Virtual Ethnographic Approaches to Facilitate Community Engaged Implementation Research

LINDA SALGIN
San Ysidro Health, University of California San Diego, San Diego State University

Meaningful engagement of stakeholders is at the heart of successful program development and implementation. Community and Scientific Advisory Boards (CSABs) have been frequently used to engage diverse sets of stakeholders to inform research projects. Traditionally, CSABs meet in person, however, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, many CSABs have moved into the virtual realm, raising questions about the quality of engagement and data collection processes. Our objective is to describe our approach and preliminary findings to adapting ethnographic methods to assess stakeholder engagement in virtual CSABs.

CSAB meetings were hosted via an online video conferencing platform. A total of 33 stakeholders across two CSABs participated in 16 sessions. Seven undergraduate students and two masters-level research staff were trained as direct observers.

Documentation forms were developed to assess the following in each meeting: attendees, time spent speaking and language (English or Spanish), modality used (computer, phone, or both), and types of stakeholder interactions (e.g., interruptions, sharing or requesting information). Documenters participated in a two-hour interactive training led by three implementation scientists along with ongoing debrief meetings after each CSAB for quality assurance and process refinement. Each CSAB meeting lasted two hours and was facilitated by the Global Action Research Center, a social change organization. Documenters were assigned to observe specific CSAB sub-groups and used a combination of live and recorded meetings to complete their documentation forms.

Debriefing sessions led to a number of identified challenges and subsequent methodological refinements. The primary challenges were: ability to accurately document content and technical issues, with recording information about the content of the discussions being the most challenging. The virtual format of the meetings limited ability to document body language and behavioral nuances and lack of ability to record all breakout rooms. Pre-assigning documenters to focus on specific CSAB sub-groups along with the ability to record CSAB meetings for repeated review made documentation more feasible. Data derived from the preliminary content analysis of the documentation forms indicated that the majority (60-70%) of interruptions or comments were related to technical issues.

As research continues to expand use of virtual platforms, we highlight key lessons learned to adapt ethnographic methods to facilitate community engagement through virtual CSAB contexts. Assessing stakeholder engagement virtually allowed for the collection of rich ethnographic data but these adapted methods presented unique obstacles. Prior to embarking on a virtual ethnographic journey, we recommend ongoing trainings including debriefing sessions, and thorough investigation into the functions of virtual platforms before selection.