Using social media platforms and apps for recruiting participants and conducting interviews

This case study draws on the original doctoral thesis entitled, “Learners With Special Educational Needs Reflecting on Their First Year at University.” The study of the historical background, recent developments, and issues of concern was a collective case study of special needs students studying at Singapore universities. Data collection comprised historical and current local policy documents, parliamentary records collected from Hansard (the traditional name given to transcriptions of parliamentary debates), the information collated from university websites, and semi-structured interviews with 26 participants recruited from five of the six public universities in Singapore.
This article focuses on the ways in which digital technologies were used to modify the initial research design and handle the collection of interview data gathered in this research. Some adaptations were a result of COVID-19 constraints applied in Singapore, although all semi-structured interview data were collected before lockdowns started.