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Home » Academics » Courses » Communication courses » COM 2204 » Syllabus COM 2204

COM 2204 Qualitative research methods

Professor: Andrea Pető

Contact information

Email: petoand@t-online.hu

Availability: Before or after class sessions, or by appointment.

Course Description

Qualitative research comprising methods that explore depth of lived experiences gained more respect in the communication field during the last quarter of the 20th century. This class will familiarize students with some of the main methods of qualitative social science research and to equip them with the skills they will need to formulate research questions, carry out the research, and analyze their data. Through practical exercises, we will cover surveys, interviewing, focus groups, participant observation, and forms of ethnographic and participatory action research. The course finishes with a discussion of the ethical dimensions of research and writing. The course is a "how to" that concentrates heavily on providing students with enough knowledge to approach a range of questions in communication.

Learning objectives

Understand the elements of qualitative methods.
Develop the ability to design a qualitative study.
Develop the ability to perform a qualitative study.

Grading policies: Grades are earned, not negotiated.

No extra credit work will be permitted. you will not be permitted to revise (or redo) assignments or examinations.

Late Assignments: Students will have plenty of time to do these assignments. Don' t make the mistake of waiting until the night before they' re due. It isn' t fair to give some students extra time to complete an assignment. Thus, a penalty of one point for the assignment will be assessed for each 24 hour period or fraction thereof that an assignment is late. An assignment is late if I receive it after the end of the class period for which it' s due. Weekends and official holidays don' t count as days when penalties are assessed.

Cheating and Plagiarizing: These behaviors will not be tolerated. I will recommend to the Honors committee and the Dean that any student caught cheating on exams or papers have earned an "F" for the course. Plagiarizing assignments includes things like copying paragraphs from the internet and putting them directly into your paper. If you like someone else' s work that much, you should attribute it with the proper citations. See McDaniel' s policy on Academic Integrity for definitions and examples of these terms.

Grade Appeals: Assignments will not be discussed individually on the days they' re returned. If you wish to appeal the grade on a test or paper, please do so in writing within one week after your work has been returned.

Grading Guidelines

D, F Fails to demonstrate comprehension of course concepts, is poorly executed or not attempted or completed

C+, C Keeps up with readings, shows basic understanding of concepts, meets minimum requirements with more than a few errors submitted on time, or is good work submitted late. Mere reporting, without evidence of independent thinking; lackluster, uninspired, lazy.

B+, B Exceeds minimum understanding of concepts, applies concepts to interpret fresh example, compares multiple sources, is submitted on time, or is superior work submitted late.

A-, A Shows ability to creatively manipulate concepts, to insightfully critique them; sheds insight on connections among multiple sources. Superior work submitted on time.

Attendance and Absences

The College believes that regular attendance in all classes is important because it is a necessary part of the learning process, and it is a sign of respect for professors and fellow students. Professors keep attendance records and maintain course policies that adhere to the College policy, namely:

The student' s grade begins to drop after three absences, a letter grade per absence over the three-absence limit. Students are advised not to use up' their absences early in the semester.
Attendance is expected from the moment a student is enrolled in a course; if, for example, a student has registered for a given course but is not present during the first week of the semester, then those missed classes will count as absences.
Appeals for excused absences can only be made to the Director of Academic Affairs. For such an appeal, medical certificates, stamped doctor' s notes, and other documents are expected.
Students are responsible for making arrangements to make up missed work.

Expectations:

Attend class. More than three unexcused absences will result in a lowering of your final grade by one letter. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed before you return to class.
Read assignments before class; reflect on readings.
Actively participate in class discussion.
Complete work on time.
Follow the Honor Code.

Note: When you tape record anyone, you must get their permission to record the conversation. It is actually required by law. Unless you are studying interaction on radio or television, or messages left on answering machines/voice mail, you should inform your subjects that you want to study their talk for a class, get their permission, and respect their wishes as to privacy and identification. So you must protect the identities of the people you are studying. In the analysis and on the transcript, use pseudonyms (code names) for people.

