SOSYOLOJİNİN PENCERELERİ, PENCERELERDEN SOSYOLOJİ: PANDEMİ SÜRECİNDE İSTANBUL’DA SOSYAL KIRILGANLIK VE ÇOKLU-AFET ÜZERİNE NİTEL ARAŞTIRMA DENEYİMİ

Abstract

Pandemic experiences vary depending on factors such as gender, age, ethnicity, and socio-economic level. The COVID-19 pandemic and physical distance measures have created significant limitations for social research conducted in this ongoing process. Besides, it has been discussed what kind of possibilities for future studies can emerge from strategies pursued by researchers to overcome these limitations. Based on two field studies conducted in the context of multi-hazard and social vulnerability in the city of Istanbul in the early period of the pandemic, this article discusses the possibilities and limitations, methodological framework and unique dynamics of conducting online qualitative research in this process. In the first research, interviews were conducted with 20 mukhtars from different neighborhoods in four municipalities of Istanbul with different levels of social vulnerability. In the second research, 20 people who meet the social vulnerability status from eight neighborhoods of Sancaktepe municipality of Istanbul were interviewed. In both studies, semi-structured online interviews were conducted and Google Maps Street View application was used throughout the research. Limitations formed in these novel conditions and strategies to overcome these limitations were tackled under the following headings; sampling design and access, time and cost, distance between researcher-participant and ethical issues, and changing concepts of space and field. Finally, suggestions were proposed for how the experiences, new skills and approaches gained through these studies could be used in the future. By doing that, the windows to be opened in the discipline of Sociology through digital windows were also discussed.