Figure - available from: International Journal of Qualitative Methods
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Examples of participant maps, showing relationships between personal data, devices and home layouts.
Source publication
Restrictions on physical movements and in-person encounters during the COVID-19 crisis confronted many qualitative researchers with challenges in conducting and completing projects requiring face-to-face fieldwork. An exploration of engaging in what we term ‘agile research’ in such circumstances can offer novel methodological insights for researchi...
Citations
... Dumont, 2023). The impact of video and other digital technologies on social science research designs has been growing steadily in recent decades (Hjorth et al., 2017;LeBaron et al., 2018), and ethnographic research is not an exception to this rule: Following Hine's landmark book Virtual Ethnography (Hine, 2000), several different applications of ethnography have emerged that focus on researching interactions that happen online or are technologically mediated, such as video ethnography (Llewellyn and Hindmarsh, 2013;Smets et al., 2014;Watson and Lupton, 2022), netnography (Kozinets, 2020), social media ethnography (Postill and Pink, 2012), appnography (Cousineau et al., 2019), and remote ethnography (Postill, 2017). Among the specific research methods that utilize new technologies are interviewing through videoconferencing tools such as Zoom (e.g. ...
... In video ethnography, researchers analyze recorded video data from the physical field (e.g. Smets et al., 2014;Watson and Lupton, 2022). They may pause, slow down, and rewind the recordings, and generally go back to them at any point in time (LeBaron et al., 2018). ...
... Demonstrating the interplay between different technologically mediated approaches to ethnography, Watson and Lupton (2022) recount how, at the onset of the pandemic, they transitioned from analyzing videos they recorded while visiting their research participants in person to recording and analyzing Zoom call videos filmed by the participants themselves. While the authors describe this shift as "rapidly adjust[ing] from in-person to remote ethnographic methods" (p. 2), my interpretation is that their approach leans more towards video ethnography than remote ethnography, as they also state that the approach "was founded on methods which centre the video camera within the research encounter, to capture a visual record" (p. ...
Purpose
Advances in technology and the COVID-19 pandemic have fundamentally altered the ways in which we behave and interact in our daily lives. However, organizational ethnography arguably still falls short in adequately portraying the hybrid nature of work as performed and experienced by employees in contemporary organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
“Traditional” participant observation has been adapted to accommodate this new reality through digital and remote ethnography, and there is an ongoing conversation in ethnographic research which is concerned with what can constitute the “field” in fieldwork. Based on my own fieldwork experiences, I propose a research approach I call organizational hybrid ethnography – a combination of in-person and remote organizational ethnography – and explain how it differs from other forms of technologically mediated ethnography.
Findings
I argue that compared to purely remote observations, the hybrid ethnographer is better positioned to not only experience firsthand the office environment and explore the questions it raises for hybrid working but also to establish trust with participants when interacting with them in person. Likewise, compared to purely on-site observations, I contend that the hybrid ethnographer gains a more holistic experience and more closely captures work dynamics when occasionally observing through videoconferencing.
Originality/value
Hybrid is increasingly how work is organized, and a central quest for the ethnographer is to try to simulate and relate to the experiences of research participants. Organizational hybrid ethnography enables the organizational ethnographer to provide a more authentic account of the participants’ work lives in modern organizational settings.
... Distant approaches in ethnographic research, also known as remote, digital, or virtual ethnography (Bengtsson, 2014), are not a recent development. What is new, however, is the increase in the use of distant methods in research with children, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding restrictions on travelling and close social contact (Lupton, 2021;Watson & Lupton, 2022). Since the pandemic resulted in the closure of research labs, schools, and kindergartens, the usage of distant methods with children has not been limited to ethnographic and qualitative approaches, but also involves experimental methods (Tsuji et al., 2022). ...
... Distant ethnographic methods used with children include interviews, observations, surveys and drawings, which can be either conducted by the researchers themselves during the online interaction with the child (in real time, but with the researcher and the child being in different locations), or asynchronously as the data are collected by the child and/or their family and then later transferred to the researcher (Watson & Lupton, 2022). For example, Sandberg and colleagues (2022) conducted online ethnographic fieldwork with very young Swedish children (up to three years old) and their families to study their engagement with digital media technologies in their homes. ...
