Doing Urban Research on ‘Hard-to-Reach’ Populations During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Opportunities and Ethical Dilemmas Using Digital Ethnography as the New Alternative

Doing Urban Research on ‘Hard-to-Reach’ Populations During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Opportunities and Ethical Dilemmas Using Digital Ethnography as the New Alternative | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Doing Urban Research on ‘Hard-to-Reach’ Populations During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Opportunities and Ethical Dilemmas Using Digital Ethnography as the New Alternative Johannes Bhanye, Lameck Kachena, Abraham Matamanda, Ruvimbo Shayamunda This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3725678/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This article presents insights on conducting urban research during the COVID-19 pandemic, embracing new and agile directions in research - digital ethnography. The paper builds on a growing body of literature on conducting fieldwork among ‘hard-to-reach’ populations during difficult times of the extended COVID-19 pandemic. We narrated our digital ethnographic research experiences during a study exploring the socio-economic impacts of mandatory COVID-19 lockdowns on poor urbanites in Harare, Zimbabwe. We found digital ethnography has several methodological advantages that include being non-intrusive/ non-intimidating, cost and time-effective, enhancing participant variety and assuring the safety of respondents, enhancing research flexibility, and generating impactful responses. Unlike traditional full immersion ethnography, digital ethnography also proved to be nimble, dealing with complexities of the ‘global’, the ‘local’, and the ‘trans-local’ nature of the modern urban research participants. However, there are several ethical dilemmas associated with the use of digital ethnography. These include the need for informed consent, assurance of confidentiality and anonymity, blurred understanding of the research setting by participants, the risk of causing more 'stress' during a crisis, and the need for respect for privacy in cyberspace. Urban researchers should reflect on these ethical issues before implementing their studies. We conclude that virtual spaces have become everyday realities that modern urban researchers should penetrate, especially in times of restricted associational life and when researching populations that are ‘hard-to-reach’ physically but better accessible virtually. COVID-19 pandemic mandatory lockdowns digital ethnography hard-to-reach populations ethical dilemmas Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 1. Introduction COVID-19 has changed the way social and economic systems operate globally [ 1 ]. While there is significant hope that the socio-economic disruptions are temporary, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced humanity to adapt to a new normal characterized by social distancing, mask mandates, restrictions on movement, virtual convenings, and a new culture of working from home [ 2 ]. These new ways of operating have drastically affected urban research and academia as teaching, learning, and research at higher education institutions radically changed during and in the post-pandemic world [ 3 ]. These changes include school closures, virtual and hybrid learning initiatives, and the disruption or extension of academic sessions. Urban research projects, particularly fieldwork or interaction with human subjects, also faced a heavy blow. Urban social researchers have been confronted with the dilemma of either canceling field research, postponing it indefinitely, or continuing with the attendant risks to their health and the health of their informants [ 3 ]. The pandemic has kept urban social researchers from physical lab spaces, delaying projects by months in some cases. Social distancing has added to the cost of research projects, forcing institutions to make difficult choices. The pandemic has also made the funding landscape for research more unstable [ 4 ]. There is also the risk that conducting urban research during COVID-19 will inadvertently reinforce existing inequalities and exclude urban marginalized groups further. These groups include those that are socio-economically deprived, with less resilience to the economic shocks precipitated by COVID-19 [ 5 ]. These groups include undocumented migrants, the urban poor, and especially women, often referred to as the ‘hard-to-reach’ populations. However, very little has been written about the experiences of doing academic research among hard-to-reach urban populations during the COVID-19 pandemic in the global south. Research has almost entirely focused on the pandemic itself. With a focus on how to research hard-to-reach and often excluded urban populations during the clutches of the COVID-19 pandemic, this reflective article details our research experiences in implementing digital ethnography for a study exploring the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 on poor urbanites in Harare, Zimbabwe. While there is a growing number of studies on the impacts of mandatory lockdowns on the urban poor in Southern Africa, for example [ 6 , 7 ] focus has largely been on the utilization of traditional research methodologies; for example, structured questionnaires [ 8 ], document analysis [ 6 ], and qualitative face to face interviews [ 7 , 9 ]. Because the COVID-19 pandemic presents new challenges to traditional fieldwork research, we innovatively embraced new directions in research methodologies by adopting digital ethnography to deepen our understanding of how the lockdown restrictions impacted the most vulnerable population in urban settings. Online and other remote qualitative methods (e.g., telephone interviews and mail-delivered surveys) have existed for decades. Further, difficulties concerning access to under-researched communities living in hard-to-reach spaces were critical long before the COVID-19 pandemic began [ 10 ]. Scholars in developing countries, for example, [ 11 , 12 ] have demonstrated this. But given the continued mobility restrictions presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is more need to consider the issues of remote research and access to urban hard-to-reach populations among scholars, particularly in the Global South. While there may have been a justified hesitation about turning to remote methods, the pandemic has pushed for abrupt adaptation, especially among ongoing academic and research projects [ 10 ]. A growing body of literature has begun to offer reflections on the implications of the difficulties posed by the COVID-19 crisis for conducting qualitative research [ 1 ]. Scholars are beginning to reflect on how to adapt to qualitative research projects under COVID-19 conditions [ 13 , 14 ]. These scholars are beginning to provide insights into the benefits and drawbacks of remote methods for qualitative research. For example, [ 15 , 16 , 17 ] have embraced and recommended the use of online forms of inquiry as they ensure social distancing and limited human contact during the COVID-19 pandemic. While there is a growing literature associated with digital ethnographic approaches in Global North [ 18 ], there are few writings on how it can also be utilized to understand urban dynamics in the Global South, particularly in researching urban vulnerabilities among hard-to-reach populations. Ethnography has primarily been a methodology for anthropologists, but in modern society, urban planning researchers can also embrace the methodology. This paper builds on and extends the literature on ethical dilemmas encountered during digital ethnography based on a study on the socio-economic dynamics associated with poor urbanites in Harare, Zimbabwe, during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, in the following section, we provide a detailed background on digital ethnography as a methodology. In the section that follows, we give detail on our digital ethnography experience during a study that we conducted on poor urbanites in Harare during COVID-19. The third section discusses the methodological advantages of digital ethnography, followed by a discussion on the ethical dilemmas in digital ethnography during a disaster such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, we conclude the paper highlighting that digital spaces have become everyday realities that researchers in the Global South should take advantage of during times of restricted associational life and when researching populations that are ‘hard-to-reach’ physically but better accessible virtually. 2. Digital Ethnography Originating in anthropology, ethnography has been around for several decades, although it became highly popular in the late 19th century. There have been several approaches to ethnography; Franz Boas, for example, preferred using documents and informants to learn more about other cultures. However, many ethnographers nowadays follow the approach of Bronislaw Malinowski, who believed that researchers should immerse themselves in the dynamics of the societies they are studying. Malinowski embodied this belief by going to Trobriand Island, living there for several years while he did his fieldwork, and even learning the language of the local people. However, this traditional ethnographic approach is time-consuming and expensive as researchers must dedicate significant time to logistics and correspondence while living among the researched populations. The COVID-19 pandemic and mobility restrictions render this traditional approach even more difficult and risky for both the researcher and the participants. Digital technological advances and the diffusion of digital media into our daily lives have made online techniques, that is, digital ethnography, far more feasible (Kaur-Gill and Dutta, 2017). Digital ethnography (also known as “virtual ethnography,” “cyber ethnography,” “netnography,” or “mobile ethnography”) is a digital transformation of in-person ethnography and a form of online or remote ethnographic research that leverages the power of technology – gadgets and internet – to help researchers to generate rich remotely, contextual insights into the lived experiences of social groups under study [ 19 , 20 ]. Digital ethnography is different from traditional ethnography in terms of the toolset that the researcher requires. A traditional ethnographer would be required to rely on video cameras, tape recorders, kinship diagrams, and their notepad, whereas a digital ethnographer relies on a virtual set of tools such as; website archives, blogs, servers, and content management systems (CMS). With this in mind, it could be argued that digital ethnography is simpler than traditional ethnography and is more adaptable to the current global realities. Thus, Madden [ 21 ] reflected that if ethnography wants to remain relevant in the future, it must find ways to understand how contemporary local identities are networked in a global system, and it must strive to understand the place of technology-mediated sociality in today’s social and cultural systems. If ethnography’s strength can appreciate the social and cultural particulars of human existence, it now needs to also appreciate these particulars as part of a global human complex. (p. 2) Coleman [ 22 ] also reflected on the new digital media that it has become central to articulating cherished beliefs, ritual practices, and modes of being in the world. A digital ethnographic study typically includes the following elements: digital pictures and videos taken and uploaded by the participants, stories that explain the photos and videos, daily diary entries, daily reminders and prompts to action, and a time-extended format (i.e., the project takes place over several days). Online techniques can be broadly divided into two broad categories, that is data generation techniques (where the researcher generates data) and data sampling techniques (where the researcher collects texts that are already in existence) [ 23 ]. Data generation involves the use of video-calling (e.g., Skype/Zoom) or the use of text-based instant messaging (e.g., WhatsApp) to replicate the face-to-face interview or focus group virtually. Notwithstanding problems, such as participants’ inability to use the technology or having a poor WIFI connection, video-calling is a close substitute for in-person interviewing. It can allow for data to be collected over large geographical areas even when social distancing measures are not in place [ 23 ]. In addition to video-calling, online surveys can also be used to collect qualitative data by asking respondents to type their responses to open-ended questions. Although online interviews generate less rich data than face-to-face interviews, they do maintain some of the benefits of qualitative research (e.g., the generation of unanticipated findings) and allow for data collection from a larger number of people relatively quickly. By findings, the paper refers to meaningfully interpretable human action, which is identifiable by reflecting valuations and meanings [ 24 ]; while findings can reflect new discoveries, in this paper, they complement existing literature. In terms of data sampling techniques, there is a wealth of potential data sources available. For example, print media (e.g., news and magazine articles) can easily be used to analyze social representations of a wide range of topics. Broadcast media (for example, television or radio discussion programs) can imitate focus group discussions on topics, meanwhile, published autobiographies or blogs can provide first-person narratives for examining a wide range of human experiences [ 23 ]. Social scientists have also conducted qualitative analyses of textbooks, websites, political speeches and debates, and patient information literature. Online discussion forums and social media have also been used to examine various social phenomena. Nowadays, there are also open-access qualitative data archives of research interviews and focus groups that researchers can use for their research purposes. In the following section, we present how we implemented digital ethnography among poor urbanites in Harare, Zimbabwe. 