Course Description
Qualitative sociological analysis that emphasizes participant observation, intensive interviewing, and analysis of text; examples of field work studies; the design and completion of an independent field research project.
Athena Title
Qualitative Methods
Prerequisite
SOCI 1101 or SOCI 1101H or SOCI 2600 or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall and spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students will read and critique classical and contemporary research studies using a variety of qualitative approaches.
Students will determine when a qualitative research approach is appropriate, and which approach best fits a question. Through short-term projects, students will practice a number of qualitative research data collection and analysis techniques, including the use of analysis software such as MAXQDA.
Students will learn to assess the quality and validity of qualitative social research and to understand research ethical issues as they apply to qualitative inquiry.
Students will learn to write up results of qualitative research studies.
- Students will be asked to demonstrate their mastery of the course content in written work that is appropriate for an academic context.
- Students will be asked to demonstrate their mastery of the course content in speech that is appropriate for an academic context.
Topical Outline
- I. Choosing and Designing a Fieldwork Project
Fitting methods to questions
Designing qualitative studies
Assessing the validity of qualitative research
Assessing ethical risks in participant Observation
II. Evidence-collection in qualitative research
Participant observation
Grounded theory approaches and their critiques
Interviewing-structured and unstructured
Focus-group interviewing
Content analysis
Analysis of media, discourse, text and historical materials
Analysis of cultural documents
Combining qualitative and quantitative analysis
III. Data analysis and presentation in qualitative research
Grounded theory approaches and their critiques
Interpretive approaches
Issues of validity, reliability and persuasibility
Oral presentations of qualitative research
Written presentations of qualitative research
Nonwritten presentations of qualitative research
IV. Interviewing
Structured versus unstructured approaches
Group and focus group interviewing
Oral history and narrative approaches
V. Analysis of text, documents, media and content
VI. Analysis of Qualitative Data
VII. Writing and Presenting Qualitative Accounts
VIII. The relation of theory to evidence in qualitative research
Institutional Competencies
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
