If you want to read the full report, “Going Back to Face-to-Face Research After COVID-19,” you can request it here.
Highlights from the Report
Before diving into our detailed findings, I want to highlight some demographics and insights from the research and explore some of the high-level statistics from the report.
- As of June 2020, 71.8% of UK participants would be comfortable doing in-person research. The majority of our sample said they would be willing to participate in face-to-face research sessions and would feel comfortable doing so. There are many factors that affect their willingness, which I’ll touch on later in this article.
- Men are more willing to attend in-person sessions (81.4%) than women (68.7%), who are less likely to participate. If your research targets males or females, this could be an important factor in satisfying your demographic requirements. People who were unwilling to identify as male or female are even less likely to want to participate in research right now.
- Older people are less willing to participate in face-to-face research sessions. Again, depending on your target demographics, this might limit your ability to recruit the participants you need to find, could contribute to there being more no-shows for in-person sessions, or skew your data.
- Key workers are the most likely group to want to participate in face-to-face research. Our report also highlights the feelings of other professional groups toward in-person sessions—such as students, people on furlough, business owners, and full-time caregivers.
Making Face-to-Face Sessions Safe
People who are willing to participate in face-to-face research assume that you’ll provide a safe environment, but what would actually be safe is open to their interpretation. Participants highlighted their top three safety requirements, as follows:
- A detailed hygiene protocol—A documented process regarding specific situations in which individuals need to wash their hands and how they should interact with others.
- Available PPE—Before participants come to their session, they want to know whether you’ll provide personal protective equipment (PPE)—for both the researchers and the participants.
- Screening process—Participants want to know that you’re screening and testing any other people who might be present in the research facility and that they’re uninfected.
According to our research findings, participants’ safety priorities differ depending on their age group and the region of the UK in which they’re based. Therefore, planning face-to-face sessions with young adults in London versus people over 55 years of age in Yorkshire would be two completely different situations. The same is true for the type of research. Participants shared their thoughts on their willingness to take part in one-on-one sessions, focus groups, or in-home interviews.
