Theme: Qualitative Methods

With such a large variety of qualitative research methods to choose from, creating a research design can be confusing and difficult without a sufficiently informed overview. This module aims to provide an overview by introducing qualitative data collection and analysis methods commonly used in social science research. The module provides a foundation for other SSRMP qualitative methods modules such as ethnography, discourse analysis, interviews, or diary research. Knowing what is ‘out there’ will help a researcher purposefully select further modules to study on, provide readings to deepen knowledge on specific methods, and will facilitate a more informed research design that contributes to successful empirical research.

NB. This module has video content that needs watching prior to the advertised start date, which can be found on the Moodle page.

This course provides an introduction to the management and analysis of qualitative data using Atlas.ti. It is divided between mini-lectures, in which you’ll learn the relevant strategies and techniques, and hands-on live practical sessions, in which you will learn how to analyse qualitative data using the software.

The sessions will introduce participants to the following:

• consideration of the advantages and limitations of using qualitative analysis software
• setting-up a research project in Atlas.ti
• use of Atlas.ti's menus and tool bars
• importing and organising data
• starting data analysis using Atlas.ti’s coding tools
• exploring data using query and visualization tools

Please note: Atlas.ti for Mac will not be covered.

The module will introduce students to the study of language use as a distinctive type of social practice. Attention will be focused primarily on the methodological and analytic principles of conversation analysis. (CA). However, it will explore the debates between CA and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), as a means of addressing the relationship between the study of language use and the study of other aspects of social life. It will also consider the roots of conversation analysis in the research initiatives of ethnomethodology, and the analysis of ordinary and institutional talk. It will finally consider the interface between CA and CDA.

This course introduces students to discourse analysis with a particular focus on the (re)construction of discourse and meaning in textual data. It takes students through the different stages of conducting a discourse analysis in four practical-oriented sessions. The overall course focus is guided by a Foucauldian and Critical Discourse Analysis approach, conceptualising discourses as not only representing but actively producing the social world and examining its entanglement with power.

The first session gives an overview of theoretical underpinnings, exploring the epistemological positions that inform different strands of discourse analysis. In the second session, we delve into the practical application of discourse analysis of textual data. Topics covered include, among others, what research questions and aims are suitable for discourse analysis as well as data sampling. In the third session, we discuss how to analyse textual data based on discourse analysis using the computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software Atlas.ti. The fourth session will take a workshop format in which students apply the gained knowledge by developing their own research design based on discourse analysis.

This SSRMP module introduces solicited diaries as a qualitative data collection method. Diary methodology is a flexible and versatile tool which has been used across a variety of disciplines (e.g. public health, nursing, psychology, media studies, education, sociology).

Solicited diaries are particularly powerful in combination with qualitative interviews, enabling the remote collection of rich data on intimate or unobservable topic areas over a longer period of time. This multi-method approach, also known as the ‘diary-interview method’ (DIM), has been originally developed as an alternative to participant observation (see: Zimmerman, D. H., & Wieder, D. L. (1977). The Diary: Diary-Interview Method. Urban Life, 5(4), 479–498.), which makes it an especially attractive qualitative data collection method in Covid-19 times.

In addition to the engagement with pre-recorded videos on Moodle (covering diary methodology basics), you will get hands-on experience with designing your own qualitative diary (4 hours live workshop) and trying out the role of a researcher as well as research participant (teaming up with a module colleague and filling out each other’s diaries). We will reflect on these experiences and answer remaining questions in a final 1-hour live session.

The module is suitable for anybody interested in learning more about the method and/or using solicited qualitative diaries in their own research projects.

Face-to-face interviews are used to collect a wide range of information in the social sciences. They are appropriate for the gathering of information on individual and institutional patterns of behaviour; complex histories or processes; identities and cultural meanings; routines that are not written down; and life-history events. Face-to-face interviews thus comprise an appropriate method to generate information on individual behaviour, the reasons for certain patterns of acting and talking, and the type of connection people have with each other.

The first session provides an overview of interviewing as a social research method, then focuses on the processes of organising and conducting qualitative interviews. The second session explores the ethics and practical constraints of interviews as a research method, particularly relevant when attempting to engage with marginalised or stigmatised communities. The third session focuses on organisation and analysis after interviews, including interpretation through coding and close reading.

In Easter Term, the course is entirely virtual, comprising the online resources, supported by 3 x zoom Q&A sessions.

This module is an introduction to ethnographic fieldwork and analysis, as these are practiced and understood by anthropologists. The module is intended for students in fields other than anthropology.

• Session 1: The Ethnographic Method (Dr Andrew Sanchez)
• Session 2: Multimodal Ethnography Part I (Dr Kelly Fagan Robinson)
• Session 3: Digital Ethnography (Summer Qassim)
• Session 4: Multimodal Ethnography Part II (Dr Kelly Fagan Robinson)

Session overview

Session 1: The Ethnographic Method

• What is ethnography?
• Can ethnographic research and writing be objective?
• How does one conduct ethnographic research responsibly and ethically?

Session 2: Multimodal Ethnography Part I

In this session students will be introduced to 'multimodal' thinking and doing in fieldwork (multimodal literally means 'the different ways in which something occurs or is experienced'). We will practically unpack some of the ways of crafting what are known as 'fieldnotes', which are most commonly done via text but which can take a number of different forms. We will also think about how the varied approaches anthropologists take to document what they meet in their fieldsites can significantly impact the shaping of their subsequent analysis. We will unpack the pros and cons of different techniques of documentation including: text, drawing, sound recording, filmic capture, and photovoice.

