Carrying Out Rapid Qualitative Research During a Pandemic: Emerging Lessons From COVID-19

TLDR

Social scientists have a long record of improving disease outbreak understanding, yet qualitative research in epidemics still lags in speed, credibility, and timeliness compared to other designs. This article reflects on conducting three rapid qualitative studies on health‑care delivery during COVID‑19 and emphasizes their value for evidence‑based public health responses, offering guidance for future global teams. The authors discuss challenges in assembling research teams, obtaining ethics approval, collecting and analyzing data in real time, and sharing actionable findings. They conclude that qualitative data are essential for informing public‑health responses and provide a roadmap for other teams to implement similar rapid qualitative studies.

Abstract

Social scientists have a robust history of contributing to better understandings of and responses to disease outbreaks. The implementation of qualitative research in the context of infectious epidemics, however, continues to lag behind in the delivery, credibility, and timeliness of findings when compared with other research designs. The purpose of this article is to reflect on our experience of carrying out three research studies (a rapid appraisal, a qualitative study based on interviews, and a mixed-methods survey) aimed at exploring health care delivery in the context of COVID-19. We highlight the importance of qualitative data to inform evidence-based public health responses and provide a way forward to global research teams who wish to implement similar rapid qualitative studies. We reflect on the challenges of setting up research teams, obtaining ethical approval, collecting and analyzing data in real-time and sharing actionable findings.