DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
RESEARCH PROCESS (WS920)
SPRING TERM 2002-2003
Thursdays 0900-1100 hours
Tutors: Christina Hughes, Cecily Jones and Srila Roy
Academic Aims
Research Process is a practical course designed to help students
to plan an MA dissertation or research thesis. The course aims to
give practical training in the formulation of researchable
problems, issues and texts, and their translation into research
design and implementation. It will be participative in approach
and will focus on the needs and problems of MA students.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course, students will have:
· A practical understanding of research design as it is adapted to
different kinds of research and to the time and resources
available, enabling them to progress to independent research in
relevant areas;
· Knowledge of the variety of research methods which may be
adopted in interdisciplinary research;
· Practice in key research skills;
· Communication skills through oral, written and visual
presentation of work.
Topics
1. Introduction
2. Research Design
3. Library and Textual Approaches (1)
4. Library and Textual Approaches (2)
5. Fieldwork Approaches (1)
6. Fieldwork Approaches (2)
7. Archival Research (1)
8. Archival Research (2)
9. Writing Up
10. Presentations
Assessment
During the course students will be asked to do practical work for
the planning of their research project. This will take the form of
`homework' that maps on to the topics being studied. At the end
of the course students will be asked to submit a 5000 word
research proposal for assessment. This proposal should describe
the questions to be posed, the approach to be used and the
methodological issues raised in the research project (also using
material from the Comparative Methodologies course). MA
students wishing to apply for research student status may submit
for assessment a proposal for the MPhil/PhD programme but
should take advice from the tutors on this.
Reading List
Each session also contains key readings. Copies of these are
available from your lecturers. Where relevant, further resources
are provided via Christina Hughes' home page (go to
www.warwick.ac.uk/sociology and click to `academic' staff and
then click `Christina Hughes', then Teaching: Research Process)
and this will facilitate independent study. However, the social
research literature is vast and you are encouraged to search and
source texts that focus on your particular interests. Nevertheless,
a key text for this course is Seale, C (Ed) (1998) Researching
Society and Culture, London, Sage. You might consider
purchasing this.
•
· When starting there are a number of general textbooks that
have been written for students that focus on the processes of
dissertation and thesis research. Whilst most of these are
concerned with the PhD, the following are still well worth a
browse if you are writing an MA dissertation.
Berry, R (1994) The Research Project: How to Write It,
London, Routledge
Brause, R (2000) Writing Your Doctoral Dissertation:
Invisible Rules for Success, London, Falmer Press
Cryer, P (1996) The Research Student's Guide to Success,
Buckingham, Open University Press
Leonard, D (2001) A Woman's Guide to Doctoral Studies,
Buckingham, Open University Press (not in Warwick library but
on order)
Murray, R (2002) How to Write a Thesis, Buckingham, Open
University Press
Phillips, E and Pugh, D (2000) How to Get a PhD,
Buckingham, Open University Press
Potter, S (2002) (Ed) Doing Postgraduate Research, London,
Sage/Open University (not in Warwick library but on order)
· In addition, you might find it useful to consult the following
for research on the teaching and learning experiences of
overseas students:
British Council (1999) Studying and Living in the United
Kingdom: A Guide for International Students, Plymouth,
British Council in association with Northcote House (revised
edition)
Chen, H-C (1997) The Listening Problems of Overseas
Taiwanese Postgraduate Students at Warwick University,
Coventry, University of Warwick (dissertation - res DIS
(closed) 375.429/CHE)
Kinnell, M (Ed) (1990) The Learning Experiences of
Overseas Students, Buckingham, Open University Press
