UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
B.A. PROGRAMME [Regular]
CSO302: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS
SEMESTER: August-November 2008
LECTURERS: Prof. Mauri Yambo and Prof. P.O. Chitere
Blog = http://mauriyambo.blogspot.com
COURSE OUTLINE
| COURSE OBJECTIVE To introduce students to qualitative methods of social science research. COURSE DESCRIPTION/CONTENT The historical background of qualitative research, its importance to third world countries like Kenya and its current concerns. Theoretical perspectives essential for understanding qualitative research methods; symbolic interactionism, social change, social conflict, labelling, dramaturgy, impression management, phenomenology, and ethnomethodology. The nature of social reality and the use of sociological imagination in searching for connections between its various aspects. The design and implementation of naturalistic or inductive research including the use of techniques such as participant observation, personal documents (e.g. letters, diaries, autobiographies, etc.), and group interviews. Analysis and presentation of qualitatively gathered data. 1 Unit. |
I. INTRODUCTION
– Sociology as a Social Science
– What is Social Research?
– Principles/Standards of scientific research
– Methodology and methods
-
Varieties of Method
II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
– Early Social Surveys and Anthropological Studies
– Descriptive Studies of the Chicago School
– Giddens’ new rules of sociological method.
III. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
-- Understanding social relationships
– Elements of the sociological imagination
– On the qualitative basis of the social construction of reality
– Overview of the main theoretical perspectives/paradigms in qualitative research:
– Positivism and Empiricism
– Critical Sociology: Marxism, Feminism
IV. DESIGN/PREPARATION OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
– Defining Research Design
-- Essential Steps in the Life of a Research Project
– Elements of Sampling, Survey and Project Site Selection in Field Research
– Ethical Issues in Research
V. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH TECHNIQUES AND TOOLS
– Case Study
– Rapid/Participatory Rural Appraisal – RRA/PRA
– Monitoring and Evaluation Modalities
– Surveillance
– Historical Methods [including Genealogical, Archaeological and Dialectical Materialist].
VI. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:
SELECTED TECHNIQUES
– Hermeneutics and scientific evidence
– Content Analysis, incorporating critical/interpretative techniques
– Thick Description
– Critical Analysis
– Secondary Data Analysis
– Validity and Reliability issues.
VII. INSIGHTS ON WRITING RESEARCH PROPOSALS AND REPORTS
– Basic Format for Research Proposals and Final Reports
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CORE READINGS
Durkheim, Emile.1964. The Rules of Sociological Method. New York: Free Press.
Leedy, Paul D. 1980. Practical Research: Planning and Design. Second Edition. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co.
Mann, P. 1985. Methods of Social Investigation. 2nd Edition. New York: Basil Blackwell.
Ngau, Peter and Asfaw Kumssa, Eds. 2004. Research Design, Data Collection and Analysis: A Training Manual. Nairobi: United Nations Centre for Regional Development, Africa Office.
Sarantakos, Satirios. 1993. Social Research. London: The Macmillan Press [see pp. 1-28]
Worsley, Peter, ed. 1992. The New Introducing Sociology. Revised Third Edition. London: Penguin Books [Read Chapter 3 (pp. 78-115), titled “The Research Process.” Very useful discussion of a number of themes highly relevant to the subject-matter of this Qualitative Methods course.]
ADDITIONAL READINGS
I. INTRODUCTION; AND II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Abel, Theodore. 1974. "The Operation Called Verstehen," pp. 40-69, in Marcello Truzzi, Ed. 1974. Verstehen: Subjective Understanding in the Social Sciences. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Publishing. [See Murray L. Wax's article, listed below, for a reply to Abel. Those interested may read the whole of Truzzi's book. Note also that Giddens, in New Rules... (p. 126 and 150-51) also touches on the concept]
Berger, Peter L. and Thomas Luckman. 1967. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. New York: Anchor Books. [The thrust of their argument, captured in the title, is that reality is socially constructed; and that, of all realities, the reality of everyday life, intersubjectively revolving around the 'here' and the 'now', is the reality par excellence – a self-evident reality "taken for granted as reality." As a socially constructed reality, they add, society has both an objective and a subjective dimension]
Frankfort-Nachmias, Chava and David Nachmias. 1996. Research Methods in the Social Sciences. Fifth Edition. London: Arnold [see pp. 1-21 on the scientific approach; pp. 51-73 on basic elements of research]
Ghosh, B. N. 1985. Scientific Method and Social Research. Third Edition. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers [see pp. 87-95]
Giddens, Anthony. 2001. Sociology. Fourth Edition. Cambridge: Polity Press [An introductory text. Read selectively. He touches inter alia on Semiotics, Socialization and Symbolic Interactionism]
Goffman, Ervin. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Anchor. [An ethnomethodology text]
Leedy, Paul D. 1980. Practical Research: Planning and Design. Second Edition. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co. [see comments on deductive logic and inductive reasoning, methodology; see pp. 33-4 on sociogram]
Mann, P. 1985. Methods of Social Investigation. 2nd Edition. New York: Basil Blackwell.
