Transformations in Social Science Research Methods During the Covid-19 Pandemic

This volume explores how researchers made innovative use of online technologies to innovate, define, and transform research methodologies in light of the varying impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those related to the ability to conduct qualitative research.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a radical shift in the way that people all over the world were/have been able to live, work, study, and conduct their daily lives. Academics and other professionals who routinely engage in research were no exception. The sudden, continued, and uneven need for health mandates calling for physical distancing added a particular layer of complexity for those who used research methods that typically required face-to-face interactions. Continued technological developments associated with the Internet had already given rise to ongoing debates on innovative methodological thinking and practices. The COVID-19 pandemic has further accentuated how indispensable the internet has become for the private and public lives of those with access to it, including for their employment, education, leisure, and social interactions. For those fortunate enough to have access to them, communication software such as Zoom and Google Meet have also become indispensable digital resources for researchers seeking to continue conducting research during lockdowns and quarantines, and beyond. More than ever, researchers are finding it useful, even necessary, to equip themselves with online research tools in order to be able to continue conducting their fieldwork.

Drawing on research and case studies from around the world, this volume serves as a guidebook for those interested in attuning their own research methods to a world still struggling to grapple with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

J. Michael Ryan is an award-winning teacher who has held academic positions at top-ranked universities across five continents. He is currently Professor-Researcher at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Peru and has previously held academic positions in Ecuador, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Portugal, and the USA. Before returning to academia, Dr. Ryan worked as a research methodologist at the National Center for Health Statistics (which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) in Washington, DC, where he led multiple projects aimed at improving national statistical survey methodology. He is the co-author of COVID-19: Social Inequalities and Human Possibilities (Routledge 2022) and editor/co-editor of more than 15 volumes. He is also the founding editor of Routledge’s The COVID-19 Pandemic Series.

Valerie Visanich is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Malta, Malta. Her research interests lie within the fields of the sociology of the arts, cultural policy, generational studies, and the sociology of emotions. She is author of Education, Individualization and Neoliberalism: Youth in Southern Europe (2020) and co-editor of Accomplishing Cultural Policy in Europe: Financing, Governance and Responsiveness (Routledge, 2023). She is also co-editor of Routledge’s The Sociology and Management of the Arts series and a board member of the European Sociological Association’s Sociology of Art research network, which she chaired between 2017-2019.

Gaspar Brändle is Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Sociology Department at the University of Murcia, Spain. His research focuses on the social meaning of consumption in everyday life, virtual sociability in digital spaces, and the study of the effects that violent audio-visual content has on the generation of aggressive and antisocial behavior. His work has been published in international journals such as Aggressive Behaviour, The European Journal of Communication Research, Evaluation Review: A Journal of Applied Social Research, and Technology in Society, among others.