3 Reasons our research improved because of COVID-19

Danielle Tucker, 5th November 2020

We get asked a lot about the methodological value (or limitation) of studying household decision making during a time when measures to prevent the spread of a global pandemic meant that many households were spending more time in their homes, and had limited access to resources.

We believe that this focus on the home environment has benefited our research in a number of ways:

1. Studying householders at a time when they are spending more time in their home environment the relational dynamics of household members more salient.

Our research took place in July 2020, in the midst of the gradual easing of the first round of lockdown restrictions (in the UK) put in place to control the spread of a global pandemic. A period of enforced ‘shelter in place’ had provided time for households to reflect on their relationships…