Qualitative Research Methods

Catalog description

This course is designed to provide a broad overview of qualitative research methods – “an umbrella term covering an array of interpretive techniques which seek to describe, decode, translate, and otherwise come to terms with the meaning, not the frequency, of certain more or less naturally occurring phenomena in the social world” (Van Maanen, 1983, p. 9) – used in the social sciences. This course will explore the aims, theoretical frameworks, tools, and methods of qualitative research. The course begins with a review of the philosophical assumptions and interpretive frameworks associated with qualitative research and will focus on different data collection methods, including participant observation, interviews, focus groups. Techniques to analyze media texts and other forms of discourse presented.