Honor Code

You are expected to be familiar with and abide by the McDaniel College Honor Code at all times. For its particulars, see http://www.mcdaniel.hu/data/honor_code.pdf

Required texts:

In the reading pack, but you might want to consult with the following books:

Reinhard, John, C., Introduction to Communication Research. McGraw Hill, 2003
Punch, Keith F., Introduction to Social Research. Quantitive and Qualitative Approaches. Sage, 2001.

Tentative class syllabus*
(*subject to change with prior notice)

TopicReadings Assignment

Introduction, theoretical overview

30 Jan Introduction, Explanation of Assignments

6 Feb Brief memo on Qualitative Research Methods Denzin, Lincoln: Introduction Entering the Field of Qualitative Research Discussion of possible topics for the research paper

13 Feb Case study Stake, Robert E., "Case Studies" in Denzin, Norman K., Lincoln, Yvonna S. eds. Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry. Sage, London, 2003, pp. 134-164. Discussion of possible topics for the research paper

Designing qualitative research

Designing theoretically and empirically relevant research: research concept, hypothesis, variable Reinhard, Introduction pp. 38-41, 41-47, 60-61

20 Feb Research questions Rubin, Rubin, Designing the Communication Research Question Project Proposals Due

Editing reviews Rubin, Rubin, Piele, Writing Research Papers, Literature Reviews

27 Feb Formulating questions Denzin, Norman K., Interpretative interactionism. Sage, London, 2001, on thick description pp. 98-118 Project Proposal Presentations

Collecting qualitative data

Participant observation and ethnography
Field notes Goetz, LeCompte Guidelines for Participant Observation (excerpt 111 113.)
Laine, Fieldwork Site Evaluations Due

5 March Surveys and Questionnaires Ethnography and Qualitative Research Design Site Evaluation Discussion

Interviewing, structureFontana, Andrea, Frey, James, H., "Interviewing, The Art of Science" in Denzin, Norman K., Lincoln, Yvonna S. eds. Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials. Sage London, 2003. pp. 47-78.

12 March Setting, and the role of the interviewer Paul Thompson, The Voice of the Past. Oxford UP. 1988. 21-29, 196-216. recommended Annotated
Bibliographies Due

Interview practice Oral History: Critical Developments Ronald J. Grele, "Movement without an Aim: Methodological and Theoretical Problems of Oral History" in The Oral History Reader 38-53.

19 March midterm

26 March Interviews
Questions Reinhard, Introduction 126-127. on analyses
Donald A. Ritchie, Doing Oral History Twyne Publishers 1995. 57-83. "The Interview", Chapter 7 in Thompson, Paul, The Voice of the Past. London: Oxford UP, 1988. Discussing bibliographies Journal Article Report Due

2 AprilHoliday

16 April Practical and ethical issues "Conducting Interviews" and "Equipment, Processing, and Legal Concerns" in Donald A. Ritchie, Doing Oral History: Practical Advice and Reasonable Explanation for Anyone, New York: Twayne, 1995.
Ethics from the Oral History Association, in Donald A. Ritchie, Doing Oral History
OH guidelines, Ethical disciplines Presentation of journal article report

9 AprilHoliday

MUC
DTB Interview practice recording, transcribing, analyzing, presenting results Transcription System (See appendix in Nofsinger text 167-169.) Rough Drafts Due

Analyses of qualitative data

23 April Composing argument Reinhard, Introduction 139-140, 145-146, 155.
Denzin, The Art and Politics of Interpretation Discussing Rough Draft

Gurium, Jaber F., Holstein, James A., "Analysing interpretative practices" in Denzin, Norman K., Lincoln, Yvonna S. eds. Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials. Sage London, 2003. pp. 214-248

30 April no class

7 May Summary Hodder, Ian, "The Interpretation of Documents and Material Culture" in Denzin, Norman K., Lincoln, Yvonna S. eds. Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials. Sage London, 2003. pp. 110-129.

