Teaching
Design and Method in Qualitative Communication Research
Often when students think of research and data, they think of quantitative methods. However, qualitative approaches also have a strong tradition in the social sciences. Qualitative methods provide insight into the inner workings of social phenomena; in other words, they can help us understand how things work and why things are the way they are. This course aims to equip students with the necessary training to conduct qualitative communication research. Students will be introduced to qualitative research paradigms, ethical considerations, and best practices. Throughout the semester, students will work in small groups to learn how to plan and conduct communication research using qualitative methods, including interviewing, ethnography, and digital methods. Students will then learn to analyze qualitative data using thematic and textual analysis. Finally, students will produce a proposal for an original qualitative research project.
UNIT I: DESIGNING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Week 1: Qualitative Research and Research Paradigms
Brennen, “Doing Qualitative Research”
Mertens, “A Brief History of Research Paradigms, Ethical Practice, and Contested Territory”
Week 2: Research Ethics
Kitchener & Kitchener, “Social Science Research Ethics: Historical and Philosophical Issues”
Tri-Council Policy Statement, Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans
Week 3: Positionality and Reflexivity
Jacobson & Mustafa, “Social Identity Map: A Reflexivity Tool for Practicing Explicit Positionality in Critical Qualitative Research”
Collins, “Some Group Matters: Intersectionality, Situated Standpoints, and Black Feminist Thought”
Week 4: Designing Research Questions
Booth et al., “Asking Questions, Seeking Answers” & “From Questions to a Problem”
Swaminathan & Mulvihill, “Questions and the Critical Framework in Qualitative Research”
UNIT II: CONDUCTING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Week 5: Interviewing I: Interview Questions
Weiss, “Preparation for Interviewing”
Brinkman, “Introduction to Qualitative Interviewing”
Week 6: Interviewing II: Conducting Interviews
Weiss, “Interviewing”
LaSala, “When Interviewing ‘Family’: Maximizing the Insider Advantage in the Qualitative Study of Lesbians and Gay Men”
Week 7: Ethnography I: The Politics of Ethnography
Fetterman, “An Overview: The First Step”
Trinh, “Documentary Is/Not a Name”
Week 8: Ethnography II: Conducting Fieldwork
Emerson et al., “Fieldnotes in Ethnographic Research”
Lichterman: “Seeing Structure Happen: Theory-Driven Participant Observation”
Week 9: Digital Methods
Light et al., “The Walkthrough Method: An Approach to the Study of Apps”
Pink et al., “Ethnography in a Digital World”
UNIT III: ANALYZING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Week 10: Semiotic, Textual, and Discourse Analysis
Chandler, “Models of the Sign”
Fairclough et al., “Critical Discourse Analysis”
Week 11: Coding Qualitative Data
Braun & Clarke, “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology”
Miles et al., “Fundamentals of Qualitative Data Analysis”