Sustaining research and researchers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A dose of the collective method as a strategy

This inquiry stems from work documenting the role of reflexivity in our research on redefining family during the COVID-19 pandemic. As social science researchers engaging with the collective method on this complex and dynamic pandemic, the tendency to divert our attention away from human behaviour t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Australasian journal of disaster and trauma studies 2024-01, Vol.27 (1), p.27
Main Authors: Bacigalupe, Gonzalo, Greene, Dana M, Bendeck, Shawna, Cowan, Sonya, Gibb, Christine, Goertz, Simone H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Behavior
Epidemics
Human acts
Human behavior
Medical research personnel
Methods
Psychological aspects
Self-knowledge, Theory of
Social aspects
Social science research
United States
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Summary:This inquiry stems from work documenting the role of reflexivity in our research on redefining family during the COVID-19 pandemic. As social science researchers engaging with the collective method on this complex and dynamic pandemic, the tendency to divert our attention away from human behaviour to the topic-dujour (biology, contagion curves, variants, virology, etc.) was strong. We are scholars who, as survivors, are also insiders. Introducing an autoethnographic lens in the analysis became a necessity; it was unavoidable if we were to recognize our role alongside the most vulnerable. We needed, therefore, to acknowledge that the pandemic--like the climate crisis--dissolved any illusion of being able to reflect as distant outside observers, while still affording us new and emerging opportunities for collaborative dialogue. We chose to entertain reflexivity as a core dimension for research during a pandemic through which to analyse and explore legitimate research questions and not just add a few sentences in the methodological section. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on how the collective method fuels a collective of researchers with 10 unique projects in different locations to conceptualize and operationalize a wide range of projects focused on re-defining family during this pandemic, and how the collective method functions to promote a reflexive research process. Keywords: Collective method, slow disaster, reflexivity, COVID-19
ISSN:1174-4707
1174-4707