Research Practicum I Qualitative Social Research

This course offers theoretical and practical training in qualitative social research. It covers issues of methodology and methods in sociological investigations of the world. Students will hone their skills for critiquing research and learn the basics of designing, conducting and reporting on their own sociological investigations. The course will prepare students for the Graduation Project. The course is divided into four sections. In the first, we address certain basic questions in sociological research: how do we think about the connections between theory and empirical data? What do sociologists study and how? What are the differences between qualitative and quantitative research? We will also tackle the many ethical and practical issues that come about in sociologists? generation and use of qualitative data. In the second section of the semester, students learn more about two of the most important approaches in qualitative sociological research: participant observation (also known as ethnography) and in-depth interviews. You will read examples of these methods as well as learn the techniques for conducting such research. Third, we will discuss how to organize and interpret data, and how to effectively use data in theory-building and in our writings. We will examine once again the connections between theory and evidence, and thereby further discuss what makes for good sociological questions and how to design good research to address issues that sociologists and the general public care about. Finally, we will briefly discuss textual and content analyses. We will also learn how to craft effective research proposals.