3. Methodology 3.1 Area of the Study: Harare Urban We conducted our study on the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic mandatory lockdown on poor urbanites in Harare, the Capital City of Zimbabwe, between March 2020 and December 2021. Harare is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe, with an estimated population of 1,542,813 in its metropolitan area [ 25 ]. The city is Zimbabwe’s leading financial, commercial, communications, and trade center for agricultural produce (cotton, tobacco, maize, and citrus fruits). However, with nearly two decades of economic turmoil, the city’s formal economic sector has shrunk significantly. For example, manufacturing, clothing, and textile industries have collapsed, with factories reduced to dilapidated shells [ 26 ]. This resulted in the exponential growth of the informal sector. It is estimated that a staggering 90% of Zimbabwe’s working population is employed in this sector [ 27 ]. The informal sector covers trade in flea markets, home industries, social markets, guided car markets, and vending in the streets. In Harare, traders often operate from insecure, contested urban spaces like the downtown area, bus terminals, and along the streets; with inadequate infrastructure facilities. With the bans on associational life due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the livelihoods of the majority of the poor operating in the informal sector became under threat. This prompted us to study the socio-economic impacts of bans on associational life among the urban poor in Harare. Regarding the residential settlement, the city of Harare is divided into different classes of affluence. The Northern and Northeastern suburbs are home to the more affluent population of the city. These suburbs are often referred to as 'dales' because of the common suffix -dale found in some suburbs such as Avondale, Greendale, and Borrowdale. The middle class resides in the suburbs like Belvedere, Bluffhill, Eastlea, and Milton Park. The South and South-western suburbs – Dzivarasekwa, Kuwadzana, Mufakose, Budiriro, Glenview, Mbare, and Epworth, among others, house the majority of the urban poor who survive mainly through the informal sector. These poor urbanites become the focus of our study. Figure 1 below shows a map showing areas and suburbs of Harare, the Capital city of Zimbabwe. 3.2 Research Design: Digital Ethnography We adopted digital ethnographic methodologies after observing that COVID-19 not only posed significant difficulties to urban life but also created challenges to conducting decent urban research activities because of mobility-related restrictions. With increasing access to mobile phone technology and internet-mediated communications, we found digital ethnography as the most feasible methodology for our study. Using digital ethnography, we explored how COVID-19 and associated associational bans were transforming the everyday life of vulnerable urbanites across age, ethnicity, gender, religion, and cultural orientation. Participation in online spaces in Harare is increasing because of access to smartphones, 4G networks, and multimedia social sharing applications. We participated in online (covert-ethnography) and offline (overt-ethnography) digital ethnography setups. Additionally, leveraging mobile phones that have become an extension of everyday lives, especially among the youth, we combined multiple digital platforms that include Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and YouTube to explore the welfare of poor urbanites during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. 3.3 Selection of Study Participants To identify participants for social media platforms, especially WhatsApp, we utilized snowballing sampling technique; we systematically identified 50 urbanities, whom we incorporated into five WhatsApp focus group discussions and 10 for COVID-19 dairies. The groups were categorized based on participants’ residential areas, economic activities, age groups, and social backgrounds. To select focus group participants, we began by identifying individuals in our residential areas who fit into categories of vulnerable urbanities or associated with vulnerable livelihood sources, thus operating in informal sectors, living in informal settlements, and unemployed youths and women. After identifying the focal participants, we discussed with them verbally and through mobile phones the objectives of the study and how they can assist us in identifying or inviting other participants with similar socio-economic characteristics on a WhatsApp focus group discussion platform. A notable example is how we formed a pilot focus group discussion with youths who sell mobile phones and associated accessories. We first approached Stanely – aged 28, who survives on selling second-hand mobile phones. We explained to him in detail the study objectives, data protection, and confidentiality. We further asked him to invite 5–10 workmates to join a WhatsApp group he created for the discussion. After setting up a WhatsApp group, we introduced ourselves, the study’s objectives, and the parameters of participation during discussions. Like in our pilot focus group discussions, the other five groups were formed. These groups were based on economic activities—vendors, money changers, information and communication technology (ICT) dealers, taxi operators, and women in the informal sector. 3.4 Data Collection Procedures During the study period, we were also particular about how COVID-19 was trending in Zimbabwe. We followed related stories to search for new videos (skits) posted on COVID-19 on urban dynamics in Zimbabwe. To broaden our understanding of peoples’ attitudes and coping strategies towards the lockdowns, we overtly took part in digital ethnography, where we analyzed comments and discussions held on social media platforms such as blogs, Facebook, and Twitter for both individuals (particularly activists) and organizations. We also followed short skits posted on YouTube, specifically by BustopTv , ZimEye , New ZimTV and Open Parly Zimbabwe, to gain a vivid picture of how society interprets lockdowns and associated challenges. For instance, among other videos posted, we followed comments of a New ZimTV video on YouTube titled: “We will die of hunger” Despair as Zimbabwe lockdown extended,” posted three days after the first lockdown. We learned that such short clips and interviews posted on websites or media platforms reflected current dynamics on how the urban poor are struggling to access basic needs (water, health, accommodation, and food) due to COVID-19 lockdowns. On online social media platforms such as Twitter Handle, we used phrases like (#tagCOVID-19 in Harare, lockdown, shutdown, urban poor etc.) to search how different participants were reflecting on their situations in the context of COVID-19. Whilst internet-based platforms were gleaning daily challenges encountered by thousands of poor urbanites during the COVID-19 pandemic, they were immensely rich with diverse comments from subscribers of different backgrounds. Data from social media was collected manually through labelling social media posts, using, for example, Twitter hashtags like coronavirus, COVID-19, social distancing, and lockdown in Zimbabwe. To further deepen our understanding, we conducted 25 in-depth online interviews with key informants engaged in the informal sector, activists, church leaders, and leaders of civil society groups representing urbanities in Harare. Among the associations engaged in discussion include Epworth Residents Association and Harare Residents Alliance, and Survival Vendors Union of Zimbabwe. Having obtained a deep understanding of lockdowns, we further conducted ground-verification assessments through observations in residential locations where some of the participants live or do business. We conducted three transect walks in three different market locations (CBD, Mbare Market, and Kamunhu Shopping Centre), representing different socio-economic dynamics of consumers. The idea was to compare how socio-economic background informs or shapes the vulnerability and adaptation capacity of various people to shocks and crises. To gather experts’ views and appreciation of similar dynamics outside Zimbabwe, we gathered technical insights from four virtual meetings held by the Institute of Poverty and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) at Western Cape University. Notably, a webinar session we attended titled "The gendered impacts of COVID-19: Women in Informal work—03 August 2020" immensely explored policy measures that can be engaged in the global south to support women in the informal sector during adverse times like the COVID-19 pandemic. We also engaged insights gained through a review of secondary sources that include newspapers, scientific journals, and reports from Civic Society Groups and Government agencies. Specifically, a review of such literature did not only deepen our understanding of the vulnerability of poor urbanities but extended insights into how the government should intervene in such situations either with resources or with enabling policy frameworks. Much focus was on understanding gaps in existing social safety programs and how social welfare policy frameworks can be improved to accommodate concerns of already-marginalized populations during shocks fully. Such literature review positioned us to have well-informed knowledge that can be used to guide the government's social protection operations during shocks. 3.5 Ethical Considerations We were conscious of ethical issues in all aspects of the research. The Ethical Committee from the University of the Free State also granted ethical approval to conduct this study (approval number UFS-HSD2020/1704/192). The Ethical Committee inspected all our upholding set ethical guides at every stage of the research project; thus, procedural ethics (how human characters were to be protected before the research process), ethics in practice (how social welfare of defined social groups to be engaged will be protected) and ethics in publishing (how the authors will continuously protect participants’ identities as promised during the research process in reporting and publishing processes). Thus, key ethical issues include seeking consent from all the participants before the research process. We designed an online consent form which was completed by the participants. The consent form informed participants on the following: (a) purpose, (b) methods to be used, (c) expected role of the participants, (d) intended uses of findings, and (e) adherence to confidentiality. Additionally, for social media platforms, like WhatsApp, participants were asked not to share media attachments or texts unrelated to the topic or objectives of the group. Just like when conducting face-to-face focus group discussions, we set a time and date for discussion with each group; each discussion lasted for about 30 minutes- 1 hour and 15 minutes. We discovered that in all focus group discussions, participants preferred sending voice notes, videos, and photos to reflect on their everyday life in the context of the COVID-19 restrictions times. To promote balanced participation during discussions, we randomly picked participants to share their ideas. To be precise, our digital ethnography was centered on reciprocal and mutual collaboration with participants. Using this approach, our urban research participants became ‘coparticipants’ and ‘co-researchers’ rather than subjects of exploitation in the digital space. We further emphasized important human research ethical parameters guiding our study. More specifically, we articulated to participants that participation is voluntary, and as researchers, we maintain confidentiality to all aspects to be shared/discussed by both participants and researchers. 3.6 Data Analysis Collected data were thematically analyzed, in which a theme is a patterned response or meaning that reflects answers to a research question. We began by familiarizing ourselves with the data we gathered; for instance, we listened to recorded discussions several times to deeply understand the discussion and positionality of participants. We further identified common texts that were prominent in all discussions, and we further explicitly explored the meaning of the text and arranged (coded) it into themes. Texts with similar meanings were classified accordingly. Existing writings on ethical issues and digital ethnography were also used to shape the reporting process of our findings. 4. Methodological Advantages of Digital Ethnography During the study, we observed a number of methodological advantages of using digital ethnography. The advantages include the approach being non-intrusive/ non-intimidating, cost and time-effectiveness, enhanced participant variety, digital ethnography as a safe and flexible approach, impactful responses, and methodological agility. Figure 2 below is a visual summary of the methodological advantages of digital ethnography that will be presented subsequently in the sections that follow. 4.1 Non-Intrusive/Non-Intimidating We found the digital ethnographic approach to be less intrusive and less intimidating for study participants. This is what one study participant shared: 'I find sharing my thoughts through a WhatsApp group less intimidating than sitting down face to face with an interviewer that I have just met.’ Digital ethnography enabled our study participants to contribute to the study from their comfort zones. This way, behavior is more authentic and is more representative of the truth than having to recall and recount experiences from historic events, as in the case of traditional research approaches. Unlike traditional ethnography, the study participants’ everyday work routines were also not disrupted during the study. Physical intrusion into the subjects' natural settings can affect the research outcome. Ironic, then, that traditional ethnography requires the physical presence of a researcher. Our online ethnographic study minimized this intrusive physical presence, helping participants more accurately portray their socio-economic experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using voice notes to follow up and continue communication with participants after an interview or focus group discussion was also a useful way to continue research and build relationships and trust with the participants. 4.2 Cost and Time-Effectiveness The remote nature of the digital ethnographic approach also means that there were significant savings on the part of the researchers. During the study, we found digital ethnography to be very cost-effective compared to traditional qualitative research approaches. Traditional ethnography, for example, requires the presence of a researcher in the chosen area of study for a considerable period. Depending on the project’s scale, researchers must consider travel and lodging expenses. Digital ethnography allowed us only to use online platforms, enabling us to interact with participants and eliminate the need for travel. Time-saving is also crucial in research. Time spent on travel and physically navigating research sites was removed from our study. We also observed that because of the significant time savings, the research window is broadened. Instead of shrinking everything into, for example, a one-hour face-to-face interview, respondents could respond in their own time (which is more convenient), capturing responses over a week or so. 4.3 Participant Variety During the study, we also observed that digital ethnography enhanced participant variety. In reality, few people are open to making room (physically) for researchers in their homes or communities. However, online ethnographic techniques drastically increase participant variety. Digital ethnography enabled us to tap into vast respondent pools from all over Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe. In our study, we engaged in conversations with vendors, money changers, ICT dealers, kombi operators, and women in the informal sector through WhatsApp group conversations, Facebook posts, and YouTube videos. We also managed to tap into telephonic interviews with various key informants. Further, the scope of our data collection also crossed borders by engaging in international conversations about the COVID-19 pandemic and the welfare of the urban poor on Twitter, bogs, and different webinars. We also enriched our digital ethnographic research by strategically setting up special participant groups or subsets. We categorized five WhatsApp groups based on participants’ residential areas, economic activities, age groups, and social backgrounds. Initially, we had identified individuals in the residential areas who fit into categories of vulnerable urbanities or associated with vulnerable livelihood sources, thus – operating in informal sectors, living in informal settlements, and unemployed youths and women. These groups of similar respondents allow us to see underlying motives and patterns of behavior and develop a deeper understanding of the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 on poor urbanites. This distinction thus leads to the main advantage of digital ethnography, the ability to obtain in-depth, thick descriptions from participants in virtual space. A hallmark of qualitative research, this advantage of digital ethnography allows researchers to be immersed within a virtual community. 4.4 Safe Approach The digital ethnographic approach is also “COVID proof” in that research can continue remotely. We observed that the anonymous nature of the online environment allowed for open, honest self-disclosure by the participants. For example, when dealing with sensitive issues, especially among marginalized populations, they may feel more comfortable doing this through a screen, sitting in their own homes, than being physically interrogated by a total stranger. Further, participants may also feel safe by having not to travel to focus groups or interview locations physically. One female vendor in Harare reflected on this, saying: “I feel more comfortable having conversations on the WhatsApp platform. I can freely express myself, and I do not feel like my time is being wasted.” Thus, even as the world looks forward to returning “to normal,” research related to more sensitive topics should consider adopting more safer approaches like digital ethnography. 4.5 Flexible Approach and Impactful Responses Digital ethnography was much easier and more flexible for our respondents. Firstly, respondents participated from the comfort of their homes. Respondents could operate on their schedules without needing to travel to a physical location on a particular day or time or have to invite a stranger into their homes. Our digital ethnography took place over a long flexible period; thus, participants had the opportunity to reflect on and give detailed descriptions of the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 mandatory lockdowns on their welfare. The flexibility also enhanced more authentic responses primarily due to the reduction in potential bias like the influence of ‘group think’ or respondents trying to please the interviewer. Online ethnography also allowed for follow-ups to gather more detailed insights and to continue the conversation. Finally, we found the outputs from digital ethnography to be more impactful. The rich media formats of audio and video could tell the COVID-19 socio-economic impacts on poor urbanites' stories in more powerful ways than mere text. Videos and photos taken by participants provide projective evidence and clues. Online diaries also yielded a depth of insight that might otherwise be missed. 4.6 Agility/Nimbleness We also observed online ethnography agility and nimbleness as insights came from participants within a short space of time. Along with being expensive, traditional ethnography progresses at a much slower pace than modern production. Smartphones are also omnipresent - they are like an appendage to the human body, as they tend to be always with people meaning that as a methodology, the approach is frictionless. In traditional qualitative methodologies, participants can be physically unavailable for interviewing, and appointments may never materialize. Thus, unlike traditional full immersion ethnography, digital ethnography enables researchers to deal with the complexities of the ‘global,’ the ‘local,’ and the ‘trans-local’ nature of modern urban research participants. Indeed, during our digital ethnographic study, most of our participants were ever mobile regardless of the COVID-19 travel restrictions, trying to cope with the impacts of the COVID-19 mandatory lockdowns on their livelihoods. While there are several benefits to using online ethnography, as we demonstrated above, digital ethnography presents several ethical challenges, which we shall discuss in the following section. 5. Ethical Dilemmas in Doing Digital Ethnography During the COVID-19 Pandemic While research ethics are a core component of all social research, digital ethnography poses an additional set of unique and novel ethical challenges that researchers need to be cognizant of [18]. The challenges include informed consent and confidentiality and anonymity, blurred understanding of the research setting, the risk of causing more 'stress' during a crisis, and respect for privacy in cyberspace, as illustrated in Figure 3. 5.1 Informed Consent Obtaining informed written consent using remote technologies can be problematic when researchers cannot obtain a physical signature or discuss the process face to face [5]. To overcome this, consent forms could be sent, discussed, and returned via email or other online platforms. During our study, we used both written and oral consent. We discussed with our participants verbally as well as through mobile phones the objectives of the study and how they can volunteer to be part of the study while at the same time being free to exit from the study. For other participants, we sent a written consent note via WhatsApp and email. 5.2 Confidentiality and Anonymity Anonymity needs to be handled ever more carefully during digital ethnographic research. Anonymity has already been a great challenge, even within classical anthropology. If ethnographic work becomes widespread, it may reach outside of the academic circles, possibly to the people who have conflicts of interest with the community researchers wrote about, causing potential threats to the study participants. Therefore, Internet ethnographers would be well advised to consider their initial self-presentations to their research subjects carefully and to be aware of the fact that some of their online interactions are permanently and publicly exposed [28]. It is, therefore, important for researchers to assure the confidentiality and privacy of participants. During the study, we verbally assured participants of their confidentiality, and we went on to preserve participants' confidentiality by changing names (using pseudonyms) and other traceable footprints. 5.3 Participants Blurred Understanding of the Research Setting Another criticism of digital ethnography is that participating in online research remotely has been found to blur the participants' understanding of the setting, in some circumstances making them ‘forget’ the research context within which the conversation is taking place, mainly when people are inside their own homes [5]. While this offers rich data-gathering opportunities, it also makes it more important to remind them that they are being interviewed and/or recorded. As we indicated earlier, some research participants admitted surprise about how open they were during online research conversations than in a more formal face-to-face setting. During the study, we kept reminding our online study participants that they should keep in mind that they were part of a research study and should not get carried away in oversharing information. We guided the participants and emphasized that they only share information relevant to the study on the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 mandatory lockdowns on their welfare. 5.4 Risk of Causing More ‘Stress’ During a Crisis Doing research during a crisis of an enormous magnitude, like the COVID-19 pandemic, can cause further stress among research participants. During the study, we were concerned about potentially causing unnecessary further stress to participants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the pandemic, people worldwide are coping with dislocation, separation, illness, family responsibilities, mental health challenges, grief, government repression, socioeconomic precarity, and trauma. We weighed these realities before pursuing data collection using our digital ethnography, considering the collective benefits of our proposed research versus the potential costs, including those that remain unforeseen. During the study, we ensured that we built enough trust with the respondents and that they were all comfortable with the online research exercise before we proceeded. We were also very aware of taking up participants’ time during a period of psychological and financial difficulty because of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; thus, we kept our interview lengths as short as possible, condensing our questions from those we would have asked in person. 5.5 Respect for Privacy in the Cyberspace There are also significant ethical issues around using digital tools, data collection from cyberspace, and whether cyberethnographers respect privacy in cyberspace [29]. That a website is not password-protected against a researcher does not necessarily imply that it is an open space where the right to anonymity and privacy dissolve. Thus, Lauria and Robinson [30] insist, “if our identities in cyberspace are extensions of our off-line identities, they must be afforded the same ethical consideration as they would be given in the off-line world” [29]. During the study, we treated all the data we collected from the cyberspaces, for example, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs, and Webinars, with the necessary respect. We anonymized some of the utterances (from Twitter, for example) that we felt were threatening. On the other hand, we acknowledged some of the sources, like blogs and webinars, that require referencing of their work after use. From the above presentation, it is clear that doing research in virtual spaces raises debates over methodology and challenges regarding human research ethics. Urban ethnographic researchers must design research that takes not only advantage of the easy accessibility of information in virtual spaces but also considers the human research ethical challenges and guidelines [31]. These guidelines involve taking into consideration informed consent, confidentiality, and anonymity; participants blurred understanding of the research setting, the risk of causing more ‘stress’ during a crisis, and respect for privacy in cyberspace. 