Sarantakos, Satirios. 1993. Social Research. London: The Macmillan Press [see pp. 1-28]
Worsley, Peter, ed. 1992. The New Introducing Sociology. Revised Third Edition. London: Penguin Books [Read Chapter 3 (pp. 78-115), titled “The Research Process.” Very useful discussion of a number of themes highly relevant to the subject-matter of this Qualitative Methods course.]
Turner, Roy, ed. 1974. Ethnomethodology. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books
III. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Berger, Peter L. and Thomas Luckman. 1967. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. New York: Anchor Books.
Cohen, Harry, 1986. Connections: Understanding Social Relationships. Ames: Iowa State University
Durkheim, Emile.1964. The Rules of Sociological Method. New York: Free Press.
Garfinkel, Harold. 1984. Studies in Ethnomethodology. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Giddens, Anthony. 1991. New Rules of Sociological Method: A Positive Critique of
Interpretative Sociologies. Cambridge: Polity Press [read his thoughts on symbolic interactionism (p. 22), and on paradigms, relativism, hermeneutic analysis and Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions (pp. 142-146)]
Giddens, Anthony. 2001. Sociology. Fourth Edition. Cambridge: Polity Press. [Read selectively. He touches on Semiotics, Socialization and Symbolic Interactionism, for example]
Goffman, Ervin. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Anchor. [An ethnomethodology text]
Kuhn, Thomas. 1970. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 2nd Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [Focus on paradigms and the process through which a "paradigm shift" occurs to signal a scientific revolution. That's the whole thing, really; and you can grasp it quickly]
Mead, George Herbert. 1934. Mind, Self and Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [Read Mead for Symbolic Interactionism. Or read others who have commented on Mead's ideas, such as Giddens, in Sociology; or Arnold Rose, in "A Summary of Symbolic Interaction Theory"]
Mills, C. Wright. 1959. The Sociological Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press [read, in particular, pp. 1-24]
Rose, Arnold. 1974. "A Summary of Symbolic Interaction Theory," pp. 139-151, in Denisoff, Callahan and Levine, eds. 1974. Theories and Paradigms in Contemporary sociology. Itasca, Il.: F.E. Peacock Publishers
Sarantakos, Satirios. 1993. Social Research. London: The Macmillan Press [See pp. 8-15, 30-5, 47-50]
Turner, Roy, ed. 1974. Ethnomethodology. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books.
IV AND V: DESIGNING/PREPARATION TECHNIQUES OF
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Bergdall, Terry D. 1993. Methods for Active Participation: Experiences in Rural Development
from East and Central Africa. Nairobi:Oxford University Press [Read Chapter 25]
Burgess, R. Ed. 1983. Field Research: A Sourcebook and Field Manual.
London: George and U nwin [Read Chapters 11, 14, 16 and 25].
Casley, D.J. and K. Kumar. 1988. The Collection, Analysis and Use of Monitoring and Evaluation Data. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press [Read Chapters 3 and 4].
Chambers, Robert. 2002. Participatory Workshops: A Sourcebook for 21 Sets of Ideas & Activities. London: Earthscan Publications.
Denzin, N.K. and S. Y. Lincoln. 1968. Handbook of Qualitative Research. London:
Sage Publications [Read Chapters 14 and 23]
Frankfort-Nachmias, Chava and David Nachmias. 1996. Research Methods in the Social
Sciences. Fifth Edition. London: Arnold [see pp. 75-96 on ethics in social science
research; pp. 279-301 on qualitative research; pp. 303-331 on secondary data analysis]
Geertz, Clifford.1993. “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight,” pp. 412-453, in Clifford
Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. New York: Basic Books
[A useful example of a case study in practice. See handout. The whole book is in the
Main Library – JKML]
Kidder, Louise H. 1981. Selltiz Wrightsman and Cook's Research Methods in Social Relations. Fourth Edition. New York: Holt-Saunders International Edition [see pp. 101-117 on participant observation]
Leedy, Paul D. 1980. Practical Research: Planning and Design. Second Edition. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co. [see pp. 4-5, 46, 87-131]
Mikkelsen, Britha. 2005. Methods For Development Work and Research: A New Guide For Practitioners. 2nd Edition. New Delhi: SAGE Publications [Selectively read Chapters 2 and 3 (pp. 53-123) for an extended discussion of PRA, and Chapter 7 (pp. 263-324), which focuses on monitoring and evaluation]
Mulwa, Francis W. and Simon N. Nguluu. 2003. Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation: A
Strategy for Organization Strengthening. Second Revised Edition. Eldoret and Nairobi: Zapf Chancery and PREMESE-Olivex Publishers.
