Qualitative Research and Design

Course Description

Summary

Qualitative inquiry seeks to discover and to describe in narrative reporting what particular people do in their everyday lives and what the actions mean to them.  The course is intended for students at all standpoints of their individual projects who wish to gain experience and expertise in engaging with qualitative research methods. As a 4000-level reading and writing intensive course, our learning process includes examining major research paradigms used in qualitative traditions, learning to analyze and synthesize literature and research on a given topic, building our knowledge of critical theoretical frameworks that can be used to shape qualitative design, and the exploration of qualitative data analysis strategies. As a writing intensive course, this course consists of reflective assignments to better support students qualitative research journey. Students will be asked to identify valuable recommendations from the readings, reflect on their goals for their projects, and how their identities, communication skills, and lived experiences inform the shaping of their projects.

The qualitative methods and designs that this course explores includes but is not limited to ethnography, case study, narrative, participatory action research, participant and non-participant observation, in-depth interviewing, data coding strategies, and forms of content, document, and thematic analysis.

The goals of this course are to provide:

1. A foundational knowledge base on qualitative methods and design.
2. Inquiry-driven learning experiences with a variety of qualitative methods.
3. Class-based mentoring in formulating and writing/expanding/finalizing a worthwhile, coherent, research project that either employs or intends to employ qualitative research methods.