478
Doing Biographical Research Under Conditions of Pandemic: Methodological Challenges and Methodical Innovations
Abstract Submissions Closed
RC38 Biography and Society (host committee)
Language: English
Session Type: Oral
Doing Biographical Research Under Conditions of Pandemic: Methodological Challenges and Methodical Innovations
The Coronavirus pandemic poses enormous challenges for qualitative research in general and biographical research in particular. The constitutive framing of the research, often consisting of co-presence, intersubjective communication, interaction and participatory observation, has become fragile: The pandemic has forced us to follow hygienic regulations, to keep a distance to each other, to regulate our social contacts and largely mediate them with the help of telecommunication and information technologies. Some scholars consider this a crisis of qualitative research, while others see it as a possibility to further develop current research methodologies and methods.
In our session, we want to discuss the methodological challenges, methodical adaptations and innovations that have emerged in the field of biographical research under the pandemic. We are especially interested in papers that discuss the following questions: Which methodological challenges have arisen? How does the pandemic force us to modify or even deconstruct our key assumptions and research practices? How does this influence the selection of our research topics and participants? What is our role as a researcher? How do intersectional privileges, inequalities and vulnerabilities frame our research? How does the research field constitute itself under these conditions? Which methods, methodical modifications or innovations are needed? Which (new) ethical questions come up under these conditions?
We invite papers that tackle these questions from different methodological and methodical perspectives. We particularly welcome contributions that discuss this topic in reference to concrete empirical research projects.