Overcoming trust barriers in RDCM: the efficacy of psychographic co-design in qualitative data collection

Remote Data Collection Methods (RDCM) have grown in popularity among researchers due to technological advancements and the need for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the challenges in stereotyping opinions and verbalising feelings during RDCM have led to potential trust barriers among participants. This is especially prevalent in collecting qualitative data remotely due to pre-existing assumptions and emotional resistance among the participants. To address these challenges of trust and inclusivity, an original 4 U framework (Preparation, Unintroduce, Uncomplicate, Unconfine, Unravel, and Wrap-up) has been developed, which prioritises psychographics over demographics through co-design probes. This framework was validated through four co-design workshops held online, focusing on coffee consumption behaviour among students in a post-pandemic scenario across two universities in Hong Kong and India. The 4 U framework provided insights into how RDCM can integrate inclusivity, trust-building, and co-design customisation in qualitative research. The development of this framework contributes to the theory of RDCM in the areas of non-biased participation, qualitative data collection, and psychographic co-design probes. This research accentuates the significance of inclusive participation in co-design, indicating the potential for remote participatory research to align with primary data collection standards in the future.