Qualitative Research Methods CRIM 7316 Advanced Topics in Criminal Justice Spring 2016 Meeting Times & Location: Wednesday 5:30-8:00 Room 301 Churchill Hall Contact Information: Office Hours: Required Texts: Professor Amy Farrell 400 Churchill Hall 617-373-7439 am.farrell@neu.edu Monday: Noon-1:00 Wednesday: 4:00-5:00 Creswell, John. 2012. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Traditions, 3rd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Miller, Jody and Wilson Palacios. 2015. Qualitative Research in Criminology. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. Miles, Matthew, Michael Huberman and Jonny Saldana. 2013. Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, 3 rd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Weiss, Robert. 1994. Learning from Strangers: The Art and Method of Qualitative Interview Studies. New York, NY: Free Press. Additional readings will be posted on the Blackboard Web Page for the course. Course Introduction This is a graduate level course is designed to provide students with an introduction to the principles and use of common qualitative methods used in social science research with a particular focus on the field of criminal justice. Throughout the course we will cover the basics of qualitative research including: the paradigms that underlie qualitative inquires; principles of qualitative inquiries such as ethnography and participant observation, interviewing, case studies and qualitative evaluation analysis; and analytic strategies for Qualitative Research Methods 2016 1
qualitative data analysis to help transform qualitative data into written research documents. Students will engage in primary data collection and learn how to use a variety of analytic techniques including transcription, field note preparation, memoing, development of coding schemes and conceptual frameworks and data verifying techniques. The course will mix theory and practice. At the same time as we are discussing analytic techniques you will be collecting and analyzing data. As a result, students will be expected to spend 4-6 weeks in the field collecting data (e.g. conducting interviews, observing social settings, and collecting documents) that will be used to complete assignments for the course. Requirements and Assignments 1. Class discussion and participation (10 percent) Participation in the discussion of assigned class readings is an important part of this course. Students will be responsible for the discussion of all assigned materials and active engagement in classroom discussions. 2. Book review assignment (10 percent) Students complete a 5-7 page review of a social science monograph, which utilizes qualitative research techniques as the primary source of data. The reviews will include a description of the study, including the research methods utilized; a discussion of the research findings and critical evaluation of the strengths and limitations of the research methods utilized and conclusions drawn from the research. The book review should generally look like those found in academic journals, with the exception of having a stronger focus on the method used. A list of potential monographs will be provided on the course Blackboard web page (due March 2 nd ). 3. Mini Fieldwork Assignments (10 percent) Three assignments will be completed throughout the semester to demonstrate students understanding of non-participant observations, ethnographic observations and interviewing. These assignments will combine in-class and out-of-class exercises. 4. Qualitative Research Project Assignments (45 percent) To grasp the principles and methods of qualitative data collection and analysis it is critical for students to undergo the process of collecting and analyzing primary qualitative data. Throughout the course, students will engage in a practice research project that utilizes at least one source of qualitative data (interviews, participant observation, ethnography, secondary documents, etc). It is understood that students will not be able to conduct a full-fledged qualitative research project during the time of the course, however, it is anticipated that students will be able to collect a minimum level of qualitative data upon which to practice conducting preliminary analysis and reporting. Qualitative Research Methods 2016 2
A number of assignments will be completed throughout the course to help walk students through the process of collecting and analyzing qualitative data. Project description and research questions (5%) Students will complete a one-paragraph description of the general area in which they intend to conduct a short qualitative study during the semester. The description should include a general idea of the potential area of study and possible research settings. The assignment should also include a central question and short list of sub questions to guide the proposed research (due electronically January 27 th ) Practice Human Subject Application (10%) Students will complete a draft copy of Northeastern University s Application for the Protection of Human Subjects required by Northeastern University s Office of Research Integrity, including consent forms