The main German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) have implemented digital contact tracing apps to assist the authorities with COVID-19 containment strategies. Low user rates for ...these apps can affect contact tracing and, thus, its usefulness in controlling the spread of the novel coronavirus.
This study aimed to assess the early perceptions of people living in the German-speaking countries and compare them with the frames portrayed in the newspapers during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We conducted qualitative interviews with 159 participants of the SolPan project. Of those, 110 participants discussed contact tracing apps and were included in this study. We analyzed articles regarding contact tracing apps from 12 newspapers in the German-speaking countries.
Study participants perceived and newspaper coverage in all German-speaking countries framed contact tracing apps as governmental surveillance tools and embedded them in a broader context of technological surveillance. Participants identified trust in authorities, respect of individual privacy, voluntariness, and temporary use of contact tracing apps as prerequisites for democratic compatibility. Newspapers commonly referenced the use of such apps in Asian countries, emphasizing the differences in privacy regulation among these countries.
The uptake of digital contact tracing apps in German-speaking countries may be undermined due to privacy risks that are not compensated by potential benefits and are rooted in a deeper skepticism towards digital tools. When authorities plan to implement new digital tools and practices in the future, they should be very transparent and proactive in communicating their objectives and the role of the technology-and how it differs from other, possibly similar, tools. It is also important to publicly address ethical, legal, and social issues related to such technologies prior to their launch.
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Public perceptions of COVID-19 vaccines are critical in reaching protective levels of herd immunity. Vaccine skepticism has always been relatively high in Germany, and surveys suggest that over the ...course of the pandemic, enthusiasm for the COVID-19 vaccine has dropped. Looking at the period just prior to the approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines in Germany in the latter half of 2020, this paper aims to assess the reasons for and against COVID-19 vaccine uptake among residents of Germany, and to provide in-depth qualitative data to better understand and address concerns surrounding the safety and efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine. Our findings indicate that there is widespread trust in German institutions and health experts to provide a safe vaccine for those who need it most. However, interviewees also point to the need for more information and the centrality of support from trusted medical authorities in making individual vaccination decisions. We also present the complexity of individual positions on vaccination, and suggest that vaccine hesitancy in relation to COVID-19 needs to be understood as a nuanced, and socially malleable, territory. This indicates that the goal of a vaccination campaign is not only achieving 'herd immunity,' but also a social endorsement of the collaborative effort that is required for a vaccine to be successful.
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In contrast to neighboring countries, German and Swiss authorities refrained from general curfews during the first pandemic wave in spring 2020, calling for solidarity and personal responsibility ...instead. Using a qualitative methodology, this study aims to explore why people in Germany and Switzerland were motivated to comply with policy measures during the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and what factors hindered or limited their motivation. While quantitative surveys can measure the level of compliance, or broadly ask what motives people had for compliance, we here strive to explain
and
these motives lead to compliance.
This publication has been made possible by the joint work of the members of the "Solidarity in times of pandemics" (SolPan) research commons. Seventy-seven semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with members of the general public in Germany (n = 46) and the German-speaking part of Switzerland (n = 31) in April 2020. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed following a grounded theory approach.
Three themes were identified that summarize factors contributing to compliant or noncompliant behavior. (1) Social cohesion was, on the one hand, an important motivator for compliance, but at the same time related to conflicting needs, illustrating the limits of compliance. (2) Consequences were considered on both the individual level (eg, consequences of individual infection) and societal level (eg, the societal and economic consequences of restrictions). (3) While for some participants following the rules was perceived as a matter of principle, others stressed the importance of making their own risk assessment, which was often associated with with a need for evidence on the effectiveness and reasons behind measures.
A variety of motives contribute to COVID-19 related compliance. Authorities should seek to address these multi-faceted aspects to support motivation for compliance in a large proportion of the population.
While solidarity practices were important in mitigating the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, their limits became evident as the pandemic progressed. Taking a longitudinal approach, this ...study analyses German residents' changing perceptions of solidarity practices during the COVID-19 pandemic and examines potential reasons for these changes.
Adults living in Germany were interviewed in April 2020 (n = 46), October 2020 (n = 43) and October 2021 (n = 40) as part of the SolPan Research Commons, a large-scale, international, qualitative, longitudinal study uniquely situated in a major global public health crisis. Interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis.
