This chapter documents our experiences of pivoting research on sexual and gender minority youth towards an online protocol using digital methods. Digital diaries presented an opportunity to conduct virtual longitudinal qualitative research on how youth describe their experiences of living through the COVID-19 pandemic in Vancouver, Canada. Our digital diary process, supplemented with remote interviews, allowed us to capture shifting health-related patterns and trends, establish capacity to identify and explore unanticipated areas of inquiry, and evaluate participants’ impressions of the method itself. While going digital allowed us to overcome some immediate constraints to participation, it also introduced new uncertainties, including equity concerns and issues around consistent, secure and safe digital access for research participants. We describe how features of young people’s lives remain important factors associated with their ability to participate in digital and remote research. We offer solutions to the challenges and conclude that to counteract the inequities arising from the shift to digital methods, we need flexible, adaptive and population-tailored digital and remote approaches to data collection.

Once the theory is specified and an operationalization has been chosen for the nodes and links, the next step is to acquire the data. This chapter goes deep into issues that arise when designing surveys to collect data. Although this is not the only method of data collection, it is one that illuminates issues that pertain to all others. This chapter covers the practical question of how to use surveys to elicit network information. The advice leans heavily on a well-formulated theory.

This chapter seeks to advance the debate on digital research methods beyond the opposition between ‘face to face’ or online ethnography. Our focus will be on the practical experience of doing online ethnography, alongside how traditional and online ethnography can be integrated through the ideal of ‘being there’ i.e., direct observation. Christine Hine (2016: 257) notes that “the study of Internet interactions became popular in the 1990s.” We explore what is understood as authentic ethnography between the online and the offline through critically observing what is comfortable and uncomfortable in both worlds to argue that as a method and theory ethnography adapts.

This chapter discusses the use of virtual approaches to data collection in qualitative research in the age of Covid-19. Covid-19, also known as SARS-CoV-2, came to public attention on December 1, 2019, and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. Due to safety considerations, Covid-19 necessitated the move from in-person approaches to virtual approaches for qualitative researchers, most of whom likely lack specific training and knowledge on Internet-mediated approaches with data collection. To provide background information and perspective on virtual interviewing, the chapter offers a primer by overviewing virtual interviewing, examining researcher and participant perspectives, and offering best-practice considerations when managing the technical aspects, participant engagement, and ethical considerations of virtual interviewing.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become essential for qualitative researchers to adopt online interviews for data collection. However, ensuring the validity of the interview protocol is no easy task, especially when the research involves people with intellectual disabilities. With these unique challenges, we attempted to validate the interview protocol to ensure the trustworthiness of the data. An online semi-structured interview protocol was developed and refined by integrating the Interview Protocol Refinement (IPR) Framework into a seven-step refinement process. A pilot test was conducted via video conference with five participants across five different groups. From the current pilot test, insights gained include (1) rephrasing the interview questions to assume casual conversation; (2) having a contingency plan in case of technical failure; (3) refining probes and follow-up questions; and (4) enhancing the reliability of proxy in interviewing person with Down syndrome. It is essential to develop a valid and reliable interview protocol to ensure a trustworthy qualitative finding. The process should be reflective and reiterative and should always be done in such a manner.

Many midcentury continental philosophers, most notably Martin Heidegger (1889--1976), were skeptical about and critical of using technology to mediate human activities. Telephones and computers not only simplify communication, they transform communication (and humans along with it). Postphenomenology is an emerging qualitative research group that examines the transformation of humans by technology. Led by the American philosopher Don Idhe, postphenomenologists maintain that this change is neither bad nor good. Martin Heidegger, however, around whom new and exciting healthcare research is being done, would disagree. There is no discovery without a simultaneous covering. The authors examine whether something of importance is, indeed, covered up when qualitative researchers rely on technology. A three-year international qualitative study on PTSD with active-duty military, which relied heavily on technology, is used to examine the strengths and weaknesses of combining technology with phenomenological healthcare research.

Theory is the essential foundation on which an empirical network study is built. A network theory stipulates a certain, carefully defined network and offers a reason why it relates to other variables. Pinning down what the precise network of theoretical interest is and fleshing out a reason why it matters is what makes up the key preliminary work in empirical networks research design. It can be tempting to rush through this preliminary step, especially when data are readily available. Note that doing so comes with risks. Design blunders are more debilitating in networks research than in other data collection endeavors. Thinking through all aspects of a theoretical setup takes time, but is part of the real work of research design. Taking the time early is an investment in avoiding wasted effort later. This chapter presents a framework to help construct a theory that is maximally useful for guiding empirical research design.

The Delphi technique has been used since the 1950s to reach consensus between experts through a series of iterative questionnaires.  Delphi studies were traditionally conducted in-person, or via ‘snail-mail’. Early iterations of the ‘e-Delphi’ mimicked these traditional methods by employing technological communication processes such as e-mail. The increasing availability and useability of online survey tools has modernised the Delphi process. This chapter explores the benefits of conducting a Delphi study in an online environment using modern survey tools. Experiences with the e-Delphi during research in areas such as rehabilitation sciences have indicated benefits including the ability to recruit experts regardless of their location, improved participant anonymity, streamlined data analysis, and substantial time and cost savings. However, while online methods can diminish geographical inequity, restricted digital infrastructure access and gaps in recruiter knowledge of potential participants can simultaneously increase discrimination and bias.

Once the information about nodes, links, and their substantive attributes has been collected, a bit more work is needed to prepare to use the data. This chapter covers this intermediate step, with tips for organizing and cleaning the data. Reading this chapter before collecting the data in the first place will help avoid some serious pitfalls. It covers ethical issues pertaining to collecting names (a necessary step in most methods of network elicitation), a method for automating the cleaning of name data, and robustness checks that can be done to assess the cleaning.

With the advent of COVID-19, adaptation became a norm. Research data-collection methods similarly required adaptation, birthing the use of virtual platforms as first-line data collection tools to adhere to COVID-19 restrictions. This chapter presents an autoethnographic account of virtual qualitative data collection. A PhD candidate shares her experience of conducting individual and focus group interviews virtually in a developing nation. A discussion of the narrative and recommendations for virtual qualitative data collection are provided.

This chapter explores the theory underpinning qualitative methods, namely semi-structured interviews and focus groups, and issues of methodological coherence in adopting a digital approach. We offer an in-depth exploration of the practical considerations of adopting digital methods. This includes the challenges of building a rapport with the participant, familiarity with technology for both researcher and participant, scheduling, and data protection issues. We explore pertinent ethical considerations, including institutional approval, informed consent, confidentiality, and the ongoing ethical responsibilities of the researcher engaged in qualitative research. We draw upon our experiences of using synchronous online videoconferencing platforms to conduct semi-structured interviews and focus groups, integrating our reflections throughout. Whilst necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the associated need for social distancing and the potential for further regional restrictions, we argue that digital methods transcend the current global situation, offering opportunities to facilitate qualitative research that may extend beyond geographical borders, attenuate fiscal limitations, and enable greater collaboration between researchers.