Methods and techniques of Qualitative Research
Objectives
- To develop specific skills in the application of qualitative methods and research techniques in social sciences with focus on sociology.
- To empower students with epistemological, methodological, technical and ethical devices to allow them to know and to discuss potential and limits in the use of various methods and techniques for the collection, treatment and analysis of qualitative data.
- To discuss with process experiments and empirical research designs already developed or ongoing.
- To guide the students in the choice and use of methodologies and techniques most appropriate to their research objects, supporting them in building and planning of methodological strategy to be adopted in their research projects.
General characterization
Code
73300104
Credits
8.0
Responsible teacher
Rui Manuel Leitão da Silva Santos
Hours
Weekly - Available soon
Total - 224
Teaching language
Portuguese
Prerequisites
Available soon
Bibliography
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2013). Successful Qualitative Research. Los Angeles: SAGE.
Della Porta, D., & Keating, M. (Eds). (2008). Approaches and Methodologies in the Social Sciences: A Pluralist Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dixon, J. C., Singleton, R. A., & Straits, B. C. (2018). The Process of Social Research (2ª edição). New York: Oxford University Press.
Flick, U. (Ed). (2018). The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Data Collection. Los Angeles: SAGE.
Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (2009). The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Researchers. New Brunswick: Aldine Transaction.
Kara, H. (2015). Creative Research Methods in the Social Sciences: A Practical Guide. Bristol: Policy Press.
Koro-Ljungberg, M. (2016). Reconceptualizing Qualitative Research: Methodologies without Methodology. Los Angeles: SAGE.
Pais, J. M. (2008). Sociologia da Vida Quotidiana. Lisboa : Imprensa de Ciências Sociais.
Teaching method
Sessions are organized to raise the awareness of students about the relevance of qualitative methodologies in the research process, stimulating their critical understanding of their use and the challenges they will meet in the context of their research projects.
The sequence of sessions aims at ensuring an integral approach to the main qualitative research methods, including transversal topics as those related to ethical protocols. The sessions are lectured by the UC’s teaching team and by researchers invited to present and debate methodological strategies they applied in concrete research contexts.
Evaluation method
Evaluation Methodologies - A written essay presenting and justifying the qualitative methodological strategy, or the qualitative component of a mixed methodological strategy, to be used in the student’s research project; or discussing a qualitative research strategy, based on literature review(100%)
Subject matter
1. Epistemology and methodological pluralism in Sociology: the potential of qualitative methods
2. Exploring the ethnographic approach
3. Challenges, strategies and methodologies in online research
4 Participative action research and collaborative methods
5. Sampling and cases selection in qualitative research: diversity and saturation
6. Collective techniques for discursive data production: group interview, discussion/focus groups, “conversation wheels” and workshops
7. Uses of individual interviewing: the diversity of procedures
8. Memory, documents and sources
9. Uses of image in social science research
10. Mixed methods and data integration
11. Qualitative content analysis: paper, pencil, software and intuition