While solidarity practices were prominently discussed and positively evaluated in April 2020, this initial enthusiasm waned in October 2020 and October 2021. Yet, participants still perceived solidarity as important for managing the pandemic and called for institutionalized forms of solidarity in October 2020 and October 2021. Reasons for these changing perceptions of solidarity included (i) increasing personal and societal costs to act in solidarity, (ii) COVID-19 policies hindering solidarity practices, and (iii) a perceived lack of reciprocity as participants felt that solidarity practices from the state were not matching their individual efforts.
Maintaining solidarity contributes to maximizing public health during a pandemic. Institutionalized forms of solidarity to support those most in need contribute to perceived reciprocity among individuals, which might increase their motivation to act in solidarity. Thus, rather than calling for individual solidarity during times of crisis, authorities should consider implementing sustaining solidarity-based social support systems that go beyond immediate crisis management.
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This qualitative study examines the impact of scientific, ethical, and translational challenges of precision medicine for atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. The study explores how these challenges ...affect biomarker research for inflammatory skin diseases as identified by stakeholders, including patient board representatives, pharmaceutical industry partners, and postdoctoral and senior researchers from multiple disciplines in biomarker research. We recruited participating experts both within and associated with the international Biomarkers in Atopic Dermatitis and Psoriasis (BIOMAP) consortium to ensure representation of the different organizational units of the consortium. For the study, we followed the COREQ checklist. The interviews were conducted using GDPR-safe online platforms and the pseudonymized transcripts were analyzed using Atlas.ti. We analyzed the interviews from participants' personal experiences, topic-oriented, and group specific to identify the main themes presented in this article. The findings were presented to peers and to the wider BIOMAP audience, discussed, and a draft was circulated within the consortium for feedback. In this study, we identify and discuss the interrelation of challenges that are relevant to improving precision medicine with multimodal biomarkers. We show how scientific challenges can interrelate with ethical and translational issues, and explain these interdependencies and articulate epistemic and social factors of interdisciplinary collaboration. Based on our findings, we suggest that including patient representatives’ perspectives is crucial for highly interrelated and widely diverse research. The proposed integrative perspective is beneficial for all involved stakeholders. Effective communication of science requires reflection on the tension between scientific uncertainty and the goals of precision medicine. Furthermore, we show how changing the perception of the diseases, atopic dermatitis, and psoriasis can benefit patients beyond medical practice.
•Discusses interrelations of challenges to improve precision medicine with multimodal biomarkers.•Integrates perspectives of involved stakeholders to address uncertainties in precision medicine.•Reflects on the tension between scientific uncertainty and the aims of precision medicine in medical practice.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This article draws lessons for organizing and designing large-scale qualitative comparative research in turbulent, rapidly evolving, real-world settings. The challenge to the researcher is that such ...studies need to meet conflicting requirements of rigor, relevance, and responsiveness. Recognizing that in such settings scientific research cannot be insulated from its environment, the article discusses a pragmatist approach to comparative research design. Using the case of the SolPan project (Solidarity in Times of a Pandemic), a large-scale and longitudinal qualitative comparative study of people’s experiences during the Covid pandemic, the article presents basic principles of pragmatist research design, such as problem-orientation, design-in-action, and the use of a plurality of evidence. It then argues that interpretation is at the heart of all comparison, and that large-scale qualitative comparative research combines the detailed contextual richness of interpretive explanation, the systematicity, robustness and transparency of large-N comparative analysis, and the flexibility of emergent design. We describe the design and methodology of SolPan and illustrate this with an empirical example. First, we argue that research design and project organization are continuous and reframe comparative research design as generative organization. Second, we describe the use of computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software to assist in analysing large amounts of interview data. In the final section we describe some of the limitations of this large-scale qualitative comparative research.