McNamara, D and Harris, R (1997) Overseas Students in
Higher Education: Issues in teaching and learning, London,
Routledge
Okorocha, E (1997) Supervising International Research
Students, London, SRHE
Stagg, G (1993) Study Skills for International Students,
Leicester, De Montfort University (nb no classmark attached ask librarian for details)
Tseng, C C (1998) A Study of Overseas Postgraduate
Taiwanese Students' Attitudes and Difficulties, Coventry,
University of Warwick (dissertation - res DIS 1998 51)
· For those of you planning to undertake primarily empirical
social research, the following offer excellent overviews:
Bauer, M and Gaskell, G (2000) Qualitative Researching with
Text, Image and Sound, London, Sage
Bell, J (1999) Doing Your Research Project: A Guide for
first-time researchers in education and social science,
Buckingham, Open University Press (Third Edition)
Blaxter, L, Hughes, C and Tight, M (2001) How to Research,
Buckingham, Open University Press (Second Edition)
Denscombe, M (1999) The Good Research Guide,
Buckingham, Open University Press
Denscombe, M (2002) Ground Rules for Good Research,
Buckingham, Open University Press
Mann, C and Stewart, F (2000) Internet Communication and
Qualitative Research: A Handbook for Researching Online,
London, Sage
Pole, C and Lampard, R (2002) Practical Social Investigation:
Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Social Research,
Harlow, Prentice Hall
Seale, C (1998) (Ed) Researching Society and Culture,
London, Sage
· For those of you focusing on textual analysis:
Burns, E and Burns, T (1973) (Eds) Sociology of Literature
and Drama, Harmondsworth, Penguin
Coser, L (1963) (Ed) Sociology through Literature: An
Introductory Reader, Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall
Eagleton, T (1983) Literary Theory, Oxford, Blackwell
Filmer, P (1998) Analysing Literary Texts, in C Seale (Ed)
Researching Society and Culture, London, Sage, pp 275-284
Hall, J (1979) The Sociology of Literature, London, Longman
Laurenson, D and Swingewood, A (1972) The Sociology of
Literature, New York, Schocken
Milner, A (1996) Literature, Culture and Society, London,
UCL Press
Thomas, J (2001) (Ed) Reading Images, Basingstoke, Palgrave
· Texts that focus on feminist methods:
Hughes, C (2002) Key Concepts in Feminist Theory and
Research, London, Sage
Kitzinger, C and Wilkinson, S (1996) (Eds) Representing the
Other, London, Sage
Lury, C and Summerfield, P (2000) (Eds) Feminism and
Autobiography: texts, theories, methods, London, Routledge
Maynard, M and Purvis, J (1994) (Eds) Researching Women's
Lives from a Feminist Perspective, London, Taylor and
Francis
Oakley, A (2000) Experiments in Knowing: Gender and
method in the social sciences, Cambridge, Polity Press
Ramanazoglu, C with Holland, J (2002) Feminist
Methodology: Challenges and Choices, London, Sage
Reinharz, S with Davidman, L (1992) Feminist Methods in
Social Research, Oxford, Oxford UP
Ribbens, J and Edwards, R (1998) (Eds) Feminist Dilemmas in
Qualitative Research, London, Sage
Roberts, H (1980) (Ed) Doing Feminist Research, London,
Routledge and Kegan Paul
Stanley, L (1990) Feminist Praxis, London, Sage
Vaz, K (1997) (ed) Oral Narrative Research with Black
Women, Thousand Oaks (Calif), Sage
Winddance Twine, F and Warren, J (20000) (Eds) Racing
Research and Researching Race, New York, New York UP
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
RESEARCH PROCESS (WS920)
SPRING TERM 2002-2003
ASSESSMENT
Assessed Research Proposal
Tutors: Christina Hughes, Cecily Jones and Srila Roy
The assessment for this module is a 5,000 word research
proposal. This should be handed to the Postgraduate Secretary
before 11.00 a.m. on Monday 28 April 2003.
Using the work you have done on the initial research design for
your project, the bibliography and the literature review, write a
5,000 word research proposal. Give it a title, and introduce the
project, giving relevant background information and explaining
why this is a worthwhile and timely topic. Your review of the
literature should examine the conceptual approaches that others
have used to look at your topic, identifying the benefits as well
as the criticisms of the way these other studies have approached
the topic.