This volume addresses the critical gaps in developmental research on childhood learning by advocating for a more inclusive and cross-cultural approach. Recent studies highlight a concerning over-reliance on data from post-industrialized western countries, raising questions about the broader applicability of findings. This book seeks to provide a comprehensive solution, bridging the gap between theory and practice.
It offers a unique guide for researchers by combining interdisciplinary perspectives from anthropology, psychology, education, and beyond. With over 60 contributors from 21 countries, the book weaves together diverse cultural insights, challenging the narrow scope of traditional research. Each chapter features multiple perspectives, creating a coherent and thoughtful discussion of essential topics such as cultural learning, childhood, and the historical and social forces shaping development.
'A Field Guide to Cross-Cultural Research on Childhood Learning' goes beyond theoretical discussions by offering practical advice on fieldwork, ethics, and engaging policymakers. By centering marginalized voices and emphasizing community agency, it strives to democratize developmental research.
The format is innovative, merging the breadth of encyclopedic entries with the depth of cohesive chapters. Moreover personal reflections and photographs embedded in the book will give readers a window into the experiences of those involved in cross-cultural research on children.
This accessible, academically rigorous volume is a must-read for scholars seeking to advance inclusive and sustainable research on childhood learning, and anybody interested in child development in a worldwide perspective.
... In a recent paper, Julia Coffey (2022) uses the stories of two young participants in her research to explore the embodied and affective dimensions of young people's well-being. Her work provides a compelling example of the ways in which this form of storytelling can move beyond 'representational' logics in qualitative research that 2 See Watson and Lupton (2022) for an account of using innovative qualitative methods -including video -in the context of the pandemic. In addition, we have produced a video in which we discuss a number of the limits and possibilities of doing research in this mode -that video can be accessed at this link: https:// young peopl esfut uresl ab. ...
In this paper, we draw on the outcomes of a longitudinal, video-based study (2021–2023) of 40 + young people’s aspirations and their education, training and employment pathways in the regional centre of Geelong (Australia) — a ‘deindustrialising’ place being rebranded as ‘clever and creative’. In these contexts, there is much community, business and policy concern to develop the hopes and aspirations of disadvantaged young people for the jobs that will characterise ‘clever and creative’ futures. Many of these concerns focus on the production of an idealised, abstract ‘figure’ (Haraway 2008; Threadgold 2020) of the ‘aspirational young person’. Our aim, in part, is to unsettle these abstract ‘truths’ about young people and their hopes and aspirations by presenting a version of the stories of two young people, James and Emilie, who were interviewed in the first and second year of this project during 2021 and 2022. Drawing on posthumanist and feminist studies of techno-science, we will argue that young people’s hopes and aspirations are more productively understood as being shaped by a range of human and non-human others, in multispecies ‘entanglements’ (Haraway 2016), and as emerging from the embodied, affective dimensions of historical disadvantage and crisis that are reproduced in neo-liberal capitalist economies.
... During the COVID-19 crisis, limitations on physical movements and face-to-face interactions presented significant obstacles for many qualitative researchers in carrying out and finishing projects that depended on in-person fieldwork (Lobe et al., 2020;Watson & Lupton, 2022). The interviews were conducted via a secure Zoom platform due to COVID-19 restrictions, with each lasting 1-2 hours to delve deeply into the cultural context spanning over six months in 2020. ...
... These engagements provided rich insights into the sociocultural dynamics affecting these women's lives, helping to identify emerging themes until data saturation was achieved. The interviews were recorded and supplemented with field notes, enhancing the understanding of the participants' social and cultural contexts (Watson & Lupton, 2022). We also engaged in a "video-call home tour" where participants showed their living organisms, home decor, cultural arts pieces, doors, windows, and walls of their residences (Watson & Lupton, 2022). ...
... The interviews were recorded and supplemented with field notes, enhancing the understanding of the participants' social and cultural contexts (Watson & Lupton, 2022). We also engaged in a "video-call home tour" where participants showed their living organisms, home decor, cultural arts pieces, doors, windows, and walls of their residences (Watson & Lupton, 2022). ...
