INTRODUCTION TO QUALITATIVE METHODS SYA 6936 Monday 9am to 12noon Instructor: Deana Rohlinger Office: 221 Pepper Office Hours: Monday 12pm to 1pm, Wednesday 12pm to 1pm and by appt. Phone: 644-2493 E-mail: drohling@fsu.edu Teaching Assistant: Teresa Roach Office: 509 Bellamy Office Hours: Monday 2:30 to 4:30pm and by appt. E-mail: tar09c@fsu.edu Course Description: This seminar will introduce you to a variety of qualitative methods, including field research, interviewing, archival and historical research and content analysis. This course is divided into three segments. In the first segment of the course, you will learn about the development of qualitative methods, qualitative research design and ethics, and develop a research project. In the second segment of the course, you will conduct field research, interviews, archival research and content analysis. In the final segment of the course, you will learn how to analyze qualitative data and apply these techniques to the data you collected. The course culminates in an analytical paper based on the research you conducted throughout the semester. Course Objectives: Understand how to design and carry out a qualitative research project (create a qualitative research manual) Understand and apply research ethics Identify and explain a variety of qualitative research techniques Collect, organize and analyze qualitative data through in-class activities and independent research Analyze qualitative data and connect analyses to theory Appreciate the methodological rigor of qualitative research Required Book: Warren, Carol and Tracy Xavia Karner. 2010. Discovering Qualitative Methods: Field Research, Interviews, and Analysis (2 nd edition). New York: Oxford University Press. Additional readings will be available through the course website. Research Projects: This semester you will learn about qualitative research by participating in a semester-long group project, which will culminate in an individual course paper. These projects are group projects insofar as you will be able to work with two or three other students on a common research topic. This means that you will work collectively with others in the class to create qualitative research tools (such interview schedules and content analyses) and group members will share data. However, each group member must individually complete the course assignments and hand in an original final paper. As such, each member will need to stake his/her specific analytical interests (e.g., 1
gender, sexuality, emotion, race) at the beginning of the semester so that an adequate amount of data is collected. Specific guidelines for the final paper will be handed out later in the semester. Course Assignments: There are several course assignments that are designed to teach you about qualitative research ethics and to help you collect (and analyze) your data. All assignments are due at the beginning of class, unless otherwise noted. Please bring two copies of all of your assignments to class (since we will be discussing them) and e-mail a copy to your group members (this applies to data assignments only). 1. Obtain your NIH certification (Due 9/13). The National Institute of Health provides a free, online course that addresses the principles used to define ethical research involving human subjects as well as the regulations, policies and guidance that describe the implementation of those principles. There are seven modules total and four are followed by a quiz. The course takes approximately 3 hours to complete. If you pass the course, you will receive a certification, which you need to print and hand end as evidence that you completed the course. 2. Submit an IRB proposal (Due at the end of class on 9/13). All research using human subjects must go through the Institutional Research Board for approval. In order to complete the form, you must design your project and construct your basic research questions, outline your interview questions, and address important ethical issues. We will go over the form in class and I will provide you with some examples. Outside of class, you and your group will draft your IRB form. Inside of class, we will revise your form and it will be submitted electronically. 3. Field research assignment (Due 10/18). For this assignment, you will observe a group for at least 90 minutes and write up complete field notes (7-12 single spaced pages) as well as a reflection on the experience. We will discuss this assignment in greater detail in class. Be advised that writing field notes generally is a time consuming process and you should anticipate that it will take between 4 and 6 hours to complete this aspect of the assignment. 4. Interview assignment (Due 11/1). This assignment requires you to conduct, tape record and transcribe an interview and to write a reflection outlining the process of interviewing (and what aspects you found particularly difficult), themes that emerged during the interview, and any other interesting observations you have. Transcribing an interview is a time consuming process and you should expect it to take 3 to 4 hours to transcribe one hour of interview. 5. Archival assignment (Due 11/15). For this assignment you will conduct archival research, write up notes on relevant documents, and draft a memo reflecting on the archival process and its surprises and challenges. In some ways, archival work is the most difficult insofar as you never know what you are going to find (and sometimes cannot find what you want). You should be prepared to spend several hours reading and writing notes on archival documents in order to successfully complete this assignment. 2
6. Content analysis assignment (Due 11/22). This assignment requires you to identify and systematically code documents (e.g., images, advertisements, billboards, news media, television programs magazines and so on) so that you can make some general observations about data. While content analysis can be time consuming to conduct (depending on how much data you are coding), a great deal of time is spent identifying and determining how elements (variables) will be systematically examined. Since several people will be using the same content analysis, you will schedule time outside of class to conduct a coding session and calculate your intercoder reliability. You will hand in a copy of your variables (including how they were operationalized) as well as a summary of what you found in the content analysis. 