Olivia Fletcher, Geography and Environment, University of Liverpool, 2020 Cohort

On the 27^th of January, I attended the workshop on Digital Methods as part of the Qualitative Research Symposium organised by the Centre for Qualitative Research at the University of Bath. The workshop was led by Dr Stephanie Merchant and the aim was to help researchers identify study contexts where technology would be useful for enhancing understanding, increase confidence in this method of data collection and inspire creativity and innovation.

The workshop focused on ways to access the sensory, affective, inter-relational and mundane aspects of a research participant’s experience, offering examples of how technologies (such as GPS and film) can be used to gain embodied data to access non-verbal experiences. The workshop also illustrated how the data acquired from these methods can be used to disseminate research findings in an engaging way for participants and target audiences.

The workshop being held online worked well and was a good example of the opportunities opened up by digital technologies. There was also an opportunity for interaction within breakout groups, where we were able to share our research, our experiences with researching with technologies and what we were hoping to learn from the workshop.