The complex healthcare struggles faced by Syrian refugee women in Ontario, Canada necessitate innovative methodologies that transcend traditional research dissemination to accurately reflect their diverse lived experiences. Ethnodrama emerges as a potent tool in this context, addressing the noticeable gap in engaging wider audiences—including the refugee women themselves—in the research process through dynamic and impactful knowledge mobilization. This study investigates the healthcare challenges and coping strategies of Syrian refugee women using ethnodrama, explores their potential to facilitate knowledge transfer, empower women, and ultimately impact refugee health policy and practice. As part of a broader critical ethnography project involving 25 Syrian refugee women, this research integrates critical ethnography with intersectionality to delve into the participants’ interactions with the Ontario healthcare system. The data collected were transformed into dramatic scripts, which were then created by the research team in a simulated hospital environment to maintain the confidentiality and anonymity of the study participants. The process entailed iterative script development, filming, and revisions, ensuring that the portrayal was both accurate and resonant, effectively engaging the audience. The study identified three key themes: navigating and coping with healthcare hurdles, barriers to timely specialist care and cultural dissonance in healthcare. The use of ethnodrama not only enhanced the understanding of these issues but also demonstrated its significant potential in empowering refugee women and influencing public policy. By presenting complex social issues in an engaging and comprehensible manner, ethnodrama has proven to be an effective tool for social change, enhancing policy engagement and providing refugee women with a valuable platform to voice their experiences. This approach not only contributes to the fields of qualitative research and public policy but also underscores the transformative power of integrating artistic modalities with traditional research methods to enact social change and empower marginalized communities.
... The online medium was adopted because of its suitability in collecting required information as well as its wide outreach at a time when physical interactions have been constrained due to the pandemic. Watson and Lupton (2022) affirm that gathering data through digital means can be an acceptable method as it also allows for rich data to be gathered, and during distancing protocols, it is part of adaptive strategies . ...
This study describes the distance learning experiences of university students in terms of their readiness, engagement, and performance amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It also examines the university’s and the administration’s support in attending to the academic and non-academic concerns of the students. Using a sequential explanatory design, the study utilized a quantitative online survey contextualized by qualitative methods such as key informant interviews and focus group discussions. The findings suggest the following: the students, in general, are equipped to manage distance education effectively, in terms of their gadgets, accessories, and internet connectivity; the remote learning mode engaged the students through the affordances brought by the learning platforms (VLE, MS Teams); and the students performed well in either major and general education subjects due in part to the support and performance of the teachers as well as the assistance of the university and the administration in laying down a framework for relevant teaching and learning. The students also demonstrated their preference for blended (50-50) classes, while it highlighted their concerns about mental health where it needed improvements. The study suggests that all forms of support are extended to optimize students’ learning while in quarantine. The study hopes that the findings will inform the crafting of university online learning policies in the following semesters.
... Online and other remote qualitative methods, such as telephone interviews and mail-delivered surveys, have been in use for decades. Access to under-researched communities in hard-to-reach spaces has been challenging long before the COVID-19 pandemic [11]. Scholars in developing countries have demonstrated these difficulties [12,13]. ...
... However, mobility restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic heightened the need for remote research methods to access urban hard-to-reach populations, particularly in the Global South. Despite initial hesitation, the pandemic necessitated abrupt adaptation to remote methods, especially for ongoing academic and research projects [11]. A growing body of literature now reflects on the implications of the COVID-19 crisis for conducting qualitative research and offers insights into the benefits and drawbacks of remote methods [1]. ...
... Modern ethnographic practices also prioritize thick description, a concept introduced by Clifford Geertz, involving detailed accounts of cultural practices to convey their meanings and contexts comprehensively [6,22,24]. Feminist anthropology, another contemporary influence, advocates for recognizing and addressing power imbalances between researchers and participants, ensuring marginalized voices are heard and represented accurately [11,22]. Modern scholars also stress the importance of reflexivity, where researchers continuously reflect on their role and impact on the research process [22,23]. ...