Session 3: Digital Ethnography

In this session, we discuss anthropologically-informed ethnographic practices of "the digital." In order to do so, we first define what is meant by "digital", as well as delineate the various ways in which the digital presents itself in everyday life, in order to ascertain the appropriate ethnographic methods for each. The session combines theoretical conversations, research ethics, and practical tips on how to conduct research on digital platforms like social media sites, messaging apps, immersive virtual games, and how to mix methods when encountering intersections thereof.

Session 4: Multimodal Ethnography Part II

In this session, we will revisit multimodal approaches and reflect on relational dynamics in the field with particular attention to the ways in which methods have been used to address power imbalances in research methods, representation, and analysis. In particular we will think through the role of multimodal approaches as part of participant-led research. We will discuss how researchers can foster greater legibility and inclusion of research participants-- particularly those who are more marginalised --in discussions, debates and decisions about their lives and futures, equalizing, as far as possible, power hierarchies and epistemic imbalances.

This course will introduce students to the general philosophical debates concerning scientific methodology, assessing their ramifications for the conduct of qualitative social research. It will enable students to critically evaluate major programmes in the philosophy of sciences, considering whether there are important analytic differences between the social and natural sciences; and whether qualitative methods themselves comprise a unified approach to the study of social reality.

Qualitative research methods are often used in the social sciences to learn more about the world and are often considered to be particularly appropriate for people who might be considered vulnerable. The goal of this course is to encourage students to think critically about the concept of 'vulnerability'; to offer a practical guide to conducting qualitative research that responds to the vulnerabilities of participants and researchers; and to explore ways of challenging and resisting research practices that could be extractive or harmful. It will be highly discursive and will draw throughout on ‘real life’ research examples. The course will be of interest to students who are conducting, or planning to conduct, research with a group considered vulnerable, and will also be of interest to students who want to critically engage with such research in their field.

For a more detailed outline of each session please see the 'Learning Outcomes' section below.

Content warning: Throughout, the course will cover the experience and effects of different forms of trauma. The first session will touch on the lecturer's research with people affected by criminal exploitation.

Content warnings for other sessions will be raised at the end of the preceding session and emailed, where necessary. If you have any concerns you would like to raise with me regarding these matters, please do email the lecturer.

Historically, qualitative research has been criticised for being less rigorous than quantitative research through not fulfilling quality standards such as objectivity, validity, and reliability. This leads to questions whether qualitative research can fulfil these specific markers of rigour, how it can come as close as possible to fulfilling them, and whether qualitative research should at all attempt to live up to these understandings of research quality. Responding to this debate, many methodologists have argued for the need of translating objectivity, validity, and reliability within qualitative research designs.

The discussion of rigour is a loaded one, among methodologists of all three research approaches (qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods) as well as mong qualitative researchers themselves. This course introduces different quality strategies for qualitative research to help students make informed decisions for improving their own empirical work and to better judge the rigour of empirical qualitative research done by others.

This module introduces focus group research as a qualitative research method. Attention is given to the key elements and methodological consideration of conducting focus group research. It also explores the process of conducting focus group research, where students are given the opportunity to design focus group questions, and to experience the role of researcher in the practical workshops.

This module introduces focus group research as a qualitative research method. Attention is given to the key elements and methodological consideration of conducting focus group research. It also explores the process of conducting focus group research, where students are given the opportunity to design focus group questions, and to experience the role of researcher in the practical workshops.

This module offers an introduction to the use of action research in social sciences research. It includes an exploration of paradigmatic, methodological, practical, and ethical considerations.

This short course introduces Embodied Inquiry as a research method interested in knowledge generated through the body, not just knowledge of the body. Embodied Inquiry has gained traction as a creative research method capable of challenging the mind-body split and exploring the possible role of the body in research, both for the researcher and for participants. The course will provide a broad overview of the theoretical grounding for embodied inquiry, what embodied inquiry can look like within the social sciences as well as the benefits and pitfalls of embodied inquiry as a method. In addition, the course will provide opportunities to consider how embodied inquiry might relate to individual’s research projects and identifying where to find out more about embodied inquiry.

Research proposals, written consent forms, participant information sheets, letters of intent, briefs and proposals on university headed paper are all claims to power, neutrality and control in the research process. Though ethically imperative, this course is an opportunity to reflect upon these “fetishes of consent” (Wynn and Israel, 2018) and the unequal power relations they may produce between participant and researcher. Employing creative methods within the research process, from start to end, is an opportunity to communicate meaningfully with all stakeholders; from a struggling mother with low literacy levels in a Mumbai slum, to a time conscious policy official in Cape Town who refuses to glance past the first paragraph of your research proposal. The ability to communicate complex and often abstract ideas beyond an academic audience is pivotal to doing research with impact, and it is also a vital part of a decolonial agenda. While “the proof of the [decolonial] pudding” is arguably identified in how research is analysed and presented (Hitchings and Latham, 2020:392), it is crucial that methodologies are subject to critical reflexivity, and foster knowledge exchange between scholars, practitioners, and respondents.

In this course we will explore a variety of “creative methods” that have been developed for use in the field, and to generate empirical data. This course then goes further, to explore ways of incorporating creativity throughout the research process in areas such as stakeholder engagement, participant recruitment, consent processes, and gatekeeper conflict during data collection and research dissemination. As part of the course, you will make a simple means for creative outreach such as a video, presentation, drawing, or video recording (etc.) that communicates your research to intended stakeholder(s). We will think critically about intended audience demographics (i.e. elderly, working mothers, young people, peasant farmers, NGO workers or city officials) and reflect upon the creative materials we have produced as a group and discuss its methodological implications. The goal is not to use creative practice as simply another empirical data gathering tool, but to address the hierarchies within academic processes and knowledge production. Creative practice is an opportunity to build new communication strategies that foster the reflexivity, flexibility, and wonder of the unknown within co-production, enabling us to move towards more equitable ways of building and cocreating knowledge.