Doing Qualitative Research in a Digital World: A Book Review

The global pandemic has thrust faculty into unchartered waters as they try to manage their responsibilities as teachers and researchers in a new world. A report by The Chronicle of Higher Education on faculty burnout finds that COVID-19 has had a significant impact on faculty well-being (Fidelity, 2020). The study finds that faculty feel unsurpassed levels of frustration and anxiety, particularly about work-life balance. More than half of all faculty in the Fidelity (2020) study say they are considering retiring or leaving higher education altogether. When faculty were asked how they feel about their teaching, service, and research productivity since the onset of the pandemic, more than half said they feel worse about their research productivity (Fidelity, 2020). That faculty feel stressed and worried about their research during the global pandemic was confirmed by Levine et al., (2021) who found that stalled research projects cut across all types of research, methods, and modes of inquiry. “As we live through COVID-19 and the demands for physical distancing,researchers must reenvision their research practices with digital tools in digital spaces” (Paulus & Lester: 335). Paulus and Lester’s book is prophetically timely and relevant and can help faculty "pandemic proof" their research.