ED 851 Seminar in Qualitative Inquiry
Spring 2014 NE-278B
Thursdays 4:00 pm-6:40 pm
Marva Cappello, Ph.D.
Phone: (619) 594-1322
Office: BAM 215
E-mail: cappello@mail.sdsu.edu
Office Hours: Thursdays 3-4pm and by appt.
“I’m going to do what I can to show you how I arrived at this opinion…I am
going to develop in your presence as fully and freely as I can the train of thought
which led me to think this.”
–Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own
Rationale: The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the world of
qualitative research with two major goals in mind: to read and understand
qualitative studies thoughtfully, and to design and conduct qualitative research.
Beginning with an overview of epistemological assumptions, the course will
explore various types of qualitative research approaches and the kinds of topics
and queries they support. As the course progresses, students will explore
research design and topic development, data generation methods, analysis
approaches, interpretation, and writing the report. Students will practice
observation and interview techniques as well as document analysis and multimethods integration. The class is designed so that students simultaneously read
about and discuss qualitative research, and conduct research themselves.
Objectives: Learning objectives for this course include technical and conceptual
skills. Learners will:
1) Understand the epistemology, research strategies, and research methods
of various traditions in qualitative research.
2) Analyze and apply theoretical models that undergird qualitative study.
3) Develop an understanding of the role of theory and existing research
literature to the research process.
4) Comprehend and practice qualitative methods and techniques.
5) Critically assess the quality and significance of qualitative studies.
6) Examine significant issues and tensions influencing qualitative research
and the ways they are currently resolved by different research strategies.
7) Explore ethical dilemmas and issues related to the research process.
8) Reflect on their own assumptions and subjectivities related to the
educational research processes.
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Instructional Methods: Classes will include mini-lectures, demonstrations, small
group discussion and group work, and projects inside and outside the classroom.
We will have guest speakers to guide our understanding (tba). Socratic methods
of questioning will guide discussions.
Required Texts:
Readings will be composed of three kinds of texts:
•
philosophical texts about the nature of knowing and inquiry
•
methodological readings about “doing” qualitative research, and
•
texts that model qualitative methods in use.
Merriam, S. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.ISBN 978-0-470-28354-7 (paperback)
Various articles assigned and selected on Blackboard.
Course Requirements:
Assignments
Grade
Percentage
10%
Professionalism:
Your professionalism grade will be based upon class
attendance, participation, and preparation. Your participation
is vital to your learning, to your peers’ learning, and to the
success of the course.
Non-Participant Observation Activity:
20%
You will observe in a complex public setting such as a coffee
shop, zoo, place of worship, museum, health club or
educational setting that has public access and multiple
viewing opportunities. Go to this setting more than once to
get a sense of it’s complexity and maximize what you will
learn. You may want to choose different times of the day to
visit. Take notes.
•Setting- Describe the entire physical space. Draw a floor plan
and/or take a photograph, if permitted.
•People-Describe the range of people in this setting. Describe
groups and common characteristics such as dress, gender,
speech, or activity.
•Action-What are the relationships between people and/or
groups. Try to find out something about the people in this
setting.
• Focus on one. What are they doing in this specific setting?
What is their role? Describe their characteristics and actions.
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•If you had unlimited time to study here, what three things
would you look for upon returning to the setting.
•Chose a title for your 2-3 page observation field note report
that reflects your observation setting and people.
Interview Activity:
What Does Your Work Mean To You?
Chose an education professional to interview, twice, so that
you have the experience of going back for an interview and to
do a member check. Initial interviews may last an hour and
will be guided by the following semi-structured protocol:
1) Talk about a typical day at work.
2) What do you like about your job?
3) What do you dislike about your job?
4) Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
5) What does your work mean to you?
You will create the questions for the second interview based
on what you learned from the first interview and keeping the
goal in mind. Use the second opportunity as a member check.
35%
Your 4-6 page interview paper will address the following (at a
minimum):
•Why did you select this person to interview?