A discussion should emerge from this review of the literature in
respect of how you see your research problem, a justification of
the specific research question/s that you will be addressing,
and the conceptual framework that you intend to analyse the
problem. Specify what kind of research design you intend to
use: eg a library project based on the analysis of different kinds
of texts and documentary evidence, such as theoretical texts,
literary and cultural texts, official and unofficial documents,
statistical material; an archival project based on the search for
and analysis of historical documentation; a fieldwork project
based on the analysis of evidence you have observed or
collected from the field; or some combination.
Describe and justify the research methods you will use to
investigate the problem or question/s, specifying which
particular sources of evidence you will use: eg which theoretical,
literary or cultural texts, which historical records, what kind of
fieldwork materials, oral history interviews, survey data or
statistical records, etc; how and why you will select or collect
the materials you have chosen; and how you will analyse them.
Discuss any methodological problems raised by the research,
referring to issues discussed in the Comparative Methodology
course. Include a bibliography at the end. Finally, propose a
realistic timetable for the various stages involved in the
research.
The proposal should therefore include the following sections,
although they do not have to be labelled in this way:
•
•
· Title
· Introduction
· Literature Review
· Research Problem and Question/s
· Conceptual Framework
· Research Design and Methods
· Methodological Issues
· Bibliography
· Timetable
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
RESEARCH PROCESS (WS920)
SPRING TERM 2002-2003
OVERVIEW
Tutors: Christina Hughes, Cecily Jones and Srila Roy
Week One: Introduction: Christina Hughes
What is the nature of research? What are the processes and
procedures through which feminist knowledge is generated?
This first session introduces students to a number of models of
research and builds on the distinction between method and
methodology. The term Method can be understood to relate
principally to the tools of data collection or techniques such as
questionnaires and interviews. Methodology has a more
philosophical meaning and usually refers to the approach or
paradigm that underpins the research. This would include, for
example, positivism, post-positivism, critical, postmodern and
so forth.
Key Reading
Students should follow this session by reading:
Hughes, C (1997) Mystifying through coalescence: the
underlying politics of methodological choices, in K Watson (Ed)
Educational Dilemmas: Debate and Diversity, London,
Cassell, pp 413-420
Brunskell, H (1998) Feminist Methodology, in C Seale (Ed)
Researching Society and Culture, London, Sage
Resource Package
This session is supported by a web based package:
Introduction: What is Research?
Week Two: Research Design: Christina Hughes
Research design is the basic plan for a piece of research. This
plan includes four main ideas. These are:
· The strategy - how will I proceed from initial identification of
research questions through to collecting data and evidence and
writing up?
· Conceptual framework - what kinds of theories or assumptions
am I bringing to my analysis?
· Who or what will be studied?
· Which tools and procedures will I use to undertake my
research?
Whilst research design represents the first stage of a project it
involves thinking through the whole process of research from
beginning to end. For this reason, a key aspect of research
design is that of evaluation as you will want to know how
adequate the research you intend to undertake is. Most textbooks
on issues of evaluation and design focus primarily on the more
positivist approaches in these areas. You should note,
nonetheless, that a critical understanding of evaluation and
design cannot be developed without recognising the
assumptions that are brought to bear about the nature of social
reality and the purposes of research.
Key Reading
Kelly, M (1998) Writing a Research Proposal, in C Seale (Ed)
Researching Society and Culture, London, Sage
Resource Package
This session is supported by a web based package: Research
Design
Week Three: Library and Textual Approaches (1):
Christina Hughes
The ability to carry out a competent literature review is an
important skill for the researcher. It helps to place your work in
the context of what has already been done, allowing
comparisons to be made and providing a framework for further
research. Spending some time reading the literature relevant to
your research topic may prevent you from repeating previous
errors or redoing work that has already been done, as well as
giving you insights into aspects of your topic which might be
worthy of detailed exploration. Putting together a literature,
however, not only involves compiling a list of key texts. It also
involves critical reading, critical thinking and critical
assessment. These refer to a considered and justified
examination of what others have written or said regarding the
subject in question. An important skill at the heart of these
processes is the ability to recognise, analyse and evaluate the
reasoning and forms of argumentation in the texts and articles
that you will read. This skill is called critical reasoning.