6. Conclusion and Future Directions This paper reflected on conducting urban research in ‘hard-to-reach’ populations during difficult times of the extended COVID-19 pandemic and associated associational bans. The study detailed our research experience, utilizing new and agile directions in research—digital ethnography in engaging marginalized urbanites to tell their stories on the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 mandatory lockdowns on their everyday lives in Harare, Zimbabwe. We found digital ethnography has several methodological advantages that include being non-intrusive/ non-intimidating, cost and time-effectiveness, enhancing participant variety, and assuring the safety of respondents. Digital ethnography also proved to be a flexible approach to generating impactful responses through rich and powerful insights from rich texts, video diaries, and participant photo uploads. Unlike traditional full immersion ethnography, digital ethnography also proved agile or nimble as it dealt with the complexities of the ‘global,’ the ‘local,’ and the ‘trans-local’ nature of the modern urban research participants. With difficulties in mobility due to COVID-19 restrictions for researchers and wider populations, we suggest that it is now time for African urban researchers to utilize digital ethnography methodologies because of their nimble nature of cutting across geographical boundaries and societal structures of power, unlike traditional research approaches. However, some criticisms have been leveled against digital ethnography, for example, the need for the digital ethnographer to possess certain technology-based skills, the temporal nature of online data, and associated ethical dilemmas [32]. Some of the ethical dilemmas we experienced and tried to deal with during our study include the need for informed consent, assurance of confidentiality and anonymity, blurred understanding of the research setting by participants, risk of causing more “stress” during a crisis, and the need for respect of privacy in the cyberspace. However, with skill, flexibility, and reflexivity in their practice, digital ethnographers can successfully utilize innovative methodology. This paper positions digital ethnography as an approach in the broader context of recent discussions within internet studies, specifically on ‘big data’ methods which have become increasingly popular partly because of the internet revolution [19]. The “digital,” “online,” or “cyberspace” is now a space where disembodied selves could freely interplay, forming “virtual communities,” and where new social and cultural patterns flour­ish, birth to “cybercultures” [28]. The spaces have become everyday realities that urban researchers should penetrate to understand populations that are ‘hard-to-reach’ physically but better accessible virtually. However, while digital ethnographic techniques may appear particularly apt during the coronavirus pandemic, researchers should take time to reflect on ethical issues before implementing their studies [23]. In line with earlier scholars like [28, 33], we suggest that researchers should think of digital ethnographic ethics from the point of view of reciprocal and mutual collaboration with participants. With this thinking, research subjects become coparticipants and co-researchers rather than subjects of exploitation in the digital space. Declarations Funding No funding was received for this study. Conflicts of interest/Competing interests No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. Data availability (data transparency) Some of the data that underlie the findings of this study may be made available upon request from the authors. Code availability Not applicable Informed consent All participants provided written informed consent before inclusion in the study. The process included a clear explanation of the study, potential risks, benefits, and the voluntary nature of participation. The Ethical Committee from the University of the Free State granted ethical approval to conduct this study (approval number UFS-HSD2020/1704/192) in 2020. Author Contributions All authors whose names appear on the submission made substantial contributions in conceptualization, data collection, data analysis, and writing - original draft, review and editing. 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Mitchell R (2021) How to overcome the challenges of doing research during COVID-19. https://www.ids.ac.uk/opinions/how-to-overcome-the-challenges-of-doing-research-duringcovid19/ (Accessed 12 December 202). Chirisa I, Mutambisi T, Chivenge M, Mabaso E, Matamanda AR, Ncube R (2020) The urban penalty of COVID-19 lockdowns across the globe: Manifestations and lessons for Anglophone sub-Saharan Africa. GeoJournal, 87(2): 815–828. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-020-10281-6 Matamanda AR, Dunn M, Nel V (2022) Broken bridges over troubled waters: COVID-19 and the urban poor residing in Dinaweng informal settlement, Bloemfontein, South Africa. South African Geographical Journal, 104(3): 309–327. https://doi.org/10.1080/03736245.2022.2028669 Matsungo TM, Chopera P (2020) Effect of the COVID-19-induced lockdown on nutrition, health and lifestyle patterns among adults in Zimbabwe. BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, 3(2): 205–212. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjnph-2020-000124 Nyanga T, Zirima H (2020) Reactions of small to medium enterprises in Masvingo, Zimbabwe to COVID 19: Implications on productivity. Business Excellence and Management, 10(5): 22–32. Watson A, Lupton D (2022) Remote fieldwork in homes during the COVID-19 pandemic: Video-call ethnography and map drawing methods. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 21: 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069221078376 Bhanye J, Dzingirai V (2020) Plural strategies of accessing land among peri-urban squatters. African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal. 13(1):98–113. Bhanye J, Dzingirai V (2022) Structures and networks of accessing and securing land among peri-urban squatters: The case of Malawian migrants at Lydiate informal settlement in Zimbabwe. African Identities. 20(3):237–56. Tremblay S, Castiglione S, Audet LA, Desmarais M, Horace M, Peláez S (2021) Conducting qualitative research to respond to COVID-19 challenges: Reflections for the present and beyond. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069211009679 Rahman SA, Tuckerman L, Vorley T, Gherhes C (2021) Resilient research in the field: Insights and lessons from adapting qualitative research projects during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20: 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069211016106 Breslin SD, Enggaard TR, Blok A, Gårdhus T, Pedersen MA (2020) How we tweet about coronavirus, and why: A computational anthropological mapping of political attention on Danish twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic. http://somatosphere.net/forumpost/covid19-danish-twitter-computational-map/ (Accessed 12 December 202). Fine GA, Abramson CM (2020) Ethnography in the time of COVID-19. Vectors and the vulnerable. Etnografia e Ricerca Qualitativa, 13(2): 165–174. Góralska M (2020) Anthropology from home: Advice on digital ethnography for the pandemic times. Anthropology in Action, 27(1): 46–52. Thompson A, Stringfellow L, Maclean M, Nazzal A (2021) Ethical considerations and challenges for using digital ethnography to research vulnerable populations. Journal of Business Research, 124: 676–683. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.02.025 Varis P (2016) Digital ethnography. Georgakopoulou, A, Spilioti T (Eds.) (2016) The Routledge handbook of language and digital communication (pp. 55–68). Routledge. Hjorth L, Horst, HA, Galloway A, Bell G (Eds.) (2017) The Routledge companion to digital ethnography (pp. 21–28). Routledge. Madden R (2017) Being ethnographic: A guide to the theory and practice of ethnography. SAGE Publications. Coleman EG (2010) Ethnographic approaches to digital media. Annual Review of Anthropology, 39, 487–505. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.012809.104945 Jowett, A (2020) Carrying out qualitative research under lockdown: Practical and ethical considerations [Blog post]. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2020/04/20/carrying-out-qualitative-research-under-lockdown-practical-and-ethical-considerations/ (Accessed 12 December 202). Ritzer G, Stepnisky J (2017) Sociological theory. SAGE Publications. Worldometer (2020) Coronavirus update (live): COVID-19 virus outbreak. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/?utm_campaign=homeADemocracynow(20 ) %20dvegas1? Kamete AY (2004) Home industries and the formal city in Harare, Zimbabwe. In K Tranberg-Hansen, M Vaa (Eds.), Reconsidering informality: Perspectives from urban Africa (pp. 120–137). Nordic Africa Institute. Dube D, Chirisa I (2012) The informal city: Assessing its scope, variants and direction in Harare, Zimbabwe. Global Advanced Research Journal of Geography and Regional Planning, 1(1): 16–25. Ardévol E, Gómez-Cruz E (2014) Digital ethnography and media practices. The international encyclopedia of media studies: Research methods in media studies. 7:498–518. Murthy D (2011) Emergent digital ethnographic methods for social research. Handbook of emergent technologies in social research. 15:158 – 79. Lauria, R. M., and Robinson, G. S. 2011. From cyberspace to outer space: Existing legal regimes under pressure from emerging meta-technologies. U. La Verne L. Rev., 33(2), 219–253. Cadchumsang J (2021) Digital ethnography: Ethical challenges and guidelines. Journal of Anthropology, Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre (JASAC), 4(2): 109–142. Kaur-Gill S, Dutta MJ (2017) Digital ethnography. John Wiley and Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118901731.iecrm0271 Forte M (2004) Co-construction and field creation: Website development as both an instrument and relationship in action research. In Readings in virtual research ethics: Issues and controversies (pp. 219–245). IGI Global. Footnotes Bustop Tv is a youth-run Zimbabwean media house established in 2014. It is widely known for satirical skits that go viral as they comment on prevailing socio-economic and political issues affecting society. Bustop Tv has the most creative, talented and experienced personnel in comedy, journalism, film and video production. We listened to and follow comments for #BUSTOPTV #BUSTOP Lockdown 21 Days Series Episode ZimEye is a media house which specializes in providing intricate, detailed, and analytical latest news stories on the ground in Zimbabwe. It has also been widely covering issues on the plight of Zimbabweans during the COVID-19 crisis. Open Parly Zimbabwe is a leading Online Media Platform Covering Parliament, Politics, Press Conferences and the everyday lives of Zimbabwe, focusing on the engagement between decision-makers and citizens for a better society for young Zimbabweans. Open Parly Zimbabwe has been among the top media platforms active in covering COVID-19 issues in Zimbabwe. Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 01 Feb, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 24 Jan, 2024 Submission checks completed at journal 24 Jan, 2024 First submitted to journal 08 Dec, 2023 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3725678","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":268966744,"identity":"5e10b91e-f3b6-499d-b17c-d062561e68d9","order_by":0,"name":"Johannes Bhanye","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgYGNmYwi70BSBhYkKKF5wBIiwRRFkG1SCSAScLqmdubjz0uqLmT2C/5/OqGHwUSDPzt3Qn4HdZzLN14xrFniTNn55Td7AE6TOLM2Q34tczIMZPmYTucuOF2TtoNHqAWA4lcQlryv0nz/DucuP/mmbSbf4jTksMmzdsGtEWC/dht4mzpOWZuzNt32HjGmRy22zIGEjwE/WLY3vzsMc+3w7L97cef3Xzzx0aOv72XgJYGCO3YwMBjAGLw4FUOAvJQ2h6YYh4QVD0KRsEoGAUjEwAAvzhK1KeH/9kAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"University of the Free State","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Johannes","middleName":"","lastName":"Bhanye","suffix":""},{"id":268966745,"identity":"9c7ca81c-6dba-4748-b08b-d7a058defe5a","order_by":1,"name":"Lameck Kachena","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Zimbabwe","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lameck","middleName":"","lastName":"Kachena","suffix":""},{"id":268966746,"identity":"fedb3eb3-3042-47c1-aaec-d96830d79047","order_by":2,"name":"Abraham Matamanda","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of the Free State","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Abraham","middleName":"","lastName":"Matamanda","suffix":""},{"id":268966747,"identity":"5103f884-857d-44e2-bb0e-9b12221a2706","order_by":3,"name":"Ruvimbo Shayamunda","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Zimbabwe","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ruvimbo","middleName":"","lastName":"Shayamunda","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2023-12-08 13:14:15","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3725678/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3725678/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":50329491,"identity":"acfc6aed-6a7c-475b-862d-19b67017fe64","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-29 21:18:12","extension":"jpeg","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":774706,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAreas and Suburbs of Harare, Zimbabwe\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3725678/v1/ebf4e25c4183b4f835487a28.jpeg"},{"id":50329493,"identity":"0c70714a-7b6b-4ebc-a74d-e2eb6b2abac1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-29 21:18:12","extension":"jpeg","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":225955,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMethodological Advantages of Digital Ethnography\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSource:\u003c/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003e(Authors)\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage2.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3725678/v1/865d7400605551d7106e3695.jpeg"},{"id":50329492,"identity":"043e7be2-a352-43cc-8307-b30c2512ffc8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-29 21:18:12","extension":"jpeg","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":294348,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEthical Dilemmas in Doing Digital Ethnography During the COVID-19 Pandemic\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSource:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e (Authors)\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage3.