7. Course paper (Due 12/6 at 5pm). The above data collection assignments will culminate in a analytical paper. The paper will be discussed in greater detail in class. Class participation: Class participation is critical for a successful learning experience. Please come to class prepared to discuss the reading and your project. You will be asked to give two or three short presentations during the semester that summarizes a particular method and the relevant issues and procedures regarding the method. These summaries should be typed up and a copy provided to everyone in class. When writing the summaries, keep in mind that we are constructing a course qualitative research manual that you can refer to throughout your career. As such, the summaries should be short (around 1 page single spaced) and instructive. Seminar grades: Your final grade will be based on the quality of your performance with respect to the course assignments and responsibilities. The allocation of points is as follows: The six assignments -- 35% Presentations 5% Course paper 40% Participation 20% In academia, the ability to convey your ideas in a clear and concise manner is extraordinarily important. Thus, I stress the importance of writing in this course. It is to your benefit, then, to write and check your work before handing them in to me. Your work will be evaluated as follows: Check minus- indicates that your assignment is unclear, unfocused, underdeveloped, and/or does not meet the assignment guidelines. Check- indicates that your assignment is satisfactory. Check plus- indicates that your assignment is particularly insightful, thoughtful, articulate, and an excellent example of quality academic writing/work. **** This syllabus is a guide for the course and is subject to change. 3
Course Policies and Student Responsibilities: Students are expected to be on time and attend all classes having completed the week s reading and formulated thoughtful questions and/or comments. To do well in any graduate seminar, preparation for and attendance to class is absolutely necessary. I consider missing more than two classes during the semester poor attendance. Missing three or more classes and/or consistent lateness will adversely affect your grade. Students are expected to listen and respond to each others comments and concerns in a respectful and scholarly manner. Scholarly comments are: Respectful of diverse opinions, analysis, and methodologies. Invite and are open to follow up questions and/or discussion about the assumptions upon which comments are grounded. Related to and advance the class and course material (rather than reflect personal beliefs). Delivered in normal tones (rather than yelling and interrupting). Unprofessional behavior will be penalized and may include being downgraded and/or dismissal from class. Late assignments and papers will not be accepted. Missing work is not sufficient reason for a grade of Incomplete (I). An incomplete will not be given except under extenuating circumstances at the instructor s discretion. Remember that the College of Social Science guidelines require that students seeking an I must be passing the course. Academic Honor Code. The Florida State University Academic Honor Policy outlines the University s expectations for the integrity of students academic work, the procedures for resolving alleged violations of those expectations, and the rights and responsibilities of students and faculty members throughout the process. Students are responsible for reading the Academic Honor Policy and for living up to their pledge to... be honest and truthful and... [to] strive for personal and institutional integrity at Florida State University. (Florida State University Academic Honor Policy, found at http://dof.fsu.edu/honorpolicy.htm.) Any form of academic dishonesty will result in a "zero" for that particular assignment or an "F" for the course, at the instructor s discretion, and may be reported to the university administration for further disciplinary action as specified in the Academic Honor Policy. Cheating and Plagiarism. The Provost and legal counsel of Florida State University warn us that any uses of others' copyrighted materials without proper acknowledgement is unlawful and may lead to criminal prosecution. To this end, please be scrupulous in using the work of others by giving full and appropriate credit to the sources and materials that you use. Please use care when taking words and phrases from others. If you use a string of three or more exact words from another source, you must place the words in quotes and cite the author, year and page number. Be a stickler about citing; cite more rather than less; cite early rather than late. Do NOT appropriate the concepts, phrases, or ideas of other people without giving them credit. If you do so, you risk losing your good name and getting into legal trouble. Any form of academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, will result in a "zero" for that 4
particular assignment or possibly an "F" for the course and may be reported to the University Judicial Office. Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Your paper would be considered as plagiarized in part or entirely if you do any of the following: Submit a paper that was written by someone other than you. Submit a paper in which you use the ideas, metaphors or reasoning style of another, but do not cite that source and/or place that source in your list of references. Submit a paper in which you "cut and paste" or use the exact words of a source and you do not put the words within quotation marks, use footnotes or in-text citations, and place the source in your list of references. Disabilities. Students with disabilities needing academic accommodation should: (1) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center; and (2) bring a letter to the instructor indicating the need for accommodation and what type. This should be done during the first week of class. This syllabus and other class materials are available in alternative format upon request. For more information about services available to FSU students with disabilities, contact the: Student Disability Resource Center 874 Traditions Way 108 Student Services Building Florida State University Tallahassee, FL 32306-4167 (850) 644-9566 (voice) (850) 644-8504 (TDD) sdrc@admin.fsu.edu http://www.disabilitycenter.fsu.edu/ 5
Course Schedule Week 1 (8/23): Introduction to the Course Week 2 (8/30): Introduction to Qualitative Methods Week 3 (9/6): Labor Day. No Classes. Week 4 (9/13): Research Design and Ethics Week 5 (9/20): Field Research Week 6 (9/27): Field Research Week 7 (10/4): Interviewing Week 8 (10/11): Archival and Historical Research Week 9 (10/18): Content Analysis Week 10 (10/25) Content Analysis Week 11 (11/1) Evaluating Qualitative Data Week 12 (11/8) Evaluating Qualitative Data Week 13 (11/15) Presenting Qualitative Work Week 14 (11/22) Presentations Week 15 (11/29) Presentations Week 16 (12/6) Course paper is due via e-mail at 5pm. 6