5 - Qualitative Data Collection Under the ‘new Normal’ in Zimbabwe

Summary

Introduction

The newly discovered coronavirus (COVID-19) has disrupted traditional methods of conducting research, particularly qualitative research. The virus was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020. By then Africa had already recorded a total of 119 cases, with two fatalities, from a total of 12 African countries. Although COVID-19 has been, basically, a public health disaster, it has also ushered in huge changes to the ways in which research, particularly qualitative research, is to be conducted. Its associated safety protocols, including physical distancing and the need to limits one's movements to reduce exposure to the virus, have disrupted traditional methods of qualitative data collection.

Qualitative studies rely on face-to-face interaction through interviews, fieldwork and focus group discussions for data collection, and, thus, the transmissibility of COVID-19 and the responses by countries to combat it using lockdowns and physical distancing have impacted traditional qualitative data collection methods. However, there remain a number of methods by which qualitative data can still be collected. These include the use of digital voice, video, and text-based tools, online surveys and content analysis. Text-based sources can help to overcome the limitations of time and space, and also can be cost-effective. This chapter demonstrates how these tools can be used to generate data or to sample data that are already available to satisfy research questions and meet research objectives. The chapter draws from a qualitative study on the gendered socio-economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic in rural Zimbabwe that I conducted during a lockdown between May and June 2020, with 12 social work practitioners from different organizations and in different provinces across the country.

The next sections discuss the importance of face-to-face research in the context of a pandemic, followed by a discussion of the data collection methods selected, their advantages and disadvantages and the ethical issues involved. Last, the chapter makes conclusions and recommendations.

Qualitative research and the COVID-19 pandemic

Face-to-face interaction has always been the basis for qualitative research. Qualitative research deploys a range of indepth, in-person techniques to understand how people feel, react, think and behave in a particular manner.