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3725678/v1/9628a4e967bb4d2075c01f25.jpeg"},{"id":50329705,"identity":"49273dd5-bff5-45ae-8bef-d2cdab089c37","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-29 21:26:12","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":696518,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3725678/v1/e6fb66f5-37e9-4fae-b78a-cd579ca96d2d.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Doing Urban Research on ‘Hard-to-Reach’ Populations During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Opportunities and Ethical Dilemmas Using Digital Ethnography as the New Alternative","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eCOVID-19 has changed the way social and economic systems operate globally [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e]. While there is significant hope that the socio-economic disruptions are temporary, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced humanity to adapt to a new normal characterized by social distancing, mask mandates, restrictions on movement, virtual convenings, and a new culture of working from home [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e]. These new ways of operating have drastically affected urban research and academia as teaching, learning, and research at higher education institutions radically changed during and in the post-pandemic world [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e]. These changes include school closures, virtual and hybrid learning initiatives, and the disruption or extension of academic sessions. Urban research projects, particularly fieldwork or interaction with human subjects, also faced a heavy blow. Urban social researchers have been confronted with the dilemma of either canceling field research, postponing it indefinitely, or continuing with the attendant risks to their health and the health of their informants [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe pandemic has kept urban social researchers from physical lab spaces, delaying projects by months in some cases. Social distancing has added to the cost of research projects, forcing institutions to make difficult choices. The pandemic has also made the funding landscape for research more unstable [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e]. There is also the risk that conducting urban research during COVID-19 will inadvertently reinforce existing inequalities and exclude urban marginalized groups further. These groups include those that are socio-economically deprived, with less resilience to the economic shocks precipitated by COVID-19 [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e]. These groups include undocumented migrants, the urban poor, and especially women, often referred to as the \u0026lsquo;hard-to-reach\u0026rsquo; populations. However, very little has been written about the experiences of doing academic research among hard-to-reach urban populations during the COVID-19 pandemic in the global south. Research has almost entirely focused on the pandemic itself.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWith a focus on how to research hard-to-reach and often excluded urban populations during the clutches of the COVID-19 pandemic, this reflective article details our research experiences in implementing digital ethnography for a study exploring the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 on poor urbanites in Harare, Zimbabwe. While there is a growing number of studies on the impacts of mandatory lockdowns on the urban poor in Southern Africa, for example [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e] focus has largely been on the utilization of traditional research methodologies; for example, structured questionnaires [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e], document analysis [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e], and qualitative face to face interviews [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e]. Because the COVID-19 pandemic presents new challenges to traditional fieldwork research, we innovatively embraced new directions in research methodologies by adopting digital ethnography to deepen our understanding of how the lockdown restrictions impacted the most vulnerable population in urban settings.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOnline and other remote qualitative methods (e.g., telephone interviews and mail-delivered surveys) have existed for decades. Further, difficulties concerning access to under-researched communities living in hard-to-reach spaces were critical long before the COVID-19 pandemic began [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e]. Scholars in developing countries, for example, [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e] have demonstrated this. But given the continued mobility restrictions presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is more need to consider the issues of remote research and access to urban hard-to-reach populations among scholars, particularly in the Global South. While there may have been a justified hesitation about turning to remote methods, the pandemic has pushed for abrupt adaptation, especially among ongoing academic and research projects [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e]. A growing body of literature has begun to offer reflections on the implications of the difficulties posed by the COVID-19 crisis for conducting qualitative research [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e]. Scholars are beginning to reflect on how to adapt to qualitative research projects under COVID-19 conditions [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e]. These scholars are beginning to provide insights into the benefits and drawbacks of remote methods for qualitative research. For example, [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e] have embraced and recommended the use of online forms of inquiry as they ensure social distancing and limited human contact during the COVID-19 pandemic. While there is a growing literature associated with digital ethnographic approaches in Global North [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e], there are few writings on how it can also be utilized to understand urban dynamics in the Global South, particularly in researching urban vulnerabilities among hard-to-reach populations. Ethnography has primarily been a methodology for anthropologists, but in modern society, urban planning researchers can also embrace the methodology.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis paper builds on and extends the literature on ethical dilemmas encountered during digital ethnography based on a study on the socio-economic dynamics associated with poor urbanites in Harare, Zimbabwe, during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, in the following section, we provide a detailed background on digital ethnography as a methodology. In the section that follows, we give detail on our digital ethnography experience during a study that we conducted on poor urbanites in Harare during COVID-19. The third section discusses the methodological advantages of digital ethnography, followed by a discussion on the ethical dilemmas in digital ethnography during a disaster such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, we conclude the paper highlighting that digital spaces have become everyday realities that researchers in the Global South should take advantage of during times of restricted associational life and when researching populations that are \u0026lsquo;hard-to-reach\u0026rsquo; physically but better accessible virtually.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Digital Ethnography","content":"\u003cp\u003eOriginating in anthropology, ethnography has been around for several decades, although it became highly popular in the late 19th century. There have been several approaches to ethnography; Franz Boas, for example, preferred using documents and informants to learn more about other cultures. However, many ethnographers nowadays follow the approach of Bronislaw Malinowski, who believed that researchers should immerse themselves in the dynamics of the societies they are studying. Malinowski embodied this belief by going to Trobriand Island, living there for several years while he did his fieldwork, and even learning the language of the local people. However, this traditional ethnographic approach is time-consuming and expensive as researchers must dedicate significant time to logistics and correspondence while living among the researched populations. The COVID-19 pandemic and mobility restrictions render this traditional approach even more difficult and risky for both the researcher and the participants.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDigital technological advances and the diffusion of digital media into our daily lives have made online techniques, that is, digital ethnography, far more feasible (Kaur-Gill and Dutta, 2017). Digital ethnography (also known as \u0026ldquo;virtual ethnography,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;cyber ethnography,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;netnography,\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;mobile ethnography\u0026rdquo;) is a digital transformation of in-person ethnography and a form of online or remote ethnographic research that leverages the power of technology \u0026ndash; gadgets and internet \u0026ndash; to help researchers to generate rich remotely, contextual insights into the lived experiences of social groups under study [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e]. Digital ethnography is different from traditional ethnography in terms of the toolset that the researcher requires. A traditional ethnographer would be required to rely on video cameras, tape recorders, kinship diagrams, and their notepad, whereas a digital ethnographer relies on a virtual set of tools such as; website archives, blogs, servers, and content management systems (CMS). With this in mind, it could be argued that digital ethnography is simpler than traditional ethnography and is more adaptable to the current global realities. Thus, Madden [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e] reflected that\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003eif ethnography wants to remain relevant in the future, it must find ways to understand how contemporary local identities are networked in a global system, and it must strive to understand the place of technology-mediated sociality in today\u0026rsquo;s social and cultural systems. If ethnography\u0026rsquo;s strength can appreciate the social and cultural particulars of human existence, it now needs to also appreciate these particulars as part of a global human complex.\u003c/em\u003e (p. 2)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eColeman [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e] also reflected on the new digital media that it has become central to articulating cherished beliefs, ritual practices, and modes of being in the world. A digital ethnographic study typically includes the following elements: digital pictures and videos taken and uploaded by the participants, stories that explain the photos and videos, daily diary entries, daily reminders and prompts to action, and a time-extended format (i.e., the project takes place over several days). Online techniques can be broadly divided into two broad categories, that is data generation techniques (where the researcher generates data) and data sampling techniques (where the researcher collects texts that are already in existence) [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e]. Data generation involves the use of video-calling (e.g., Skype/Zoom) or the use of text-based instant messaging (e.g., WhatsApp) to replicate the face-to-face interview or focus group virtually. Notwithstanding problems, such as participants\u0026rsquo; inability to use the technology or having a poor WIFI connection, video-calling is a close substitute for in-person interviewing. It can allow for data to be collected over large geographical areas even when social distancing measures are not in place [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e]. In addition to video-calling, online surveys can also be used to collect qualitative data by asking respondents to type their responses to open-ended questions. Although online interviews generate less rich data than face-to-face interviews, they do maintain some of the benefits of qualitative research (e.g., the generation of unanticipated findings) and allow for data collection from a larger number of people relatively quickly. By findings, the paper refers to meaningfully interpretable human action, which is identifiable by reflecting valuations and meanings [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e]; while findings can reflect new discoveries, in this paper, they complement existing literature.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn terms of data sampling techniques, there is a wealth of potential data sources available. For example, print media (e.g., news and magazine articles) can easily be used to analyze social representations of a wide range of topics. Broadcast media (for example, television or radio discussion programs) can imitate focus group discussions on topics, meanwhile, published autobiographies or blogs can provide first-person narratives for examining a wide range of human experiences [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e]. Social scientists have also conducted qualitative analyses of textbooks, websites, political speeches and debates, and patient information literature. Online discussion forums and social media have also been used to examine various social phenomena. Nowadays, there are also open-access qualitative data archives of research interviews and focus groups that researchers can use for their research purposes. In the following section, we present how we implemented digital ethnography among poor urbanites in Harare, Zimbabwe.