Over the past six months, qualitative researchers have had little choice but to try to change and adapt our usual methods; switching new and existing research projects to often completely different ways of working. This is particularly relevant when we consider how best to conduct and manage qualitative research on poverty during the time of COVID-19.

Join us in this webinar to think through navigating the practical, emotional, and methodological challenges of trying to undertake qualitative research on poverty during COVID-19, focusing especially on whether or not a shift to remote methods of interviewing is always the best way forward.

We will hear from:

• Anna Tarrant, Linzi Ladlow, and Laura Way (University of Lincoln) discuss the process of moving to online methods in the Following Young Fathers Further study. In particular, they reflect on conducting interviews via phone call and Zoom, and share reflections about how young fathers found the process.

• David Robertshaw (University of Leeds) will consider the emotional and ethical challenges of remote interviewing in the context of the pandemic for the Welfare at a (Social) Distance project, and how these are being navigated.

• Aimi King (University of Huddersfield) will reflect on carrying out her PhD research on the Christian ethos in parent and toddler groups in churches during the pandemic, and why she has preferred to stick with a face to face approach, despite the pandemic.

Presentations will be kept short to allow time for discussion.

The webinar will be chaired by Professor Jane Millar, University of Bath, who is Principal Investigator on the ‘Couples balancing work, money, and care: exploring the shifting landscape under Universal Credit’ project, which has also shifted to virtual interviews over recent months.

To join this webinar, please click here

This webinar is part of a new series: ‘Researching poverty in the pandemic: thinking through key issues and challenges’. This series is a core element of the Nuffield Foundation-funded project Covid Realities, a collaboration between the Universities of York and Birmingham; working in partnership with Child Poverty Action Group.

Hope to see you there - and please do share with your colleagues and networks.

All the best,