‘Internet is easy if you know how to use it’: Doing online research with people with learning disabilities during the COVID‐19 pandemic

• Published in: British journal of learning disabilities Vol. 51; no. 2; pp. 269 - 278
• Main Authors: Mikulak, Magdalena, Ryan, Sara, Russell, Siabhainn, Caton, Sue, Keagan‐Bull, Richard, Spalding, Rebecca, Ribenfors, Francesca, Hatton, Christopher
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley 01.06.2023; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Accessibility; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Disabilities; empowerment issues; Handicapped accessibility; Internet; learning (intellectual) disabilities; Learning Disabilities; Original; Pandemics; Participation; People with disabilities; Qualitative research; Questions; Research design; Research Methodology; Research Projects; Viral diseases; learning (intellectual) disabilities; research; empowerment issues
• ISSN: 1354-4187; 1468-3156
• DOI: 10.1111/bld.12495

Background The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic changed the way we live, work, interact and do research. Many activities moved online, and digital inclusion became an urgent issue for researchers working with people with learning disabilities and other groups at risk of exclusion. This has generated new questions about how we conduct research and what it means to go into ‘the field’. Methods We discuss our experience working across four qualitative research projects involving 867 participants with learning disabilities, conducted during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Findings Moving research online resulted in often‐swift adaptations to research designs and practice, bringing new insights and benefits to our studies. The changing circumstances fostered innovation and greater flexibility and contributed to research becoming more accessible to many. However, doing research online also posed new challenges as well as amplified existing ones. Conclusions The pandemic has made it easier for some people with learning disabilities to participate in research, but more needs to be done to improve the reach and quality of that participation. Researchers should make the process of participation as accessible as possible. It is also their job to question and challenge the conditions that create barriers to participation in research and to look for ways to change these. We make some recommendations on how this can be achieved. Accessible summary During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic, a lot of activities including research moved online. Access to the internet became even more important for people to be able to take part in the research. People with learning disabilities do not always have internet access or skills and support to use the internet. Devices and internet access can also be expensive. This means people with learning disabilities can be excluded from online activities and from research. In this article, we talk about four research projects with people with learning disabilities which we did during COVID‐19. We talk about what we did and about the changes we made to the projects because of the pandemic. We also talk about the things that worked well and the things that were difficult when we did research online. We think research should be accessible and we share some advice about how researchers can make it easier for people with learning disabilities to take part in research at a time when a lot of research happens online.