5 - The faceless researcher: the implications of carrying out research using digital methods during a global pandemic

Summary

Introduction

During 2020 the opportunity to reimagine how we carry out ethical and inclusive research arose as a result of COVID-19 (Partlow, 2020); this discussion continues, and it feels like a pivotal moment to pause and critically reflect upon research practice during this time as we look towards the future. At the height of the pandemic, restrictions and lockdowns became (and remain to some extent) a part of daily life. During this period, research endeavours continued to take place and the process of collecting data moved quickly to predominantly digital and online methods. There is an additional underpinning question about whether the continuation of research was appropriate or ethical given the circumstances of living through a global pandemic. However, the ways in which digital methods have enabled and constrained good research practice during the pandemic are beginning to be explored and assessed (Kara and Khoo, 2020a, 2020b, 2020c; Howlett, 2021). Furthermore, there is recognition that reflections and considerations about how research processes have been enacted during the pandemic will be of critical importance in understanding how ‘fieldwork’ is carried out in the future (Howlett, 2021).

This chapter wishes to draw attention to the ways in which people and experiences can still be excluded and ostracised through the ways in which digital methods are utilised by researchers, despite them being underpinned by ethical and inclusive intentions. There is the potential for the misconception that face-to-face nuances and methods of interacting with participants can be directly applied to online and digital methods; this chapter argues that is not the case. There will be a close focus upon the role of the researcher, who often remains ‘faceless’ when carrying out research within online spaces (and arguably within some face-to-face research settings too). There is also the potential for power imbalances to be exacerbated due to the researcher being able to remain faceless with the use of digital technologies for research. These issues run deeper than the ethics of conducting digital research, which has become the predominant means by which to carry out research as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter will highlight that people are frequently cautious of online research, often due to the ways in which researchers are presented or remain faceless through digital platforms.