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"3. Methodology","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.1 Area of the Study: Harare Urban\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe conducted our study on the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic mandatory lockdown on poor urbanites in Harare, the Capital City of Zimbabwe, between March 2020 and December 2021. Harare is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe, with an estimated population of 1,542,813 in its metropolitan area [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e]. The city is Zimbabwe\u0026rsquo;s leading financial, commercial, communications, and trade center for agricultural produce (cotton, tobacco, maize, and citrus fruits). However, with nearly two decades of economic turmoil, the city\u0026rsquo;s formal economic sector has shrunk significantly. For example, manufacturing, clothing, and textile industries have collapsed, with factories reduced to dilapidated shells [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e]. This resulted in the exponential growth of the informal sector. It is estimated that a staggering 90% of Zimbabwe\u0026rsquo;s working population is employed in this sector [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e]. The informal sector covers trade in flea markets, home industries, social markets, guided car markets, and vending in the streets. In Harare, traders often operate from insecure, contested urban spaces like the downtown area, bus terminals, and along the streets; with inadequate infrastructure facilities. With the bans on associational life due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the livelihoods of the majority of the poor operating in the informal sector became under threat. This prompted us to study the socio-economic impacts of bans on associational life among the urban poor in Harare.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRegarding the residential settlement, the city of Harare is divided into different classes of affluence. The Northern and Northeastern suburbs are home to the more affluent population of the city. These suburbs are often referred to as 'dales' because of the common suffix -dale found in some suburbs such as Avondale, Greendale, and Borrowdale. The middle class resides in the suburbs like Belvedere, Bluffhill, Eastlea, and Milton Park. The South and South-western suburbs \u0026ndash; Dzivarasekwa, Kuwadzana, Mufakose, Budiriro, Glenview, Mbare, and Epworth, among others, house the majority of the urban poor who survive mainly through the informal sector. These poor urbanites become the focus of our study. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e below shows a map showing areas and suburbs of Harare, the Capital city of Zimbabwe.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.2 Research Design: Digital Ethnography\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe adopted digital ethnographic methodologies after observing that COVID-19 not only posed significant difficulties to urban life but also created challenges to conducting decent urban research activities because of mobility-related restrictions. With increasing access to mobile phone technology and internet-mediated communications, we found digital ethnography as the most feasible methodology for our study. Using digital ethnography, we explored how COVID-19 and associated associational bans were transforming the everyday life of vulnerable urbanites across age, ethnicity, gender, religion, and cultural orientation. Participation in online spaces in Harare is increasing because of access to smartphones, 4G networks, and multimedia social sharing applications. We participated in online (covert-ethnography) and offline (overt-ethnography) digital ethnography setups. Additionally, leveraging mobile phones that have become an extension of everyday lives, especially among the youth, we combined multiple digital platforms that include Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and YouTube to explore the welfare of poor urbanites during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.3 Selection of Study Participants\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003e To identify participants for social media platforms, especially WhatsApp, we utilized snowballing sampling technique; we systematically identified 50 urbanities, whom we incorporated into five WhatsApp focus group discussions and 10 for COVID-19 dairies. The groups were categorized based on participants\u0026rsquo; residential areas, economic activities, age groups, and social backgrounds. To select focus group participants, we began by identifying individuals in our residential areas who fit into categories of vulnerable urbanities or associated with vulnerable livelihood sources, thus operating in informal sectors, living in informal settlements, and unemployed youths and women. After identifying the focal participants, we discussed with them verbally and through mobile phones the objectives of the study and how they can assist us in identifying or inviting other participants with similar socio-economic characteristics on a WhatsApp focus group discussion platform. A notable example is how we formed a pilot focus group discussion with youths who sell mobile phones and associated accessories. We first approached Stanely \u0026ndash; aged 28, who survives on selling second-hand mobile phones. We explained to him in detail the study objectives, data protection, and confidentiality. We further asked him to invite 5\u0026ndash;10 workmates to join a WhatsApp group he created for the discussion. After setting up a WhatsApp group, we introduced ourselves, the study\u0026rsquo;s objectives, and the parameters of participation during discussions. Like in our pilot focus group discussions, the other five groups were formed. These groups were based on economic activities\u0026mdash;vendors, money changers, information and communication technology (ICT) dealers, taxi operators, and women in the informal sector.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec7\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.4 Data Collection Procedures\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eDuring the study period, we were also particular about how COVID-19 was trending in Zimbabwe. We followed related stories to search for new videos (skits) posted on COVID-19 on urban dynamics in Zimbabwe. To broaden our understanding of peoples\u0026rsquo; attitudes and coping strategies towards the lockdowns, we overtly took part in digital ethnography, where we analyzed comments and discussions held on social media platforms such as blogs, Facebook, and Twitter for both individuals (particularly activists) and organizations. We also followed short skits posted on YouTube, specifically by BustopTv\u003ca class=\"FNLink\" href=\"#Fn1\" id=\"#FNLinkFn1\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, ZimEye\u003ca class=\"FNLink\" href=\"#Fn2\" id=\"#FNLinkFn2\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, New ZimTV and Open Parly Zimbabwe,\u003ca class=\"FNLink\" href=\"#Fn3\" id=\"#FNLinkFn3\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e to gain a vivid picture of how society interprets lockdowns and associated challenges. For instance, among other videos posted, we followed comments of a New ZimTV video on YouTube titled: \u0026ldquo;We will die of hunger\u0026rdquo; Despair as Zimbabwe lockdown extended,\u0026rdquo; posted three days after the first lockdown. We learned that such short clips and interviews posted on websites or media platforms reflected current dynamics on how the urban poor are struggling to access basic needs (water, health, accommodation, and food) due to COVID-19 lockdowns. On online social media platforms such as Twitter Handle, we used phrases like (#tagCOVID-19 in Harare, lockdown, shutdown, urban poor etc.) to search how different participants were reflecting on their situations in the context of COVID-19. Whilst internet-based platforms were gleaning daily challenges encountered by thousands of poor urbanites during the COVID-19 pandemic, they were immensely rich with diverse comments from subscribers of different backgrounds. Data from social media was collected manually through labelling social media posts, using, for example, Twitter hashtags like coronavirus, COVID-19, social distancing, and lockdown in Zimbabwe.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo further deepen our understanding, we conducted 25 in-depth online interviews with key informants engaged in the informal sector, activists, church leaders, and leaders of civil society groups representing urbanities in Harare. Among the associations engaged in discussion include Epworth Residents Association and Harare Residents Alliance, and Survival Vendors Union of Zimbabwe. Having obtained a deep understanding of lockdowns, we further conducted ground-verification assessments through observations in residential locations where some of the participants live or do business. We conducted three transect walks in three different market locations (CBD, Mbare Market, and Kamunhu Shopping Centre), representing different socio-economic dynamics of consumers. The idea was to compare how socio-economic background informs or shapes the vulnerability and adaptation capacity of various people to shocks and crises.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo gather experts\u0026rsquo; views and appreciation of similar dynamics outside Zimbabwe, we gathered technical insights from four virtual meetings held by the Institute of Poverty and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) at Western Cape University. Notably, a webinar session we attended titled \"The gendered impacts of COVID-19: Women in Informal work\u0026mdash;03 August 2020\" immensely explored policy measures that can be engaged in the global south to support women in the informal sector during adverse times like the COVID-19 pandemic. We also engaged insights gained through a review of secondary sources that include newspapers, scientific journals, and reports from Civic Society Groups and Government agencies. Specifically, a review of such literature did not only deepen our understanding of the vulnerability of poor urbanities but extended insights into how the government should intervene in such situations either with resources or with enabling policy frameworks. Much focus was on understanding gaps in existing social safety programs and how social welfare policy frameworks can be improved to accommodate concerns of already-marginalized populations during shocks fully. Such literature review positioned us to have well-informed knowledge that can be used to guide the government's social protection operations during shocks.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.5 Ethical Considerations\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe were conscious of ethical issues in all aspects of the research. The Ethical Committee from the University of the Free State also granted ethical approval to conduct this study (approval number UFS-HSD2020/1704/192). The Ethical Committee inspected all our upholding set ethical guides at every stage of the research project; thus, procedural ethics (how human characters were to be protected before the research process), ethics in practice (how social welfare of defined social groups to be engaged will be protected) and ethics in publishing (how the authors will continuously protect participants\u0026rsquo; identities as promised during the research process in reporting and publishing processes). Thus, key ethical issues include seeking consent from all the participants before the research process. We designed an online consent form which was completed by the participants. The consent form informed participants on the following: (a) purpose, (b) methods to be used, (c) expected role of the participants, (d) intended uses of findings, and (e) adherence to confidentiality.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAdditionally, for social media platforms, like WhatsApp, participants were asked not to share media attachments or texts unrelated to the topic or objectives of the group. Just like when conducting face-to-face focus group discussions, we set a time and date for discussion with each group; each discussion lasted for about 30 minutes- 1 hour and 15 minutes. We discovered that in all focus group discussions, participants preferred sending voice notes, videos, and photos to reflect on their everyday life in the context of the COVID-19 restrictions times. To promote balanced participation during discussions, we randomly picked participants to share their ideas. To be precise, our digital ethnography was centered on reciprocal and mutual collaboration with participants. Using this approach, our urban research participants became \u0026lsquo;coparticipants\u0026rsquo; and \u0026lsquo;co-researchers\u0026rsquo; rather than subjects of exploitation in the digital space. We further emphasized important human research ethical parameters guiding our study. More specifically, we articulated to participants that participation is voluntary, and as researchers, we maintain confidentiality to all aspects to be shared/discussed by both participants and researchers.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.6 Data Analysis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eCollected data were thematically analyzed, in which a theme is a patterned response or meaning that reflects answers to a research question. We began by familiarizing ourselves with the data we gathered; for instance, we listened to recorded discussions several times to deeply understand the discussion and positionality of participants. We further identified common texts that were prominent in all discussions, and we further explicitly explored the meaning of the text and arranged (coded) it into themes. Texts with similar meanings were classified accordingly. Existing writings on ethical issues and digital ethnography were also used to shape the reporting process of our findings.