Fundamentals of Qualitative Research Summer School


Summer School

Aims

By the end of this course students will learn:

  • The key differences between qualitative and quantitative approaches to research
  • Some of the basic elements and common issues of qualitative research, such as sampling, validity, and ethics
  • The roles of theory and concepts in qualitative studies
  • How to think about their own research interests from a qualitative standpoint

Information

Day 1:

Session 1: Overview of qualitative research and what distinguishes it from quantitative research History of fieldwork

Session 2: Presentation and discussion of my own research projects: origins, practical and intellectual concerns and decisions, findings
Day 2:

Session 1: Issues in fieldwork:  Project design (logistics, sampling, asking research questions) "Getting in": Insider/Outsider research

Session 2: Issues in fieldwork: Social standpoint: building and maintaining relationships Achieving Validity Ethics
Day 3:

Session 1: Collecting and Analyzing Data: finding variation, conceptualization, theory

Session 2: Student projects: students will discuss what a fieldwork/qualitative component to their own projects would be, or on how they would address their topic from a qualitative perspective

Assessment

Preparation and active participation in the discussion.

Short presentations of students’ own research interests as examined using qualitative approaches.

Materials

Required books:

Masters of Craft: Old Jobs in the New Urban Economy (Princeton, 2017)

Ethnography and the City: Readings on Doing Urban Fieldwork (Routledge, 2012)

The following readings will be provided in advance:

Becker, Howard S. 1996. “The epistemology of qualitative research.” Pp. 53-72 in R. Jessor, A. Colby, and R. Shweder (eds.), Ethnography and Human Development: Context and meaning in Social Inquiry. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Small, Mario Luis. 2009. “‘How many cases do I need?’: On science and the logic of case-selection in field-based research.” Ethnography. 10 (1): 5–38.

Maxwell, Joseph. 1992.  “Understanding and Validity in Qualitative Research.” Harvard Educational Review. 62(3): 279 - 301.

Morse, Janet.  2004.  “Constructing Qualitatively Derived Theory: Concept Construction and Concept Typologies.”  Qualitative Health Research.  14(10): 1387-1395.

Additional info

For the timetable of this course, please click here.

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ERIM participants can register through SIN Online Registrations.

External (non-ERIM) participants are welcome to this course. To register, please fill in the registration form and e-mail it to summerschool@erim.eur.nl by 4 weeks prior to the start of the course. Please note that the number of places for this course is limited.

This course is free of charge for ERIM members (faculty members, PhD candidates and Research Master students). For external participants, the course fee is 250 euro per ECTS credit.