EST 605 Qualitative Research Methods

EST 605 Qualitative Research Methods
Fall 2013
Marshall 110
T/Th 2-3:20
Dr. Theresa Selfa
Office: Marshall 109
[email protected]
Office Hours: T 1-2, Th 3:30-4:30
There are many approaches to qualitative research and we will review several of them in the
course. We will begin by reviewing the role of qualitative methods in social science research,
how qualitative methods can be used to build theory, appropriate qualitative research designs,
and reliability and validity in qualitative work. We will review a variety of qualitative methods
including individual and focus group interviewing, observation, case study construction, content
analysis, participatory methods, as well as explore some of the procedures and techniques for
analyzing data. We will also explore issues of rapport and ethics in qualitative research. You
will practice data gathering and analysis techniques in the course, write a short review of a
qualitative study, and write a proposal for a qualitative study as a final project for the course.
Objectives for the Course:
1) Understand and critically discuss theoretical issues and practical concerns related to
qualitative approaches in social research.
2) Design and conduct qualitative data collection and analyze the resulting data.
3) Develop the ability to critically evaluate other qualitative research studies.
Requirements:
The course will operate in a workshop/seminar format rather than in a lecture format. Therefore,
the course requires active engagement and participation from everyone, which means that I
expect that you will have completed all the readings BEFORE class and be able to actively
discuss them in class. In addition, you will be in charge of leading the discussion for one class
period, to be decided upon after the semester is underway. Written assignments for the course
include: 1) observing a social setting and writing up fieldnotes; 2) conducting an interview with
one individual, transcribing and analyzing the interview; 3) analyzing a qualitative monograph;
and 4) writing a research proposal for a qualitative study. More details on all the assignments
will be provided a few weeks into the semester.
Readings:
The following books are required and you can obtain them from your favorite online vendor.
Other readings (marked with *) will be on Blackboard, and others you can obtain on the internet.
1) Charmaz, Kathy. 2006. Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through
Qualitative Analysis. Sage Publishers.
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2) John W. Creswell. 2013. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five
Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage 3rd edition.
3) Robert Emerson, Rachel I. Fretz, and Linda L. Shaw. 2011. Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
4) Javier Auyero and Debora Alejandra Swistun. 2009. Flammable: Environmental Suffering in
an Argentine Shantytown. Oxford University Press.
Evaluation
Class preparation and participation
Discussion Leader
Assn #1 Observation Assignment
Assn #2 Interview Assignment
Assn #3 Analysis/Review of Flammable
Assn #4 Final Project (proposal)
10 percent
10 percent
15 percent
15 percent
15 percent
35 percent
Week 1: Introduction to the Course and Overview
August 27: Welcome and Course Introduction, no readings
August 29
a) Creswell, Ch 1; and Researching Sustainability (RS) Ch. 1*
b) Charles Ragin. 1994. “The Goals of Social Research.” From Constructing Social Research:
The Unity and Diversity of Method. Pine Forge, Thousand Oaks, pp. 31-54. *
Week 2: Approaches to Qualitative Research; Philosophical and Theoretical Frameworks;
Research Design
September 3
a) Creswell, Ch. 2*
b) RS, Ch. 2, Developing and Delivering Social Science Research for Sustainability*
c) Howard Becker. 1996. “The epistemology of qualitative research.” Pp. 53-71 in R. Jessor et
al. Ethnography and Human Development: Context and Meaning in Social Inquiry.*
September 5 Designing a Qualitative Study
a) Creswell, Ch. 3*
b) Jeff Goodwin and Ruth Horowitz. 2002. Introduction: The methodological strengths and
dilemmas of qualitative sociology. Qualitative Sociology 25(1): 33-47. *
c) Ervin Goffman.1989. “On Fieldwork.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 18: 123-132. *
In Class Workshop: Brainstorm research design issues you may face with a topic that interests
you.
Week 3: Designing Research, Asking Research Questions, Research Ethics
September 10
a) Creswell, Ch. 4-5 Five Approaches and Five Different Qualitative Studies; Ch. 6 Introducing
and Focusing the Study; Ch. 7 Data Collection
September 12 Research Ethics
a) E. Wood. 2006. “The Ethical Challenges of Field Research in Conflict Zones.” Qualitative
Sociology 29 (3): 373-386*
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b) Mitch Librett and Dina Perrone. 2010. “Apples and Oranges: Ethnography and the IRB.”