This paper presents insights on conducting urban research amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing the adoption of digital ethnography as an innovative and flexible approach. Drawing from an expanding body of literature on fieldwork among 'hard-to-reach' populations during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, we share our experiences from a study on the socioeconomic impacts of mandatory lockdowns on poor urban residents in Harare, Zimbabwe. Our research highlighted several methodological benefits of digital ethnography, including its non-intrusive and non-intimidating nature, cost and time efficiency, ability to increase participant diversity, assurance of respondent safety, research flexibility , and the generation of impactful data. Unlike traditional immersive ethnography, digital ethnography proved adept at navigating the complexities of the 'global' , 'local' , and 'trans-local' dimensions of contemporary urban research subjects. However, this approach also presents several ethical challenges. These challenges include obtaining informed consent, ensuring confidentiality and anonymity, participants' potential misunderstanding of the research context, the risk of exacerbating stress during crises, and respecting privacy in digital spaces. Urban researchers must carefully consider these ethical issues before undertaking their studies. In conclusion, virtual environments have become integral to modern life and represent essential avenues for urban researchers, particularly during periods of limited physical interaction and when studying populations that are difficult to reach in person but more accessible online. Further, the adoption of digital ethnography, extends beyond the necessity imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It reflects an ongoing evolution in ethnographic practices, adapting to the realities of a digitally connected world. We suggest that urban researchers should think of digital ethnographic ethics from the point of view of reciprocal and mutual collaboration with participants. With this thinking, urban research subjects become co-participants and co-researchers rather than subjects of exploitation in the expanding and complex digital space.
... The pandemic-induced restrictions have catalysed a re-evaluation of methodological practices, integrating physical and virtual spaces through tools like video conferencing, mobile messaging, remote participatory methods, video-call ethnography and telephone interviews (Go´ralska, 2020;J. Hall et al., 2021;Howlett, 2022;Madziva & Chinouya, 2022;Watson & Lupton, 2022). Current literature not only examines the efficacy of these novel, digital approaches but also delves into their ethical and epistemological dimensions (Konken & Howlett, 2023;MacLean et al., 2021;Zuberi, 2022). ...
... My initial anxiety about being unable to immerse myself physically in the field dissipated as I recognised that 'home' could also function as a 'field' (Konken & Howlett, 2023). This shift towards a multimodal methodology was not a compelled response but rather an agile (Watson & Lupton, 2022), tactical adaptation to the multifaceted nature of the field, aligning with my decolonising mission to foreground the experiences, practices and agencies of Asian local actors. A multimodal research approach is comprehensive in its recognition of diverse ways of knowing and experiencing social phenomena. ...
This article offers a critical reflection on the adaptive reconfiguration of my South Asian Studies-based PhD project into a multimodal and collaborative endeavour in response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Challenging the binary narrative that constraint-based methodological innovations are merely reactive measures to restore research projects to their pre-pandemic state, this paper posits that such innovations are integral, yet often overlooked, elements of social dynamics and relationships in Asian contexts. These innovations call for heightened attention, action and emotion that are typically marginalised in what is perceived as normalcy. The paper begins by contextualising my positionality, PhD project and fieldwork within the broader discourse on remapping Asian Studies, multimodal research and constraint-based innovation. Following this, I explore my interactions with Jade and her transnational charity group, describing how I conducted remote, virtual ethnography within this virtual community. This methodological shift is then discussed, with a focus on how it contributes to alternative, decolonial approaches to knowledge production in Asian Studies. The paper concludes by advocating for constraint-based innovation as a vital method of knowing diverse social and cultural experiences at the grassroots level.
... Jenner and Myers (2019), for example, suggest that video interviews can be an engaging research method, are a popular choice among participants, and can provide a more 'private' space for participants to discuss their concerns and interests. Watson and Lupton (2022) also provide a productive account of using innovative qualitative methodsincluding video -in the context of the pandemic. As in all qualitative research, some young people were more expansive and thoughtful than others, and became 'key participants' . 2 In the following section, we tell a version of the stories of two of the young people who were interviewed for the project: Madeline and Marisa. ...
In this paper - where we will draw on data from a small scale longitudinal study of young people’s post-COVID aspirations and sense of their futures in a de-industrialising city - we will suggest that Appadurai’s (2004) ideas about the ‘capacity to aspire’ encourages us to shift our focus from the ‘aspirations’ of individual young people to think, instead, about the different resources that might be at play in shaping a capacity to aspire. Departing from the detailed stories of two of the young people who participated in this project, we will argue that critical, post-humanist and futures oriented ontologies offer productive possibilities for reimagining the ‘promise of education’ in relation to young people’s aspirations, their dreams and hopes, fears, anxieties and despair that emerge from the “thick of social life” (Appadurai, 2004) in which young people live, imagine who they are, and what they might become.
... However, only sound was recorded. The format of the interviews was guided by insights from scholars conducting qualitative inquiries during the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., Howlett, 2022;Watson & Lupton, 2022). This included, for example, keeping interviews shorter and more focused than would probably have been the case if they had been conducted during physical encounters (Janghorban et al., 2014). ...
