“Facilitating and Producing Research during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned” Reflection Published by the Georgetown University Digital Fieldwork Project

Elizabeth Wanucha, CIRS Operations Manager, published a Reflection article with the Digital Fieldwork project led by Georgetown University Provost’s Distinguished Associate Professor of Government, Diana Kapiszewski; Georgetown University Associate Professor of Government, Lahra Smith; and Indiana University-Bloomington’s Arthur F. Bentley Chair and Professor of Political Science, Lauren MacLean.

The Digital Fieldwork project aims to offer a forum in which scholars with limited ability to conduct traditional fieldwork can help each other to identify and capitalize on the data-gathering opportunities, and explore and address the data-gathering challenges, involved in conducting “digital fieldwork.” Reflections are contributions that consider how to carry out, manage, or address challenges in conducting digital fieldwork.

Wanucha’s Reflection on “Facilitating and Producing Research during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned,” offers a comprehensive guide that captures the experience of CIRS in conducting and facilitating its research projects in a virtual environment from early 2020. CIRS continues to experiment with various virtual models for research workshops, even as the world is slowly returning to more traditional models of research production and facilitation in this peri-pandemic period. She discusses the pros and cons of using a variety of virtual workshop models based on the goals of the research project and virtual meeting(s), and provides tips for other researchers who may be considering holding a research workshop for their projects.

A flowchart that provides a snapshot overview of the tips and suggestions discussed in the Reflection can be found on the Digital Fieldwork project webpage, and by following the link here.