Doing empirical work during a pandemic: socio-legal research experiences in Latin America in the course of the COVID-19 outbreak

Authors

  • Julia Maia Goldani
  • Natalia Zuluaga Acevedo

Keywords:

Empirical research, COVID-19, qualitative methods, sociology of law, Latin America, Investigación empírica, métodos cualitativos, sociología jurídica, Latinoamérica

Abstract

This paper discusses the challenges and opportunities of carrying out empirical work during the COVID-19 pandemic. By these means, it aims to contribute to the yet incipient analyses of how the circumstances created by the global spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, such as government restrictions on gatherings and mobility, impacted social research practice during 2020. For this purpose, the article presents two experiences of qualitative socio-legal fieldwork at graduate degree level, carried out during the early months of the COVID-19 outbreak, one in Brazil and the other in Colombia. In doing so, it also emphasizes particularities of the pandemic response in Latin America. Our central arguments are (i) that the flexible logic that characterizes qualitative research practice allowed for creative solutions to the problems posed by COVID-19, and (ii) that careful examination and heightened sensibility were needed to deal with the novel ethical dilemmas that arose during this process.

El presente artículo analiza los desafíos y oportunidades de realizar un trabajo empírico durante la pandemia de COVID-19. De esta manera, pretende contribuir a los emergentes estudios sobre las formas en que las circunstancias creadas por la propagación global del virus SARS-CoV-2, tales como restricciones gubernamentales a reuniones sociales y a la movilidad, impactaron la práctica de la investigación social durante 2020. Para tal fin, el artículo presenta dos experiencias cualitativas de trabajo de campo socio-jurídico a nivel de posgrado, realizadas durante los primeros meses del brote de COVID-19, una en Brasil y otra en Colombia, enfatizando las particularidades de la respuesta a la pandemia en Latinoamerica. Nuestros argumentos centrales son (i) que la lógica flexible que caracteriza la práctica de la investigación cualitativa permitió la creación de soluciones creativas a los problemas planteados por COVID-19, y (ii) que, para abordar dilemas que surgieron durante el desarrollo de las investigación aquí descritas, fue necesaria una examinación compleja y sensible de la coyuntura.

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How to Cite

Goldani, J. M. and Zuluaga Acevedo, N. (2021) “Doing empirical work during a pandemic: socio-legal research experiences in Latin America in the course of the COVID-19 outbreak”, Sortuz: Oñati Journal of Emergent Socio-Legal Studies, 11(1), pp. 30–42. Available at: https://opo.iisj.net/index.php/sortuz/article/view/1314 (Accessed: 29 March 2024).