Peil, Margaret. 1995, Social Science Research Methods: A Handbook for Africa. Second Revised Edition. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers [see pp. 2-16 on research design; pp.16-21 on ethical issues in research]
Sarantakos, Satirios. 1993. Social Research. London: The Macmillan Press [see pp. 21-27, 93-101, 106-165]
Sitton, G. 1966. “Essential Steps in the Life of a Research Project”. In FAO, Getting Agriculture Moving. Vol. 1
Turner, Roy, ed. 1974. Ethnomethodology. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books
Whyte, Willian Foot, Chapter 16, in R. Burgess Ed. 1983. Field Research: A Sourcebook and Field Manual. London: George and Unwin
[Read Chapter 16]
VI. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Denzin, N.K. and S. Y. Lincoln. 1968. Handbook of Qualitative Research. London: Sage
Publications [Read Chapter 27]
Geertz, Clifford.1993. “Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of culture,” pp. 3-30, in Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. New York: Basic Books. [See handout. The whole book is in the Main Library – JKML ]
Giddens, Anthony. 1991. New Rules of Sociological Method: A Positive Critique of
Interpretative Sociologies. Cambridge: Polity Press [read his thoughts on paradigms,
relativism and hermeneutic analysis; look also at the thrust of his new rules]
Kidder, Louise H. 1981. Selltiz Wrightsman and Cook's Research Methods in Social Relations. Fourth Edition. New York: Holt-Saunders International Edition [see pp. 122-43 on reliability, validity, scales (nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio), and measurement; pp. 198-227 on scaling]
Leedy, Paul D. 1980. Practical Research: Planning and Design. Second Edition. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co. [see pp. 33-8 on measurement and classification/scales, validity and reliability]
Boolsen, Merete Watt. 2005. “Data Construction and Analysis of Qualitative Data”, Chapter 5 (pp. 156-198) in Mikkelsen, Britha. Methods For Development Work and Research: A New Guide For Practitioners. 2nd Edition. New Delhi: SAGE Publications [See discussion on theoretical frameworks, use of indicators in the Logical Framework Approach, coding procedures in qualitative research, matrix displays, text analysis, discourse analysis, content analysis, “argumentation” analysis, steps in interpretation and drawing conclusions, and criteria for good practice in qualitative research (including triangulation, transparency, and communicative validation)]
Peil, Margaret. 1995, Social Science Research Methods: A Handbook for Africa. Second Revised Edition. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers [see pp. 43-4 on the issue of reliability with reference to official statistics]
Sarantakos, Satirios. 1993. Social Research. London: The Macmillan Press [see pp. 70-89]
VII. INSIGHTS ON WRITING RESEARCH PROPOSALS AND REPORTS
Leedy, Paul D. 1980. Practical Research: Planning and Design. Second Edition. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co. [see pp. 181-191]
Mikkelsen, Britha. 2005. Methods For Development Work and Research: A New Guide For Practitioners. 2nd Edition. New Delhi: SAGE Publications [Re-read Chapter 5 (pp. 156-198)]
Ngau, Peter and Asfaw Kumssa, Eds. 2004. Research Design, Data Collection and Analysis: A Training Manual. Nairobi: United Nations Centre for Regional Development, Africa Office.
Peil, Margaret. 1995, Social Science Research Methods: A Handbook for Africa. Second Revised Edition. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers [see pp. 2-22 on planning a research project; pp. 23-41 on sampling]
Sarantakos, Satirios. 1993. Social Research. London: The Macmillan Press [see pp. 90-101, 106-165]
[YOU ARE NOT EXPECTED TO READ ALL THE TEXTS, OR ENTIRE TEXTS, UNDER CORE OR ADDITIONAL READINGS. THOUGH THE LIST UNDER “ADDITIONAL READINGS” IS LONG, IT WILL HELP YOU MAKE YOUR OWN CHOICES (WITHOUT CONSTANTLY HAVING TO LOOK FOR THE LECTURERS) CONCERNING WHAT ELSE TO READ, AND IN PARTICULAR TO FIND ALTERNATIVES WHERE A PARTICULAR TEXT MAY NOT BE READILY AVAILABLE. IT WILL ALSO HELP YOU TRACK REFERENCES MADE IN CLASS. ABOVE ALL, IT WILL ENABLE YOU TO TRIANGULATE SOURCES AND AUTHORS’ OPINION – AS YOU MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND CONCERNING THE BEST PERSPECTIVE (OR SET OF PERSPECTIVES) TO ADOPT REGARDING GIVEN RESEARCH PROBLEMS, METHODS OR ANALYTICAL CHALLENGES]
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