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"4. Methodological Advantages of Digital Ethnography","content":"\u003cp\u003eDuring the study, we observed a number of methodological advantages of using digital ethnography. The advantages include the approach being non-intrusive/ non-intimidating, cost and time-effectiveness, enhanced participant variety, digital ethnography as a safe and flexible approach, impactful responses, and methodological agility. Figure \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e below is a visual summary of the methodological advantages of digital ethnography that will be presented subsequently in the sections that follow.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e4.1 Non-Intrusive/Non-Intimidating\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWe found the digital ethnographic approach to be less intrusive and less intimidating for study participants. This is what one study participant shared: \u0026apos;I find sharing my thoughts through a WhatsApp group less intimidating than sitting down face to face with an interviewer that I have just met.\u0026rsquo; Digital ethnography enabled our study participants to contribute to the study from their comfort zones. This way, behavior is more authentic and is more representative of the truth than having to recall and recount experiences from historic events, as in the case of traditional research approaches. Unlike traditional ethnography, the study participants\u0026rsquo; everyday work routines were also not disrupted during the study. Physical intrusion into the subjects\u0026apos; natural settings can affect the research outcome. Ironic, then, that traditional ethnography requires the physical presence of a researcher. Our online ethnographic study minimized this intrusive physical presence, helping participants more accurately portray their socio-economic experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using voice notes to follow up and continue communication with participants after an interview or focus group discussion was also a useful way to continue research and build relationships and trust with the participants.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e4.2 Cost and Time-Effectiveness\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe remote nature of the digital ethnographic approach also means that there were significant savings on the part of the researchers. During the study, we found digital ethnography to be very cost-effective compared to traditional qualitative research approaches. Traditional ethnography, for example, requires the presence of a researcher in the chosen area of study for a considerable period. Depending on the project\u0026rsquo;s scale, researchers must consider travel and lodging expenses. Digital ethnography allowed us only to use online platforms, enabling us to interact with participants and eliminate the need for travel. Time-saving is also crucial in research. Time spent on travel and physically navigating research sites was removed from our study. We also observed that because of the significant time savings, the research window is broadened. Instead of shrinking everything into, for example, a one-hour face-to-face interview, respondents could respond in their own time (which is more convenient), capturing responses over a week or so.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec13\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e4.3 Participant Variety\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDuring the study, we also observed that digital ethnography enhanced participant variety. In reality, few people are open to making room (physically) for researchers in their homes or communities. However, online ethnographic techniques drastically increase participant variety. Digital ethnography enabled us to tap into vast respondent pools from all over Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe. In our study, we engaged in conversations with vendors, money changers, ICT dealers, kombi operators, and women in the informal sector through WhatsApp group conversations, Facebook posts, and YouTube videos. We also managed to tap into telephonic interviews with various key informants. Further, the scope of our data collection also crossed borders by engaging in international conversations about the COVID-19 pandemic and the welfare of the urban poor on Twitter, bogs, and different webinars.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWe also enriched our digital ethnographic research by strategically setting up special participant groups or subsets. We categorized five WhatsApp groups based on participants\u0026rsquo; residential areas, economic activities, age groups, and social backgrounds. Initially, we had identified individuals in the residential areas who fit into categories of vulnerable urbanities or associated with vulnerable livelihood sources, thus \u0026ndash; operating in informal sectors, living in informal settlements, and unemployed youths and women. These groups of similar respondents allow us to see underlying motives and patterns of behavior and develop a deeper understanding of the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 on poor urbanites. This distinction thus leads to the main advantage of digital ethnography, the ability to obtain in-depth, thick descriptions from participants in virtual space. A hallmark of qualitative research, this advantage of digital ethnography allows researchers to be immersed within a virtual community.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e4.4 Safe Approach\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe digital ethnographic approach is also \u0026ldquo;COVID proof\u0026rdquo; in that research can continue remotely. We observed that the anonymous nature of the online environment allowed for open, honest self-disclosure by the participants. For example, when dealing with sensitive issues, especially among marginalized populations, they may feel more comfortable doing this through a screen, sitting in their own homes, than being physically interrogated by a total stranger. Further, participants may also feel safe by having not to travel to focus groups or interview locations physically. One female vendor in Harare reflected on this, saying: \u0026ldquo;I feel more comfortable having conversations on the WhatsApp platform. I can freely express myself, and I do not feel like my time is being wasted.\u0026rdquo; Thus, even as the world looks forward to returning \u0026ldquo;to normal,\u0026rdquo; research related to more sensitive topics should consider adopting more safer approaches like digital ethnography.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec15\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e4.5 Flexible Approach and Impactful Responses\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDigital ethnography was much easier and more flexible for our respondents. Firstly, respondents participated from the comfort of their homes. Respondents could operate on their schedules without needing to travel to a physical location on a particular day or time or have to invite a stranger into their homes. Our digital ethnography took place over a long flexible period; thus, participants had the opportunity to reflect on and give detailed descriptions of the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 mandatory lockdowns on their welfare. The flexibility also enhanced more authentic responses primarily due to the reduction in potential bias like the influence of \u0026lsquo;group think\u0026rsquo; or respondents trying to please the interviewer. Online ethnography also allowed for follow-ups to gather more detailed insights and to continue the conversation. Finally, we found the outputs from digital ethnography to be more impactful. The rich media formats of audio and video could tell the COVID-19 socio-economic impacts on poor urbanites\u0026apos; stories in more powerful ways than mere text. Videos and photos taken by participants provide projective evidence and clues. Online diaries also yielded a depth of insight that might otherwise be missed.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec16\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e4.6 Agility/Nimbleness\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWe also observed online ethnography agility and nimbleness as insights came from participants within a short space of time. Along with being expensive, traditional ethnography progresses at a much slower pace than modern production. Smartphones are also omnipresent - they are like an appendage to the human body, as they tend to be always with people meaning that as a methodology, the approach is frictionless. In traditional qualitative methodologies, participants can be physically unavailable for interviewing, and appointments may never materialize. Thus, unlike traditional full immersion ethnography, digital ethnography enables researchers to deal with the complexities of the \u0026lsquo;global,\u0026rsquo; the \u0026lsquo;local,\u0026rsquo; and the \u0026lsquo;trans-local\u0026rsquo; nature of modern urban research participants. Indeed, during our digital ethnographic study, most of our participants were ever mobile regardless of the COVID-19 travel restrictions, trying to cope with the impacts of the COVID-19 mandatory lockdowns on their livelihoods. While there are several benefits to using online ethnography, as we demonstrated above, digital ethnography presents several ethical challenges, which we shall discuss in the following section.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"5. Ethical Dilemmas in Doing Digital Ethnography During the COVID-19 Pandemic","content":"\u003cp\u003eWhile research ethics are a core component of all social research, digital ethnography poses an additional set of unique and novel ethical challenges that researchers need to be cognizant of [18]. The challenges include informed consent and confidentiality and anonymity, blurred understanding of the research setting, the risk of causing more 'stress' during a crisis, and respect for privacy in cyberspace, as illustrated in Figure 3.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e5.1 Informed Consent\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eObtaining informed written consent using remote technologies can be problematic when researchers cannot obtain a physical signature or discuss the process face to face [5]. To overcome this, consent forms could be sent, discussed, and returned via email or other online platforms. During our study, we used both written and oral consent. We discussed with our participants verbally as well as through mobile phones the objectives of the study and how they can volunteer to be part of the study while at the same time being free to exit from the study. For other participants, we sent a written consent note via WhatsApp and email.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e5.2 Confidentiality and Anonymity\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnonymity needs to be handled ever more carefully during digital ethnographic research. Anonymity has already been a great challenge, even within classical anthropology. If ethnographic work becomes widespread, it may reach outside of the academic circles, possibly to the people who have conflicts of interest with the community researchers wrote about, causing potential threats to the study participants. Therefore, Internet ethnographers would be well advised to consider their initial self-presentations to their research subjects carefully and to be aware of the fact that some of their online interactions are permanently and publicly exposed [28]. It is, therefore, important for researchers to assure the confidentiality and privacy of participants. During the study, we verbally assured participants of their confidentiality, and we went on to preserve participants' confidentiality by changing names (using pseudonyms) and other traceable footprints.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e5.3 Participants Blurred Understanding of the Research Setting\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnother criticism of digital ethnography is that\u0026nbsp;participating in online research remotely has been found to blur the participants' understanding of the setting, in some circumstances making them ‘forget’ the research context within which the conversation is taking place, mainly when people are inside their own homes\u0026nbsp;[5]. While this offers rich data-gathering opportunities, it also makes it more important to remind them that they are being interviewed and/or recorded. As we indicated earlier, some research participants admitted surprise about how open they were during online research conversations than in a more formal face-to-face setting. During the study, we kept reminding our online study participants that they should keep in mind that they were part of a research study and should not get carried away in oversharing information. We guided the participants and emphasized that they only share information relevant to the study on the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 mandatory lockdowns on their welfare.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e5.4 Risk of Causing More ‘Stress’ During a Crisis\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDoing research during a crisis of an enormous magnitude, like the COVID-19 pandemic, can cause further stress among research participants.