The research project Religion in the Pandemic – A Religious Studies Investigation of the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Religious Life is a qualitative study with a focus on Jehovah's Witnesses.
What is it about?
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on everyone's daily lives. Especially during contact restrictions, activities in public that had previously been taken for granted became impossible. This also affected religious communities, which are often based on communal practices. Singing, gatherings at meeting places, dancing or even funerals - practices had to be either suspended or an alternative had to be found. An obvious path during this time was to resort to digital tools and transfer the previously "analogue" practices into the digital space. However, these restrictions not only led to disadvantages, but also included the potential for innovation and the possibility of more accessibility.
In this project, which is conducted as part of my PhD-thesis, I am asking about the effects of the pandemic on religious life. This term already suggests that I am not primarily asking about the theological implications of the pandemic and the restrictions associated with it. Instead, I focus on religious practice and the material aspects of the transformation of "analogue practices" into "digital practices".
How is the research done?
I am using a qualitative approach. This means that I conduct field research in the religious community of Jehovah's Witnesses to gain in-depth knowledge of the religious practice in presence and in digital form in its various facets. In addition, I conduct interviews with members of Jehovah's Witnesses, but also members of other religious communities, to gain deeper insights into the experiences during the pandemic and motivation for their actions.
At the same time, I use the findings of other researchers on the topic of religion during Covid-19 to gain the broadest possible insights into the reactions of religious actors from different regions of the world and from different religious traditions.
Since the organizational structure and historical background of a religious community are also relevant for the reaction to the restrictions caused by the pandemic, I examine the materials provided by religious communities and their historical development.
What happens before, during and after the interviews?
Before each interview, I will inform my interview partner about my research and the handling of personal data and their rights under the data protection law. All interview partners will also receive this information in writing in the form of an information leaflet. An interview will only be conducted if voluntary consent has been given for which I use a written declaration of consent.
Interviews can be conducted face-to-face or as a video conference – depending on the preference of the person who is interviewed. If a video conference is preferred, I usually use Cisco Webex, but again, if the interview partner prefers a different software, I follow these wishes.
In most cases, an interview will take between 30 and 60 minutes (including preparation). I use an interview guide (i.e., a questionnaire) to conduct interviews. The proportion of speech is distributed unevenly in the interviews: The interviewees talk most of the time, while I only respond to what has been said from time to time, but otherwise actively listen.
After the interviews, they are transcribed, i.e. written down. In the process, all information that may allow references to the person interviewed or other persons is removed, so that the transcripts can no longer be assigned to a specific person. However, I keep a "key list" until the publication of the thesis, which allows me to assign the transcript to the person interviewed. This means, the date is pseudonymized.
The transcribed interviews are analyzed using qualitative content analysis according to Mayring. The finished work will never contain complete transcripts, but at most quotes from the interviews. A reference to a specific person will no longer be possible.
Can I participate?
If you want to share the experiences you have had during the Covid-19 pandemic, if you want to report on your experiences with the use of digital technologies in your religious community or if you want to know more about my research, you can contact me at my email address christian.deisenroth@digitale-religion.de. I'd love to hear from you!