Developing a systematic approach to the analysis of the
arguments of others is an essential research skill.
Key Reading
Bond, M, Hughes, C and Owen, K (1996) In the field, in the
library: methodological analogies for library-based researchers,
Teaching in Higher Education, 1, 3, pp 373-383
Hart, C (1998) Doing a Literature Review, London, Sage,
Chapter One
Thomson, A (1996) Critical Reasoning: A Practical
Introduction, London, Routledge, Chapter One
Resource Package
This session is supported by a web based package: Literature
Reviews
Week Four: Library and Textual Approaches (2): Christina
Hughes
Interpretive textual analyses include semiotics, rhetorical
analysis, ideological analysis and psychoanalytic approaches
among many others. These forms of analysis seek to get beneath
the surface meanings and examine more social meanings. Using
Filmer (1998) as a key source this session focuses on the
analysis of literary texts in two ways. First, it will examine how
research can illuminate the social context within with texts are
produced. Second, it will show how researchers can analyse the
structures of relations within the text.
Key Reading
Filmer, P (1998) Analysing Literary Texts, in C Seale (Ed)
Researching Society and Culture, London, Sage, pp 275-284
Morrison, T ( ) Recatatif, in M Golden and S Shreve (Eds) Skin
Deep: Black Women and White Women Write about Race,
New York, Anchor Books
Further Sources
For internet sources try Daniel Chandler's mass media site
http://www/aber/ac/uk/media/Sections/textan.html
Week Five: Fieldwork Approaches (1): Christina Hughes
There is a strange mythology in the research methods literature.
This is that feminists don't do statistical research. This session
has two inter-related aims. The primary aim is to develop
students' literacy in the use and reading of research that uses
quantitative data. The second is to enhance students' confidence
in their understandings of such approaches. To achieve these
aims the session will introduce students to a number of basic
statistical techniques that are used in social research. In addition
the session will explore some common concepts that underpin
quantitative social research.
Key Reading
Pugh, A (1990) My statistics and feminism - a true story, in L
Stanley (Ed) Feminist Praxis, London, Routledge
Slater, D (1998) Using Official Statistics, in C Seale (Ed)
Researching Society and Culture, London, Sage
Stanley, L (1990) A Referral was Made, in L Stanley (Ed)
Feminist Praxis, London, Routledge
Resource Package
This session is supported by a web based package: Developing
Literacy in Quantitative Methods. Those students who are
planning to combine qualitative with quantitative methods might
also want to consult the package Qualitative-Quantitative
Research.
Week Six: Fieldwork Approaches (2): Christina Hughes
This session introduces students to qualitative approaches to
research. Qualitative research is concerned with the study of
people in their natural settings. Qualitative researchers use a
variety of tools and techniques in order to develop deep
understandings of how people perceive their social realities and
in consequence, how they act within the social world. They seek
to make connections between events, perceptions and actions so
that their analyses are holistic and contextual. Beyond these
broad assumptions, qualitative researchers are very careful to
stress the multiplicity and variety of qualitative approaches.
Key Reading
Hughes, C (1992) A stranger in the house: researching the
stepfamily, in R Burgess (Ed) Studies in Qualitative
Methodology: Learning from Fieldwork, London, JAI Press,
pp 33-62
Further Reading
Oakley, A (1981) Interviewing Women: A Contradiction in
Terms, in H Roberts (Ed) Doing Feminist Research, London,
Routledge and Kegan Paul
Seale, C (1998) Qualitative Interviewing, in C Seale (Ed)
Researching Society and Culture, London, Sage
Tang, N (2002) Interviewer and Interviewee Relationships
between Women, Sociology, 36, 3, pp 703-721
Resource Package
This session is supported by a web based package: Qualitative
Methods. Those students who are planning to combine
qualitative with quantitative methods might also want to consult
the package Qualitative-Quantitative Research.