\u0026nbsp;During the study, we were concerned about potentially causing unnecessary further stress to participants during the COVID-19 pandemic.\u0026nbsp;Because of the pandemic, people worldwide are coping with dislocation, separation, illness, family responsibilities, mental health challenges, grief, government repression, socioeconomic precarity, and trauma. We weighed these realities before pursuing data collection using our digital ethnography, considering the collective benefits of our proposed research versus the potential costs, including those that remain unforeseen. During the study, we ensured that we built enough trust with the respondents and that they were all comfortable with the online research exercise before we proceeded. We were also very aware of taking up participants’ time during a period of psychological and financial difficulty because of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; thus, we kept our interview lengths as short as possible, condensing our questions from those we would have asked in person.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e5.5 Respect for Privacy in the Cyberspace\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are also significant ethical issues around using digital tools, data collection from cyberspace, and whether cyberethnographers respect privacy in cyberspace [29]. That a website is not password-protected against a researcher does not necessarily imply that it is an open space where the right to anonymity and privacy dissolve. Thus,\u0026nbsp;Lauria and\u0026nbsp;Robinson [30] insist, “if our identities in cyberspace are extensions of our off-line identities, they must be afforded the same ethical consideration as they would be given in the off-line world”\u0026nbsp;[29].\u0026nbsp;During the study, we treated all the data we collected from the cyberspaces, for example, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs, and Webinars, with the necessary respect. We anonymized some of the utterances (from Twitter, for example) that we felt were threatening. On the other hand, we acknowledged some of the sources, like blogs and webinars, that require referencing of their work after use.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the above presentation, it is clear that doing research in virtual spaces raises debates over methodology and challenges regarding human research ethics. Urban ethnographic researchers must design research that takes not only advantage of the easy accessibility of information in virtual spaces but also considers the human research ethical challenges and guidelines [31]. These guidelines involve taking into consideration informed consent, confidentiality, and anonymity; participants blurred understanding of the research setting, the risk of causing more ‘stress’ during a crisis, and respect for privacy in cyberspace.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"6. Conclusion and Future Directions","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis paper reflected on conducting urban research in ‘hard-to-reach’ populations during difficult times of the extended COVID-19 pandemic and associated associational bans. The study detailed our research experience, utilizing new and agile directions in research—digital ethnography in engaging marginalized urbanites to tell their stories on the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 mandatory lockdowns on their everyday lives in Harare, Zimbabwe. We found digital ethnography has several methodological advantages that include being non-intrusive/ non-intimidating, cost and time-effectiveness, enhancing participant variety, and assuring the safety of respondents. Digital ethnography also proved to be a flexible approach to generating impactful responses through rich and powerful insights from rich texts, video diaries, and participant photo uploads. Unlike traditional full immersion ethnography, digital ethnography also proved agile or nimble as it dealt with the complexities of the ‘global,’ the ‘local,’ and the ‘trans-local’ nature of the modern urban research participants.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith difficulties in mobility due to COVID-19 restrictions for researchers and wider populations, we suggest that it is now time for African urban researchers to utilize digital ethnography methodologies because of their nimble nature of cutting across geographical boundaries and societal structures of power, unlike traditional research approaches. However, some criticisms have been leveled against digital ethnography, for example, the need for the digital ethnographer to possess certain technology-based skills, the temporal nature of online data, and associated ethical dilemmas [32]. Some of the ethical dilemmas we experienced and tried to deal with during our study include the need for informed consent, assurance of confidentiality and anonymity, blurred understanding of the research setting by participants, risk of causing more “stress” during a crisis, and the need for respect of privacy in the cyberspace. However, with skill, flexibility, and reflexivity in their practice, digital ethnographers can successfully utilize innovative methodology.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis paper positions digital ethnography as an approach in the broader context of recent discussions within internet studies, specifically on ‘big data’ methods which have become increasingly popular partly because of the internet revolution [19]. The “digital,” “online,” or “cyberspace” is now a space where disembodied selves could freely interplay, forming “virtual communities,” and where new social and cultural patterns flour­ish, birth to “cybercultures” [28]. \u0026nbsp;The spaces have become everyday realities that urban researchers should penetrate to understand populations that are ‘hard-to-reach’ physically but better accessible virtually. However, while digital ethnographic techniques may appear particularly apt during the coronavirus pandemic, researchers should take time to reflect on ethical issues before implementing their studies [23]. In line with earlier scholars like [28, 33], we suggest that researchers should think of digital ethnographic ethics from the point of view of reciprocal and mutual collaboration with participants. With this thinking, research subjects become coparticipants and co-researchers rather than subjects of exploitation in the digital space.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo funding was received for this study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConflicts of interest/Competing interests\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData availability\u0026nbsp;(data transparency)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome of the data that underlie the findings of this study may be made available upon request from the authors.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCode availability\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInformed consent\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll participants provided written informed consent before inclusion in the study. The process included a clear explanation of the study, potential risks, benefits, and the voluntary nature of participation. The Ethical Committee from the University of the Free State granted ethical approval to conduct this study (approval number UFS-HSD2020/1704/192) in 2020.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor Contributions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll authors whose names appear on the submission\u0026nbsp;made substantial contributions in conceptualization, data collection, data analysis, and writing - original draft, review and editing.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBhanye J (2023) \u0026ldquo;Nimble Sociality and Belonging\u0026rdquo;: an Ethnography of Migrants\u0026rsquo; Responses to Bans on Associational Life During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Urban Forum (pp.\u0026nbsp;1\u0026ndash;27). 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Journal of Anthropology, Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre (JASAC), 4(2): 109\u0026ndash;142.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKaur-Gill S, Dutta MJ (2017) Digital ethnography. John Wiley and Sons. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.1002/9781118901731.iecrm0271\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"10.1002/9781118901731.iecrm0271\" targettype=\"DOI\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eForte M (2004) Co-construction and field creation: Website development as both an instrument and relationship in action research. In Readings in virtual research ethics: Issues and controversies (pp.\u0026nbsp;219\u0026ndash;245). IGI Global.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"},{"header":"Footnotes","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Bustop Tv is a youth-run Zimbabwean media house established in 2014. It is widely known for satirical skits that go viral as they comment on prevailing socio-economic and political issues affecting society. Bustop Tv has the most creative, talented and experienced personnel in comedy, journalism, film and video production. We listened to and follow comments for #BUSTOPTV #BUSTOP Lockdown 21 Days Series Episode\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003e ZimEye is a media house which specializes in providing intricate, detailed, and analytical latest news stories on the ground in Zimbabwe. It has also been widely covering issues on the plight of Zimbabweans during the COVID-19 crisis.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Open Parly Zimbabwe is a leading Online Media Platform Covering Parliament, Politics, Press Conferences and the everyday lives of Zimbabwe, focusing on the engagement between decision-makers and citizens for a better society for young Zimbabweans. Open Parly Zimbabwe has been among the top media platforms active in covering COVID-19 issues in Zimbabwe.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-global-society","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Global Society](https://www.springer.com/journal/44282)","snPcode":"44282","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/44282/3","title":"Discover Global Society","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"COVID-19 pandemic, mandatory lockdowns, digital ethnography, hard-to-reach populations, ethical dilemmas","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3725678/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3725678/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis article presents insights on conducting urban research during the COVID-19 pandemic, embracing new and agile directions in research - digital ethnography. The paper builds on a growing body of literature on conducting fieldwork among \u0026lsquo;hard-to-reach\u0026rsquo; populations during difficult times of the extended COVID-19 pandemic. We narrated our digital ethnographic research experiences during a study exploring the socio-economic impacts of mandatory COVID-19 lockdowns on poor urbanites in Harare, Zimbabwe. We found digital ethnography has several methodological advantages that include being non-intrusive/ non-intimidating, cost and time-effective, enhancing participant variety and assuring the safety of respondents, enhancing research flexibility, and generating impactful responses. Unlike traditional full immersion ethnography, digital ethnography also proved to be nimble, dealing with complexities of the \u0026lsquo;global\u0026rsquo;, the \u0026lsquo;local\u0026rsquo;, and the \u0026lsquo;trans-local\u0026rsquo; nature of the modern urban research participants. However, there are several ethical dilemmas associated with the use of digital ethnography. These include the need for informed consent, assurance of confidentiality and anonymity, blurred understanding of the research setting by participants, the risk of causing more 'stress' during a crisis, and the need for respect for privacy in cyberspace. Urban researchers should reflect on these ethical issues before implementing their studies. We conclude that virtual spaces have become everyday realities that modern urban researchers should penetrate, especially in times of restricted associational life and when researching populations that are \u0026lsquo;hard-to-reach\u0026rsquo; physically but better accessible virtually.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Doing Urban Research on ‘Hard-to-Reach’ Populations During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Opportunities and Ethical Dilemmas Using Digital Ethnography as the New Alternative","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-01-29 21:18:07","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3725678/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2024-02-01T06:50:25+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2024-01-24T08:23:10+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2024-01-24T08:22:36+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Discover Global Society","date":"2023-12-08T13:04:31+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-global-society","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Global Society](https://www.springer.com/journal/44282)","snPcode":"44282","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/44282/3","title":"Discover Global Society","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"c3a897d6-8517-41e7-b471-69b2db9c033d","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 29th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-08-12T16:41:34+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-01-29 21:18:07","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-3725678","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-3725678","identity":"rs-3725678","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}