Qualitative Research vol. 10 (6) 729–747*
c) Rebekah Nathan. 2005. “Afterword: Ethics and Ethnography,” pp. 158-168 in My Freshman
Year: What A Professor Learned by Becoming a Student. Selection available online
d) Familiarize yourself with SUNY ESF IRB procedures and complete training at Institutional
Review Board, Office of Research Integrity and Protections, Syracuse University. Website:
http://orip.syr.edu/human-research/training-list/Education%20and%20Training.html
In Class Workshop: Discuss ethical issues you may face with your research topic
Week 4: Ethnography
September 17
In Class Workshop: Discuss Preliminary Idea for Research proposal (Prepare 1-2 paragraphs for
feedback and discussion in class, not graded)
a) Clifford Geertz. 1973. “Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture.” The
interpretation of cultures: selected essays. New York: Basic Books, pp. 3-30 at
http://www.sociosite.net/topics/texts/Geertz_Thick_Description.php b) Teresa Gowan. 2009. “New Hobos or Neo-Romantic Fantasy? Urban Ethnography beyond
the Neoliberal Disconnect.” Qualitative Sociology 32: 231-257*
c) Robert Gardner. 2004. “The portable community: Mobility and modernization in bluegrass
festival life.” Symbolic Interaction 27(2): 155-178*
September 19: No Class, work on Assignment 1
Week 5: Writing Ethnographic Field Notes
September 24
Emerson et al, Ch. 1-3
September 26
a) Emerson et al, Ch. 4-6
In Class Workshop: Brainstorming session about the observations you are conducting. Discuss
a research question that interests you and how are examining this question at your observation
site.
Week 6: Interviewing and Interview-Based Research
October 1
a) Robert Weiss. 1994. “Interviewing.” From Learning from Strangers: The Art and Method of
Qualitative Interview Studies.*
b) Robert Morgan. 1997. Focus Groups as Qualitative Research, Ch. 3*
c) RS, Ch. 7 Elite and Elite-Lite Interviewing *
In Class Workshop: Practice Interviews
October 3
Assignment 1 Due: Observation Assignment
c) Joseph Conti and M. O’Neil. 2007. Studying power: qualitative methods and the global elite.
Qualitative Research vol. 7(1) 63–82
b) Clare Hinrichs. 1998. “Sideline and Lifeline: The Cultural Economy of Maple Syrup
Production.” Rural Sociology 63(4): 507-532
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c) Jennifer Sherman. 2006. Coping with Rural Poverty: Economic Survival and Moral Capital
in Rural America.” Social Forces, Vol. 85, No. 2, pp. 891-913
Week 7: Observation and Positionality, Participatory Research Methods
October 8
a) Paul Lichterman. 1998. “What do movements mean? The value of participant observation.”
Qualitative Sociology 21(4) 401-418. *
b) Jill A. McCorkel and Kristen Myers. 2003. What Difference Does Difference Make?
Position and Privilege in the Field Qualitative Sociology 26 (2): 199-231*
c) Kathleen M. Blee. 1998. White-Knuckle Research: Emotional Dynamics in Fieldwork with
Racist Activists Qualitative Sociology, Vol. 21, No. 4, 381-399.*
October 10 Participatory Research
a) Dayyvd Greenwood. 1993. “Participatory Action Research as process and goal.” Human
Relations 46(2) 175-192*
b) Melanie Wiber et al. 2004. “Participatory research supporting community-based fishery
management.” Marine Policy 28(6): 459-468. *
c) Harrison, Jill Lindsey (2011) “Parsing ‘Participation’ in Action Research: Navigating the
Challenges of Lay Involvement in Technically Complex Participatory Science Projects,” Society
& Natural Resources, 24(7): 702-716*
d) RS, Ch. 5, “Striving for Mutuality in Research Relationships.” *
In Class Workshop: Discuss positionality and ethical issues with participant observation and
PAR; how to think about these issues in relation to your own research.
