‘Excuse me, I have a delivery’ The [re] construction of interview ‘space' in the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Covid-19 has transformed the qualitative interview process, as remote video methods have become mainstream, challenging the domination of face-to-face interviews. In the pandemic churn, researchers’ focus was on ensuring participants’ safety and care in the virtual interview environment. There was more limited consideration of what this ‘new normal’ meant for the researcher. This reflection draws on two qualitative research projects conducted during the 2020/2021 pandemic period in the UK. We propose that assumptions of ‘space’ in the qualitative interview process have been (re)constructed in remote interviews during Covid19. To be present virtually creates geographic freedoms of participant access, but subjective risks from interviewing in the virtual space. Context can no longer be understood through the shared experience of an interview space. There is a delineation of what is ‘public’ or ‘private’ as participants and researchers share their domestic spheres. Using ethnographic reflections, we explore the changing notions of geographic, public and private space in the Covid-19 interview.