Qualitative Research Methods

Qualitative research methods serve to explore the grey areas that remain outside the confines of quantitative predictive research in human behavior. Training in qualitative research is absolutely essential to understand and explore the dynamic nature of the society in which we function.This course introduces students to qualitative research and helps them understand how qualitative research supplements quantitative inquiry in human behavior and the social sciences.

Week 1: Introduction to qualitative research

Week 2: Major paradigms and perspectives: 1. Constructivist and interpretivist approaches 2. Feminism 3. Ethnic modelling 4. Audiencing

Week 3: Strategies of inquiry: 1. Qualitative research design 2. Case studies 3. Ethnography and participant observation 4. Phenomenology, ethnomethodology and interpretive practice

Week 4: Strategies of inquiry (Contd.): 5. Grounded theory 6. Biographical method 7. Participative inquiry

Week 5: Methods of collecting and analyzing empiricial materials: 1. Interviewing and observational techniques 2. Interpretation of documents and material culture

Week 6: Methods of collecting and analyzing empiricial materials 3. Images and Visual methods 4. Data management and analysis 5. Narrative, content and semiotic analysis

Week 7: Interpretation, evaluation and presentation: 1. Criteria for assessing interpretive validity 2. Interpretation and writing

Week 8: Application to the field