or other documents that would be required by your intended research activities. Assignment includes completion of National Institute of Justice online IRB certification (due February 10 th, note: if you plan to go through formal IRB approval see Professor Farrell about deadlines). Guidelines for this application can be found at: http://www.northeastern.edu/research/hsrp/forms/ Note: Like any other form of research inquiry that involves human subjects, qualitative studies require Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. To help students understand how IRB regulations impact modes of qualitative inquiry students will be required to prepare a mock application to the Northeastern University IRB as an assignment for the course. I would additionally recommend avoiding research with populations under the age of 18 or other special groups (e.g. prisoners, mentally ill) that require additional human subjects protections when developing their assigned research project for the course. In general, students will not be required to seek official Northeastern University IRB approval for class based project; however, if you have any thought that your research project may turn out to be something that you would like to pursue further and eventually write up, publish or share beyond this class we will need to secure IRB approval prior to conducting research. For more information about Northeastern University s policies regarding human subjects protections, see the Policies and Procedure for Human Research Protections publication at the Office of Research Integrity website (http://www.northeastern.edu/research/hsrp/) Fieldwork and Interviews February 17 th through March 30th o Field note/transcript project I and II (15%) Students will conduct research at their selected research site for four to six weeks. If the methodology involves observation students should conduct at least four observations for one hour each. Students conducting observations will turn in two sets of field notes. If the methodology involves interviews students should conduct at least two interviews with key subjects. Two Qualitative Research Methods 2016 3
interviews should be transcribed and submitted for review (due March 16th and March 23rd). o Coding project (15%) Students will develop a preliminary analytic framework for the analysis of their data including the construction of a coding scheme and demonstration of coding for the data submitted in the fieldnote/transcript project. Codes will be created and entered using the qualitative data analysis program QSR NVivo (due March 30th). 5. Final project paper (25 percent) A final 20-25 page research will be produced which brings together the literature review, research questions, description of methodology, findings and conclusions for the research project conducted throughout the course of the semester. The final project paper will be due Monday April 25th at noon and should be submitted through Blackboard. Class Schedule January 13 th Introduction and Understanding the Paradigm of Qualitative Inquiry Creswell, Chapter 2 Philosophical Assumptions and Interpretive Frameworks pp. 15-40. Ferrell, Jeff. 2009. Kill Method: A Provocation Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Criminology 1(1): 1-22. (Blackboard). Lincoln, Yvonna and Egon Guba. 1985. Naturalistic Inquiry, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Chapter 1, Positivism and the Naturalist Paradigm, pp. 14-46. (Blackboard) January 20 th Doing Qualitative Research Creswell, Chapters 3, 4 and 6 Designing a Qualitative Study pp. 42-67, Five Approaches to Inquiry pp. 69-110 and Introducing and Focusing the Study pp. 129-143. Geertz, Clifford. Thick Description: Toward and Interpretive Theory of Culture in Emerson, pp. 55-75 (Blackboard). Manning, Peter. Qualitative Research as Theorizing, in Miller and Palacios, pp. 51-66. January 27 th Ethics and the Protection of Human Subjects in Qualitative Research Belmont Report. Office of Human Research Protections, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/belmont.html Qualitative Research Methods 2016 4
Proposed Changes to the Common Rule, Office of Human Research Protections, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/regulations/nprm2015summar y.html Van Maanen, John. (1983). The moral fix: On the ethics of fieldwork. In R. M. Emerson (Ed.), Contemporary field research (pp. 269-287). Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press. (Blackboard) Miles, Huberman and Saldana, Chapter 2. Ethical Issues in Analysis pp. 55-60. Note: Now would be a good time to complete your NIH certification if you do not already have certification. To complete the program go to: http://www.northeastern.edu/research/hsrp/training/ Project description and preliminary research questions should be submitted electronically February 3 rd What is Qualitative Data? Adler, Patricia and Peter Adler. 1994. Observational Techniques in Denzin and Lincoln (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, pp. 377-392. (Blackboard) Creswell, Chapter 7. Data Collection pp. 145-178. Emerson, Ralph, Rachel Fretz, and Linda Shaw. 1995. In the Field: Participating, Observing and Jotting Notes in In Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago, IL; University of Chicago Press, pp. 17-35. (Blackboard) Presser, Lois and Sveinung Sandberg. Research Strategies for Narrative Criminology in Miller and Palacios, pp. 85-100. Write-up of Non-Participant Observation Assignment (posted to Blackboard by February 1 st ) February 10 th Representing Realities - Ethnography Atkinson, Paul. Ethnography and the Representation of Reality in Emerson, pp. 89-101. Hammersley, Martyn. Ethnography and Realism in Emerson, pp. 102-112. Weiss, Chapters 1-3, pp. 1-60. Qualitative Research Methods 2016 5
