Crafting during Coronavirus: creative diary approaches for participant-centred research

When Coronavirus developed and swept around the world, researchers had to begin to re-negotiate their research methods, their relationship with time and how this impacted the blurring of work and home life. As such, this meant questions were raised about how to continue conducting creative research which remains ethically and methodologically sound whilst also being sensitive and responsive to the ongoing crisis and lived experiences throughout that time. This led to a research project that focused on crafting during Coronavirus and the potential of diaries as a creative research method during this time for capturing and exploring the lived experiences of both participants and researcher. This chapter offers a new insight into the ‘in-practice’ use, and multifaceted role, of diaries as a creative and ethically responsive research method through the ‘Crafting during Coronavirus’ research project.