Students at SIB 2nd semester will be registered for the course automatically

Objective: The objective of the course is to enable the students to evaluate and apply different qualitative methods of data collection/generation and analysis in their projects. Upon successful completion of the course the student should be able to identify different qualitative methods, discuss the strength and weaknesses of each method comparatively, and be able to apply these in subsequent problem-oriented projects in the Bachelor programme.

Content: The course introduces students to a variety of qualitative research designs and methods. It discusses both, methods of data generation/collection and methods of data analysis. In regard to the former, it introduces both more standard social science qualitative methods, such as interviews, focus groups, ethnography, and document and discourse analysis, but also methods for working with visual and textual data in digital & social media research. The course includes a session on accessing and working with open-source qualitative data. The course discusses how to evaluate qualitative data and how to assess the data’s credibility and quality, including how to triangulate data from different sources and combining different methods. Sampling and ethics, as crucial part of qualitative research, are introduced as well.

List of classes: 1. Introduction: What are qualitative methods (2 hr) 2. Qualitative research designs (2 hr) 3. Research ethics (2 hr) Library-led session on working with open-access data 4. Generating verbal data I: Interviews (4 hr) 5. Generating verbal data II: Focus groups (4 hr) 6. Collecting data beyond talk: Ethnography (4 hr) 7. Documents as data and visual data (2 hr) 8. Digital data and social media research (2 hr) 9. Coding and data analysis methods (2 hr) 10. Discourse analysis (2 hr) 11. Interpreting and writing up qualitative data (4 hr)

5 ECTS = 135 hours of work per semester total: 30 class hours 2 hours of library-organized workshop 48 hours preparation for classes (1.5 for each hour of the class) 37 hours for two assignments 18 hours for exam

Textbook:

Flick, U. (2018) “An Introduction to Qualitative Research” 6th edition (5th edition is ok as well). Sage publications

Additional required texts:

Flyvbjerg, Bent. “Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research.” Qualitative inquiry 12.2 (2006): 219–245.

Watts, J.H. (2011) “Ethical and Practical Challenges of Participant Observation in Sensitive Health Research” International Journal of Social Research Methodology Methodology vol 14, no 4 (July) pp 301-312

Pratt, G. (2002) "Studying immigrants in focus groups". In P. Moss (ed.), Feminist Geography in Practice: Research and Methods. Oxford: Blackwell.

Bosco, F. & Herman, T. (2010). Focus groups as collaborative research performances. In DeLyser, D., Herbert, S., Aitken, S., Crang, M., & McDowell, L. The SAGE handbook of qualitative geography, pp. 193-207

Hahonou, Eric Komlavi. 2019. “Emotions as Method: Obtrusiveness and Participant Observation in Public Bureaucracies:.” Critique of Anthropology 39 (2). SAGE PublicationsSage UK: London, England: 188–204.

Herbert, Steve. 2000. “For Ethnography:.” Progress in Human Geography 24 (4). Sage PublicationsSage CA: Thousand Oaks, CA: 550–68.

Prior, L. (2008) “Repositioning documents in social research” Sociology 42(5) pp 821-836

Robards, B. & Lincoln, S. (2017) Uncovering longitudinal life narratives: scrolling back on Facebook. Qualitative Research 17, 715–730

Edwards, A., Housley, W., Williams, M., Sloan, L., & Williams, M. (2013). Digital social research, social media and the sociological imagination: Surrogacy, augmentation and re-orientation. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 16(3), 245-260.

Whiting, R., & Pritchard, K. (2021). Collecting Qualitative Data Using Digital Methods. SAGE (Chapter 5 Examples of collecting qualitative data using digital methods)

Willig, Carla, 2013, Discourses and Discourse Analysis, in Flick, Uwe, The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Analysis, SAGE Publications (e-book KB)

Gee, J. (2004) "Discourse Analysis" (Chapter 9) In: An Introduction to Discourse Analysis, Theory and Method (4.th ed.). Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, pp. 136-146

Jørgensen, M. & Phillips, L. J. (2002). Critical discourse analysis. In Jørgensen, M., & Phillips, L. J. Discourse analysis as theory and method. London: SAGE Publications, pp. 60-95

Formative feedback: Written feedback on (optional) group assignments Summative feedback: Written feedback on the exam

• Knowledge

  • Knowledge about main types of qualitative research designs
  • Knowledge about main qualitative methods of data generation and data analysis
  • Knowledge about the different types of secondary qualitative data

• Skills

  • Ability to analyze, compare and evaluate different methods' applicability, strengths and weaknesses
  • Ability to evaluate the quality of qualitative research design
  • Ability to reflect critically over ethical issues arising in qualitative social scientific research

• Compentences

  • Competence to work independently with qualitative methods
  • Competence to evaluate implications of methodological choices in qualitative social scientific research

The basic course Qualitative Methods is intended to provide students with a thorough introduction to different forms of qualitative methods, as well as an introduction to systematic and critical information retrieval. Scientific methods, including qualitative methods, constitute an important cornerstone of a social science education. Regardless of the scientific ideal, methodology concerns the scientific work process, its different approaches, quality criteria and ethics. It is a type of knowledge, and craftsmanship that must be acquired.

The course consists of a combination of lectures and seminar teaching

Mandatory course