Sandberg, Sveinung. 2010. What Can Lies Tell Us About Life? Notes Toward a Framework of Narrative Criminology Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 21(4): 447-465. (Blackboard) NU Institutional Review Board Application and NIH certificate February 17 th Relational and Personal Processes in Ethnography and Participant Observation Bucerius, Sandra Being Trusted with Insider Knowledge : Ethnographic Research with Male Muslim Drug Dealers in Miller and Palacios, pp. 135-154. Contreras, Randol. Recalling to Life: Understanding Stickup Kids through Insider Qualitative Research in Miller and Palacios, pp. 155-168. McCorkel, Jill and Kristen Myers. 2003. What Difference Does Difference Make? Position and Privilege in the Field Qualitative Sociology, 26(2): 199-230. (Blackboard). Fine, Gary. 1993. Ten Lies of Ethnography: Moral Dilemmas of Field Research. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 22(3), 267-294. (Blackboard) Assignment Due Write up of Ethnographic Field Note Assignment (Posted to Blackboard by February 15 th ) February 24 th Interviewing and Asking Questions Fontana, Andrea and James Frey. 1994. Interviewing: The Art of Science in Denzin and Lincoln (eds) The Handbook of Qualitative Research, Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, pp. 361-374. (Blackboard) Spradley, James. 1979. Asking Descriptive Questions in Pogrebin, Mark (ed), Qualitative Approaches to Criminal Justice: Perspectives from the Field. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, pp. 44-53. (Blackboard) Weiss, Chapters 4-5, pp. 61-147. In class interviewing and feedback assignment. March 2 nd Studying Cases and Analyzing Content Stake, Robert. Qualitative Case Studies in Denzin and Lincoln (eds) The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research, 3 rd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. (Blackboard) Qualitative Research Methods 2016 6
Yin, Robert. 1981. The Case Study Crisis: Some Answers. Administrative Science Quarterly, 26 (1): 58-65. (Blackboard) Miles, Matthew. 1979. Qualitative Data as an Attractive Nuisance: The Problem of Analysis. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24 (4): 590-601. (Blackboard) Assignment Due: Book review March 9 th March 16 th Spring Break No Class Data Reduction and Analysis: Building Conceptual Frameworks From Data Creswell, Chapter 8, Data Analysis and Representation, pp. 179-212. Miles, Huberman and Saldana, Chapter 4, Fundamentals of Qualitative Data Analysis pp. 69-104. Weiss, Chapter 6, Analysis of Data pp. 151-181. Field note/transcript project I due March 23 rd Qualitative Data Analysis: Data Display: Coding, Memoing and Ordering Data Miles, Huberman, and Saldana, Chapters 6 and 7, Methods of Exploring pp. 121-159 and Method of Describing pp. 161-187. Straus, Anslem. 1987. Codes and Coding. Pp. 55-81 in Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists. Cambridge University Press. (Blackboard) Fleisher, Mark. The Culture of Violent Behavior: Language, Culture and Worldview of Prison Rape in Miller and Palacios, pp. 101-131 Field note/transcript project II due March 30 th Drawing Conclusions and Verifying Creswell, Chapter 10, Standards of Quality and Verification, pp. 243-268. Miles, Huberman and Saldana, Chapter 9 Methods of Explaining pp. 221-253. Qualitative Research Methods 2016 7
Coding project April 6 th Drawing Conclusions and Finalizing Themes Creswell, Chapter 9, Writing the Qualitative Study, pp. 213-242. Miles, Huberman, and Saldana, Chapter 11, Drawing and Verifying Conclusions pp. 275-322. Wolcott, Chapter 1-2, Reading about Writing, pp. 7-9 and Getting Going, pp. 13-32 (Blackboard). April 13 th Writing and Producing Knowledge from Qualitative Data Creswell, Chapter 11, Turning the Story, pp. 269-280. Miles, Huberman and Saldana, Chapter 12, Writing about Qualitative Research, pp. 323-337. Wolcott, Chapter 4 Tightening Up, pp. 47-88 (Blackboard). April 20 th Using Qualitative Data Maruna, Shadd. Qualitative Research, Theory Development, and Evidence- Based Corrections: Can Success Stories Ever Be Evidence in Miller and Palacios, pp. 311-338. Wright, Richard, Scott Jacques, and Michael Stein. Where Are We? Why Are We Here? Where Are We Going? How Do We Get There? The Future of Qualitative Research in American Criminology in Miller and Palacios, pp. 339-356. Presentation of Research Findings Session I. April 27 th (Finals Week) Presentation of Research Findings Session II. Final Paper due Monday April 25 th at noon Qualitative Research Methods 2016 8