Qualitative Research Methods

Catalog description

The focus of this graduate course is the theory and practice of qualitative field research. The aim is to provide students with the tools to design, implement, and critically evaluate research that draws mainly on qualitative fieldwork. The first part of the course will address the ethics of fieldwork, and the negotiation of identity, relationships, and power that inevitably pervade such endeavors. Next, we will examine key techniques for collecting and analyzing ethnographic data, focusing especially on ethnography, participant-observation, and interviewing. We will also read works in political science, anthropology, sociology, and history that demonstrate excellent leveraging of qualitative fieldwork data and working with human subjects. In addition to the course’s readings, students will also practice firsthand qualitative field research techniques by designing and executing their own research project in the New York area.