluation component addressed the purpose of this program evaluation (Stufflebeam & Zhang, 2017;Young Lee et al., 2019). The product evaluation component measured and analyzed the findings during and after the learning experience (Young Lee et al., 2019). Additionally, the product evaluation assessed the overall efficacy of the DCE product (Young Lee et al., 2019) and presented outcomes from multiple viewpoints: the individual, the cohort, and the aggregate members (Stufflebeam & Zhang, 2017). Thirty-two students participated in this program evaluation. Quantitative data included DCE student index performance scores in four areas of interest: documentation, communication skills, performance skills, and clinical reasoning. Quantitative data obtained from the Level I Fieldwork Competency Evaluation for OT and OTA Students and the Simulation Effectiveness Tool- Modified (SET-M) support the use of the DCE product for Level I fieldwork. Qualitative data using thematic analysis and axial coding determined themes from reflective journals that support the overall findings and indicate that students found the DCE learning experience engaging, meaningful, and a positive learning experience. Results from the Level I Fieldwork Competency Evaluation for OT and OTA Students suggest comparative learning outcomes where performance scores showed no significant differences compared to scores from students who participated in traditional Level I fieldwork experiences. The student's qualitative feedback supported this program evaluation's positive and negative findings. The limitations of the evaluated DCE program include only one area of practice, the use of one cohort of students for data collection, the target population (nursing students) of the DCE product, and the educators' time commitment. The results of this program evaluation inform educators of the effectiveness of the DCE product for Level I fieldwork and increase access to Level I fieldwork learning experiences when access is limited. These program evaluation outcomes were presented through multiple formats to include presentations to occupational therapy educators, presentations to Shadow Health, the publication of the findings in peer-reviewed occupational therapy journals, and dynamic discussions on the AOTA CommunOT discussion pages. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Authentic Possibilities: Uncommon Lessons from Slow Figs and Fast Fashion

This article argues for the value of authenticity as an analytic. "Authentic possibilities” plays on a double meaning. In one sense, possibilities may be "authentic” in terms of what is true, real, original, grounded, or not fake. In another sense, authenticity as a concept may offer possibilities for analysts to notice how value is created. This article draws on long-term as well as disrupted ethnographic research in the Made in Italy arena across two sectors—slow figs and fast fashion—to theorize authentic possibilities. Fieldwork disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic opened conceptual space to propose a nonbinary approach to authenticities. In breaking from the authentic–inauthentic binary and taking inspiration from artisanal producers of figs, the article offers authenticities as an analytic to illuminate uncommon lessons. Fig producers straddle discipline and improvisation, sustaining and generating novel and nuanced forms of authenticity. The taste of authenticity may be unpredictable and even at odds with tradition. The article draws inspiration from theorists who signal authenticity's dynamic qualities whether through the slowness of food (Grasseni 2017), the realness of food (Weiss 2012), the emplacement of value (Cavanaugh and Shankar 2014), the power of reverse engineering terroir (Paxson 2010), and "stifling” aspects of authenticity (Gross 2020). The article is structured around four heterogenous instruments: place, fieldwork, discipline, and vulnerability. Takeaways propose possibilities and limits of authenticity for critical food studies.

Qualitative research in crisis: A narrative-practice methodology to delve into the discourse and action of the unheard in the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper develops and applies a methodology of qualitative inquiry that equips researchers to capture how social actors produce and contest accepted forms of knowledge at the margins of mainstream globalizing discourses in times of crisis. Standing at the intersection between conceptual and empirical research, our methodology builds on the common epistemological premises of ‘narrative', as stories constructed and enacted in social life, and ‘practice', as tasks and projects composed by ‘doings' and ‘sayings'. Overcoming the dualism between ‘action' and ‘discourse' in traditional social theory, this methodology integrates narrative theory and practice theory into a joint framework for fieldwork and interviews. The use of the narrative-practice methodology in ethnographic case studies – such as interpreters' experience of the COVID-19 pandemic in Qatar – allows researchers to gain analytical granularity on participants' storied practice and practiced stories of the crisis, to harness ‘peripheral' knowledge and refashion public discourse. © The Author(s) 2023.

Letting failure be: COVID-19, PhD fieldwork and to not (want to) learn from failures

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has prompted researchers to rethink their fieldwork. My doctoral fieldwork plans, which involved conducting ethnographic research amongst Afghan refugees and migrants in New Delhi and Kolkata, were upended because of the recurring waves of the pandemic and the lockdowns/curfews that were imposed in their wake (2020−2022). Locked out of my field, my inability to conduct my research as planned amounted to a failure that could not be redeemed, especially because of time constraints. Using autoethnographic vignettes of my encounters in the lead up to the eventual suspension of in-situ fieldwork, I critically reflect on how I approached and felt towards failures in/of field and how these encounters speak back to the discourse on failure in academia. In doing so, this article advocates for the need to revisit failures simply for what they are, without necessarily demanding and/or (self) expecting that we recast them as stepping stones towards success. By challenging the neo-liberal desire to re-present failures in a productive light, I argue we can make greater room for more supportive discussions around failures without committing ourselves to the task of having to find triumph in (every) adversity. © 2023 Department of Geography, National University of Singapore and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.