Purpose
As sharing on social media has become an integrated part of everyday life, health and public health actors have started to show interest in the potential of people’s peer-to-peer sharing of health-related personal information (HRI) for health interventions. In this article we focus on how people make sense of sharing HRI on social media.
Methods
Twenty-two people between the ages 40 and 60 who had taken part in a regional health intervention were interviewed. Using theories about social media sharing, we explore their understandings and negotiations about whether, how much, and how to share HRI and discuss the results in relation to peer-to-peer sharing as a strategy in interventions.
Results
We identified three aspects that were perceived as particularly risky: loss of control, effects on identity, and affecting others negatively, along with strategies that were used to manage risks in practice: avoiding sharing, allocating, and embedding HRI.
Conclusions
By allocating and embedding HRI, people can unlock motivating affordances for health work. However, strategies to manage risks can also be counterproductive. For actors to provide equality in health promotion, initiatives that include social media sharing need to be mindful of the sometimes counterproductive effects this may have on people’s engagement.
... In addition, the pandemic surfaced several new research concerns such as; researcher and participant health and wellbeing (Alpert, 2022;Kim et al., 2021), complications in participant recruitment and rapport building (Watson & Lupton, 2022), and the inability to travel and conduct fieldwork in an immersive environment (Alpert, 2022;Hall, 2023). ...
... 10 Despite these concerns however, Zoom interviews were widely adopted during the pandemic as they most closely emulated the same "real-time exchanges" of an in-person interview, including non-verbal cues (Howlett, 2022, p. 320). The benefits of Zoom interviews are demonstrated in the research outcomes of Lupton and Watson (2022) and Howlett (2022). They observed that in comparison to pre-pandemic in-person interviews, Zoom participants were more comfortable and talked for longer periods (Howlett, 2022;Watson & Lupton, 2022). ...
... The benefits of Zoom interviews are demonstrated in the research outcomes of Lupton and Watson (2022) and Howlett (2022). They observed that in comparison to pre-pandemic in-person interviews, Zoom participants were more comfortable and talked for longer periods (Howlett, 2022;Watson & Lupton, 2022). ...
In this thesis I will explore the identities of mixed Japanese youth in Australia and Japan. I will investigate if and how discourses regarding ‘multiculturalism’ in the Australian context and tabunka kyōsei (multicultural co-existence) in the Japanese context affect their everyday lives. I analyse qualitative data collected through questionnaires and interviews with individuals aged 18-30, who have one ethnically Japanese and one non-Japanese parent (i.e., mixed Japanese youth).
Poststructural and postmodern theories conceive of identity as fluid, dynamic, socially shaped and historically grounded. Drawing upon this approach, I examine how participants’ identities interact with their perceptions of multiculturalism. My analysis extends beyond their everyday interactions and experiences to encompass discussions about identity, including their mixed identities, and differences such as multiculturalism and tabunka kyōsei.
My research findings reveal the identities of mixed Japanese youth are indeed fluid, dynamic, socially shaped and historically grounded. They possess a multifaceted sense of belonging that spans multiple spatial, social, and cultural realms. However, they also encounter complex interactions where their mixed identity is questioned or stigmatised for being ‘different’.
I argue that the diverse identities of mixed Japanese youth challenge the narrow, homogenising discourses of race, ethnicity and nationality that underline an ‘Australian’ or ‘Japanese’ identity. My findings contest the preconception that a multiculturally inclusive Australian identity is at odds with an ethnically homogenous Japanese one. Although multiculturalism is conducive to a sense of belonging in Australia for mixed Japanese youth, it is also at odds with the prevailing exclusionary notion of ‘White Australia.’ Similarly in Japan, the normalised image of an ethnically homogenous Japan masks the lesser-known notion of tabunka kyōsei and emerging networks of everyday multiculturalism, resulting in a tendency towards feelings of unbelonging in Japan.
I stress the importance of continuing to examine the notion of ‘race’ within unfolding contexts that evidence an increasingly overlapping diversity in mobile and linguistic terms. Furthermore, considering the global framework of mixedness that has gained significant momentum in recent years, the place of mixed Japanese Australians takes a vital position at the forefront of questions regarding identity, belonging, and multiculturalism.