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Politicians, policymakers, and mass media alike have emphasized the importance of solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic, calling for the need of social cohesion in society to protect risk groups ...and national healthcare systems. In this study, which is part of an international Consortium, we analyzed 77 qualitative interviews with members of the general public in Germany and German-speaking areas of Switzerland on solidaristic behavior and its limits during the first COVID-19 related lockdown in April 2020. We found interdependencies between the interpersonal, group, and state tiers of solidarity that offer insights into what promotes solidaristic practice and what does not. We argue that because solidarity does not have a necessary and sufficient normative value in itself, those wanting to promote solidarity need to consider these interdependencies to effectively implement policy measures. Our study shows that inter-societal solidarity was based on individual voluntary agency and promoted through recognizing a shared goal, shared values, or other communalities including group effort. It also shows that individuals held state authorities accountable for the same values and expect inter-societal reciprocity from the contractual level. Tensions between those complying or willing to follow recommendations voluntarily and those perceived as not promoting the shared goal, posed challenges for solidarity. Another challenge for solidaristic behavior was when acting in solidarity with others was in direct conflict with the needs of close ones. Our study provides a clearer picture of promoting and limiting factors concerning solidarity which is relevant when communicating health policy measures to individuals and groups.
•Solidarity depends on the context of application, since solidarity does not have sufficient normative value in itself.•The social complexity of solidaristic practice is relevant to promoting solidarity through health policy measures.•Supporting others fueled a sense of commonality and raised awareness for those most vulnerable due to the pandemic.•A shared aim and the overall societal expectation to contribute to control the viral spread supported acting in solidarity.•Discomfort about overregulation and unfair distribution of financial and societal costs were perceived as limiting factors.
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The sudden and dramatic advent of the COVID-19 pandemic led to urgent demands for timely, relevant, yet rigorous research. This paper discusses the origin, design, and execution of the SolPan ...research commons, a large-scale, international, comparative, qualitative research project that sought to respond to the need for knowledge among researchers and policymakers in times of crisis. The form of organization as a research commons is characterized by an underlying solidaristic attitude of its members and its intrinsic organizational features in which research data and knowledge in the study is shared and jointly owned. As such, the project is peer-governed, rooted in (idealist) social values of academia, and aims at providing tools and benefits for its members. In this paper, we discuss challenges and solutions for qualitative studies that seek to operate as research commons.
•Research commons are a practicable way to make timely, relevant, and rigorous research in times of crisis.•Principles of research commons include peer governance and provisioning rather than production.•Research commons perceive research as an act of solidarity.
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While the pursuitworthiness of philosophical ideas has changed over time, philosophical practice and methodology have not kept pace. The worthiness of a philosophical pursuit includes not only the ...ideas and objectives one pursues but also the methods with which one pursues them. In this paper, we articulate how empirical approaches benefit philosophy of science, particularly advocating for the use of qualitative methods for understanding the social and normative aspects of scientific inquiry. After situating qualitative methods within empirical philosophy of science, we discuss how to adapt these traditionally sociological methods to empirically inform philosophical questions. Our aim is to normalize and legitimize qualitative methods for philosophical purposes and discuss how they can elucidate descriptive and normative components of scientific practice in a more generalizable non-idealized manner. We contend that qualitative methods are particularly well suited to philosophical interest in the social norms of science, their achievability, and their mutability. Furthermore, unlike more historical case studies in philosophy, qualitative methods enable more confidence in generalizability, albeit limited, from a concrete sample to a larger class. We conclude by addressing anxieties about the distinctness of empirical philosophy of science from social epistemology and from sociology of science.
•Argues for more inclusive boundary-work & a more diverse philosophical methodology.•Motivates disciplinary openness regarding adapting methods to inform philosophical questions empirically.•Discusses the data, explanations, and ideas afforded by qualitative methods.•Incorporates descriptive and normative components to study scientific reasoning and inquiry in practice.•Considers the scope of generalizability for qualitative studies in philosophy.
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This paper draws on the ethics of care to investigate how citizens grappled with ethical tensions in the mundane practice of grocery shopping at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. We use this case ...to address the broader question of what it means ‘to care’ in the context of a crisis. Based on a qualitative longitudinal cross-country interview study, we find that the pandemic transformed ordinary shopping spaces into places fraught with a sense of fear and vulnerability. Being forced to face one’s own vulnerability created an opportunity for individuals to relate to one another as significant others through a sense of “response-ability”, or the capacity of people to respond to ethical demands through situated ethical reasoning. We argue for a practical ethos of care in which seemingly small decisions such as how often to go shopping and how much to buy of a particular product serve as a means to relate to both specified and generalized others—and through this, ‘care with’ society. Our study contributes to displacing the continuing prevalence of an abstract and prescriptive morality in consumption ethics with a situated and affective politics of care. This vocabulary seems better suited to reflect on the myriad of small and unheroic care acts in times of crisis and beyond.
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