Week Seven: Archival Approaches (1): Doing Feminist
Historical Research: Cecily Jones
There is a striking absence in all the literature on feminist
research methods - how to `do' `feminist' historical research.
This omission is surprising because some of the techniques
utilised in the recovery of women's histories - eg analysis of
primary and secondary sources -may be usefully applied within
other disciplines. In this workshop, we will explore the utility of
some of the sources available to students engaged in the
recovery of womens' histories, and consider the methodological
implications of using different kinds of sources.
Key Reading
Purvis, June (1994) Doing Feminist History: Research the Lives
of Women in the Suffragette Movement in Edwardian England,
in Mary Maynard and June Purvis (Eds) Researching Women's
Lives from a Feminist Perspective, London, Taylor and
Francis
Further Reading
Jordanova, Ludmilla (2000) History in Practice, Arnold (esp
Chapters 6 and 7)
Scott, Joan (1988) Gender and the Politics of History,
Columbia, Columbia UP
Week Eight: Archival Approaches (2): Women's Personal
Narratives and Oral History: Srila Roy
Following the work undertaken on qualitative research methods,
this session takes a closer look at the interviewing process
developed out of the alliance between feminist theory and oral
history. The main focus of this session will be women's personal
narratives, the multiple ways in which they can be `read' by
feminist researchers, and the numerous ways in which women's
oral testimonies and life histories have been explored and
interpreted. Using the work of the Personal Narratives Group,
the aim of this session is to introduce students to the different
approaches they can take to the personal narrative, and the
various questions that can be raised in this process. The session
will also look at `memory work' from a feminist perspective as a
distinct sociological and cultural methodology.
Key Readings
Gluck, S and Patai, D (1991) Women's Words: the feminist
practice of oral hisotry, New York, Routledge
Personal Narratives Group (1989) Interpreting Women's
Lives: feminist theory and personal narratives, Bloomington,
Indian University
Haug, F and others (1987) Sexualisierung.English. Female
Sexualisation: A collective work of memory, London, Verso
(introduction only)
Week Nine: Writing Up
Within the research methodology literature the issue of writing
is either ignored or is considered primarily in technical terms of,
say, style, format, writing drafts and thinking about potential
audiences. Indeed, a standard view of writing is that this is an
act of transcription of one's thinking where one needs to engage
in the act of thinking prior to putting those thoughts onto paper.
However, writing is thinking. One not only becomes conscious
of one's thinking through writing but writing shapes and
transforms our thinking. Here, therefore, we need to become
much more aware of what it means for us when we write. One
way of achieving this is to engage in a variety of `risk-free'
writing tasks that include freewriting and exploratory writing. In
addition, writing is very much connected to our sense of identity
and we might want to ask `What kinds of identities are
privileged through existing practices? This session focuses on
the personal and the practical issues involved in writing a
dissertation.
Key Reading
Back, L (1998) Reading and Writing Research, in C Seale (Ed)
Researching Society and Culture, London, Sage
Grant, B and Knowles, S (2000) Flights of imagination:
Academic women be(com)ing writers, International Journal
for Academic Development, 5, 1, pp 6-19
Resource Package
For those students who want to write themselves into their
research dissertations, you might find the web based package
Developing Reflexivity in Research useful.
Week Ten: Presentations
This session is devoted to your presentations, or representations,
of your planned research design. You are asked to produce a
poster that will visually, and creatively, summarise your
research focus, questions, approach and conceptual framework.
These posters will be displayed in class and you should be
prepared to answer questions from colleague students about
your work.