Presenting qualitative data

May 14 Final paper Final paper is due till 14.30 via email to petoand@t-onlin.ehu

Assignments:

1. Ethnography Homework—Observation Practice & Field Note Practice 10%

You will be expected to coherently orally present your work to the class the day it is due.

Written component:

Make a list of 5 social situations where you could do participant observation. Identify 2 situations where you have the most interest and where the situation is simple, accessible for repeated observations, you can be unobtrusive, you can get permission to observe fairly easily, and there are recurrent activities.
Observe in 2 situations you have chosen. Make field notes. Why have you chosen these situations? What problems do you see arising in each? Which would be better? Would one social scene work for your pilot study? Answer these questions and further explain each social situation in a brief paper (4-5 pages). Hand in your original (or photocopied) field notes stapled at the end of your paper.

Qualitative Research Paper 40%

Choose one of your two topics from the site evaluation assignment after the consultation in the class and with the instructor. Think carefully about your selection, as this will be the topic of your comprehensive research paper. You will plan a qualitative research project in the social setting you have chosen and perform a qualitative analysis that focuses on the lived experiences of the respondents. Make min. two interviews. Discuss the interview plan before during the class and with the instructor. The complete form of the assignment (including sections for abstract, introduction, methods, findings, discussion, conclusion, and bibliography) will need to be submitted on the given day at the beginning of class.

The paper should be 15 pages, double spaced, and should follow APA formatting guidelines.

Proposal 5%
Write a brief proposal describing this study. Your proposal should be no longer than one to two pages double spaced, describing your general interest, why did you choose this topic, your question generating the study, and a brief description of the qualitative methods to be used. Be sure that you have a research question! In addition, submit the interview plan for your study on a separate sheet.
Annotated Bibliography 5%
Conduct a fairly comprehensive literature review in the chosen topic of interest. Try to focus on the methodologies as well as on the theoretical background and content as well.
Rough Draft 10%
Submit a rough draft of your final paper. Although this will be only a draft, meaning that you will have more opportunities to make changes before the final submission, you should try to provide as clear and complete version for this draft as you can, since subsequent minor adjustments are more manageable than complete reworks.
Presentation 10%
This will be an opportunity for you to generally describe your potential difficulties, and get feedback on your work from your colleagues as well as from the instructor. You will have the opportunity to present on your paper to the class. It is generally a good idea to use some presentation method, like a poster or Power point slides, as it makes your presentation more understandable to your audience. Please treat this assignment as a professional presentation, as if you were presenting at a conference. You should include some description of all parts of your paper. Be sure, however, to not place large quantities of text on slides. Instead, use text as well as pictures, graphs, parts of an interview or any other method of illustration you think would be of benefit.
Final paper 10%

Midterm 30%

Some essay questions and potential short-answer questions will be asked, covering the material and students' understanding of the topics presented during class and in the readings.

Journal Article Report (1) 10%

Select a published qualitative study work which is similar or very different from you qualitative research project that you can find in an academic journal. Summarize the article in 2-3 pages (double spaced), describing the study, with special focus on the procedures used. Describe briefly the findings, and include your evaluation. It is great if the article fits your paper topic, this will make your life easier.

Prepare a 10 minute oral presentation on the article, giving examples to illustrate the particular method chosen, as well as the findings and conclusions drawn. Connect the article and its findings with your own paper. Be ready to answer additional questions concerning the article.

Your class participation 10%

In order to actively participate in class, you should be sure to be up-to-date with your reading, and be prepared to answer questions concerning material from the book chapters or the course pack articles. Also, you should be responsive to your classmates' work. Research is the activity of a community, not an individual. Hence, although you will be responsible for your individual assignments and works, you should welcome and return comments and observations (even if at times critical) from you colleagues, as fresh expert perspectives are always valuable.