Transformations in Social Science Research Methods during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“What happens when one is coerced to do fieldwork out of one's living room? COVID-19 did not just foist total lockdowns, social distancing and strict measures of confinement. It also obliged a sober assessment about how we do research in the social sciences, while reshuffling research priorities, exacerbating social inequalities, and impacting on both researchers and researched in multiple and complex ways. Changes in research techniques and fieldwork were adopted and adapted within the new realities brought about by the pandemic. The increased resort to the digital has ushered in new ethical, security, validity and privacy challenges. Editors Ryan, Visanich & Brandle deploy three running themes - developing pandemic sensitivities, innovative pandemic methods and critical pandemic methodologies - to regale us with a clutch of critical reflections and practical examples of the accommodations and innovations in social science research that have been trialled during the coronavirus pandemic, and many of which are here to stay. It's a book that deserves a virtual toast.” Godfrey Baldacchino, Professor of Sociology, University of Malta, Malta. “The social transformations resulting from the pandemic have changed the way we live. This book brings together researchers who had to be creative in the face of the health crisis and who are now generous enough to share how they faced the challenges and what lessons they have learned. The book is a collection of diverse and complementary perspectives on what we learned during the pandemic and what we continue to explore after the most serious part of the global crisis has passed. Some aspects of the research have been rethought, refocused or even completely transformed. At the same time, the text engages in dialogue with the criticisms and applause generated by the transformations and does so with an open eye to all the positive things we have been able to incorporate. The resulting mosaic is stimulating, rigorous and challenging for the research community.” José A. Ruiz San Román, Professor of Sociology, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain and President of Research Committee of Sociology of Communication, International Sociological Association