Research V: Qualitative Research Methods

Catalog description

Philosophical underpinnings, history, techniques and relevance to social work research of qualitative inquiry traditions such as biography, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography and case study methods. Although many of these techniques are also useful in social work practice, this course will focus on the use of qualitative methods for the purpose of expansion of the knowledge base of the profession. As such the course will emphasize techniques, standards of quality, verification, and other indicators of rigor as well as value an ethical issues. After completing this course students will be able to describe various approaches, set up research protocols, utilize qualitative data analysis software (e.g. NVivo), describe quality control techniques and specify standards for report writing.