Week 8: Content/Discourse Analysis and Case Study Methods
October 15 Content/Discourse Analysis
a) Symposium: Discourse/Content Analysis in Qualitative Methods (2004) 2(1): 15-39*
b) RS, Ch. 10, Making Sense of Climate Change: Notes on Interpretive Policy Analysis and
Discourse Analysis in Sustainability Research.
c) Jill Harrison. 2006. “Confronting Invisibility: Reconstructing Scale in California's
Pesticide Drift Conflict.” Book chapter in Contentious Geographies. *
October 17 Case Study Methods
a) RS, Ch. 4 Case Study Method in Sustainability Research
b) Yin, Robert. 2013. Case Study Research Design and Methods. Ch. 1 and 2, Getting Started
and Designing Case Studies
Week 9: Case Study Methods
October 22
a) Yin, Chs. 3-5, Preparing, Collecting and Analyzing Case Study Evidence
b) Selfa, T. and J. Endter-Wada. 2008. “The Politics of Community-Based Conservation in
Natural Resource Management: A Focus for International Comparative Analysis.” Environment
and Planning A 40: 948-965.
October 24 Grounded Theory
a) Charmaz, Ch. 1-2
b) RS Ch. 8., Grounding Rapidly Emerging Disciplines: The Fair Trade Town Movement
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Week 10: Coding, managing field data, analyzing data
October 29
Emerson et al, Ch. 6
Charmaz, Ch. 3-4
In Class Workshop: Practice coding interviews
October 31
a) Creswell, Ch. 8
b) Pat Bazeley. 2009. Analyzing qualitative data: more than “identifying themes”. Malaysian
Journal of Qualitative Research.
c) Charmaz, Ch. 5
In Class Workshop: Practice coding interviews
Week 11: Writing Up Qualitative Research, Data Quality, Validity and Verification
Assignment 2 Due: Interview Assignment
November 5
a) Emerson et al, Ch. 7-8
b) Creswell, Ch. 9
c) Yin, Ch. 6 Reporting Case Studies
November 7
a) Creswell, Ch. 10
b) Jeasik Cho and Allen Trent. 2006. Validity in qualitative research revisited. Qualitative
Research 6(3): 319-340
c) Charmaz, Ch. 6-7
Week 12: Computer Based Data Analysis
November 12
a) Winosme St. John and Patricia Johnson. 2000. The pros and cons of data analysis software for
qualitative research. Journal of Nursing Scholarship 32(4) 393-397.*
b) Lynne Johnstone. 2006. Software and method: Reflections on teaching and using QSR N
Vivo in doctoral research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 9(5):379391.*
In Class Workshop: Demo on qualitative software programs.
November 14 More on Computer Based Data Analysis
Thanksgiving Recess, No Class November 17-24
Week 13: Reflections on Qualitative Research
November 26
Assignment 3 Due: Review of Flammable
In Class Discussion: Discuss Flammable, perspectives on data validity and quality in qualitative
research
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November 28
a) Creswell, Ch. 1
b) Charmaz, Ch. 8
Week 14: Summary and Presentations
December 3 Wrap Up, No readings
December 5 Student Presentation of Research Proposals
Final Proposals Due December 11
NOTICES
Accommodations
SUNY-ESF works closely with the Office of Disability Services (ODS) at Syracuse University
in assisting students with learning and physical disabilities. If you believe that you need
accommodations for a disability, you may contact the ESF Office of Student Affairs, 110 Bray
Hall, tel. 315.470.6660, for assistance with the process. You may also contact ODS directly,
Room 309 of 804 University Avenue, 315.443.4498, to schedule an appointment to discuss your
needs and the process for requesting accommodations. ODS is responsible for coordinating
disability-related accommodations and will issue students with documented Disabilities
Accommodation Authorization Letters, as appropriate. Since accommodations may require early
planning and generally are not provided retroactively, please contact ODS as soon as possible.
To learn more about ODS, visit http://disabilityservices.syr.edu.
Academic integrity
Plagiarism is presenting others' work as your own without properly acknowledging its source(s).
Plagiarism includes verbatim and close paraphrasing of material from course texts and other
published materials, cutting and pasting from electronic sources, and unattributed paraphrasing.
Acts of academic dishonesty are defined in the ESF Academic Integrity Handbook and violate
the College's Code of Student Conduct. Students are accountable for such acts. If you have any
questions about how to properly use & cite others' original work, please consult writing reference
texts, your instructor, or other campus resources.
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