Research synthesis in times of crisis: setting the agenda for mixed method, collaborative research on poverty in a post-pandemic world

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 immediately and radically necessitated changes in the way we worked as social researchers; not only in terms of fieldwork, but also in terms of collaboration. In this paper, we outline the rationale, processes, and potential of a collective of 14 research teams both inside and outside of academia working together across the UK to synthesise findings on the experiences of over 4,000 families parents and carers living on a low-income during the pandemic. Drawing on an approach based on meta-ethnography, our collective body of work comprises novel evidence and insights generated with a major cohort of families living on a low-income, through which we examine the impacts of the pandemic, and implications for social policy. This paper focuses on the practical, ethical, and methodological learnings and reflections on the processes of research synthesis in the pandemic context, and beyond. We set out the underpinning principles that guided our collaborative efforts before we explore the possibilities and challenges of working together to produce coherent, timely, and relevant findings that were shared with policy makers and those in power. Finally, we emphasise the significant potential of working collaboratively, and stress the importance of continuing to do so in a post-pandemic context.

KEYWORDS:

• Research synthesis
• meta-ethnography
• collaboration
• ethics
• poverty
• covid-19

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all members of the ‘COVID-19 and families on a low income: Researching together’ collective for their time, patience, collaboration, and solidarity during this project. Thanks also to all of the families involved in our respective studies for continuing to share their experiences during the incredibly difficult time of the pandemic. Additional thanks to Emma Davidson and Ros Edwards who gave up their time to provide invaluable expert methodological insights as part of a special advisory group. The Covid Realities research programme was funded by the Nuffield Foundation. The Foundation has funded this project, but the views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily the Foundation. Visit www.nuffieldfoundation.org

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The Nuffield Foundation is an independent charitable trust with a mission to advance social well-being. It funds research that informs social policy, primarily in Education, Welfare, and Justice. It also funds student programmes that provide opportunities for young people to develop skills in quantitative and scientific methods. The Nuffield Foundation is the founder and co-funder of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics and the Ada Lovelace Institute. The Foundation has funded this project, but the views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily the Foundation. Visit www.nuffieldfoundation.org

Notes on contributors

Kayleigh Garthwaite

Kayleigh Garthwaite is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Policy, Sociology & Criminology, University of Birmingham. Her research interests focus on poverty and inequality, social security, and health, specifically investigating charitable food provision and food insecurity. She is the author of Hunger Pains: life inside foodbank Britain (Policy Press, 2016) and Poverty and insecurity: life in low-pay, no-pay Britain (Policy Press, 2012).She is a trustee of the Independent Food Aid Network.

Ruth Patrick

Ruth Patrick is a Senior Lecturer in the School for Business and Society at the University of York. Her particular interests include social citizenship and stigma, and the complex ways in which the shame associated with poverty and benefits receipt interacts with experiences and responses to financial hardship. Ruth led the Covid Realities research programme and is the author of For Whose Benefit: The Everyday Realities of Welfare Reform (2017, Policy Press).

Maddy Power

Maddy Power is a Research Fellow in the Department of Health Sciences, University of York. She currently holds a Welcome Fellowship. Her research interests centre around food aid and food insecurity in multi-faith, multi-ethnic contexts, including further research and publications on ethnic and religious variations in food insecurity. Her monograph ‘Hunger, Racism and Religion in Neoliberal Britain’ was published in 2022 (Policy Press). She is founder and former Chair of the York Food Justice Alliance, a cross-sector partnership addressing food insecurity at the local level, and Co-Chair of the Independent Food Aid Network.

Rosalie Warnock

Rosalie Warnock is a Research Associate in the School for Business and Society at the University of York. She works on the ‘Covid Realities’ and ‘Benefit Changes and Larger Families’ projects. Her research interests include: austerity, welfare bureaucracies, special educational needs and disability (SEND) support services, family life, care, and emotional geographies.