•Summarize responses from both interviews in a meaningful
way. This paper should tell the narrative, the story, of what
this person’s work means to him/her.
•Pull out at least 3 themes from the interviews. Provide
quotes as evidence.
•Include a reflection on your skills as an interview and coder.
Did any ethical issues arise? Were there any unexpected
difficulties?
•Submit signed consent forms and copies of both interview
protocols.
Professional Reading Critique:
20%
You will write a 2-3 page critique (encompassing no more
than ½ page of article summary) for an article chosen from the
list provided on Blackboard or other QUALITATIVE research
study. Your assessment of the research will be shared with
your peers in class on the assigned date. Feel free to structure
your presentation as best suited to the topic/article explored.
Please limit your presentations to 15 minutes maximum. Your
critique should elaborate the following questions:
•What methodological approach to qualitative research did
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this study represent?
•What was the theoretical background for the study? How
did the theory frame the data interpretation?
•Could you tell the author’s perspective on the topic given
the theoretical background and literature review?
•Did you gain enough background from the literature review
to understand the topic in its larger context?
•What were the strengths and weaknesses of the
methodological approaches?
•Were the findings convincing and supported by evidence in
the paper? Were there alternative conclusions that could have
been explored?
QDA Software Report:
10%
We will be hosting guests from nVivo and Atlas.ti, two
popular qualitative data analysis software groups. You will
use the information shared in their presentations and online
resources such as the ones listed below, to compose a 1-2 page
opinion paper about the strengths and weakness of each as
you see them.
http://onlineqda.hud.ac.uk/index.php
http://www.atlasti.com/
http://www.qsrinternational.com/default.aspx#tab_you
IRB Tutorial/Quiz:
5%
You will provide evidence that you have completed the online
quiz required by the Institutional Review Board before you
may submit research proposals.
Evaluation:
Points will be awarded for each assignment as mentioned above. Late work will
be penalized. Grading scale is shown below:
A
AB+
B
BC
92-100
90-91
85-89
80-84
75-79
Below 74
Please Note:
Standard rules of etiquette apply in class.
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Course Calendar: Subject to change as needed.
DATE
TOPIC
The Researcher as Tool
1/23/14
Introduction-Social Seeing
The Researcher as Tool
1/30/14
The Discipline of Qualitative Research
Research Design/Questions
IRB Introduction
2/6/14
Ethics, Validity and Reliability
Quality in Qualitative Research
2/13/14
Topic Generation
Case Studies
Generating Data
2/20/14
Observations/Participant Observations
* Angrosino & Mays de Perez (2005)
2/27/14
Interviews/Focus Groups
*Fontana & Frey (2005)
3/6/14
Visual Data
3/13/14
3/20/14
Analyzing Data
Individual Appointments
Coding and Analysis
3/27/14
4/17/14
Grounded Theory
Theorizing From Data
SPRING BREAK
QDA Software Webinar -nVivo
IRB
http://gra.sdsu.edu/grad/research/hrppTr
aining.html
QDA Software Webinar -Atlas.ti
4/24/14
5/1/14
Reporting Data
Individual Appointments
Writing Research Reports
5/8/14
Qualitative Tensions and Politics
4/10/14
TASK
Merriam 1-55
Oldfather & West
(1994)
Merriam 209- 235
Morse et al. (2002)
Merriam 39-54
Stake (2005)
Merriam pp. 117-137
Jones et al. (2010)
Merriam pp. 85-115
Cappello (2005)
Brotherson (1994)
Gourlay (2010)
Cappello (2012)
DRAFT
Merriam pp. 165-207
Keats (2009)
Charmaz (2005)
Observation Due
IRB Quiz Due
Tierney & Corwin
(2007)
Merriam pp. 237-264
Richardson (2005)
Interview Due
Denzin (2005)
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OK, we will talk about Mixed Methods
Software Report
Due
Finals Week
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