EER501 Qualitative Research Methods (8)
Enrolment restrictions: Nil.
Assumed Knowledge: EER500
This subject introduces students to the field of qualitative research. The first half of the subject requires students to critically engage with some of the major theoretical debates which both define the field and delineate between different kinds of qualitative research. The second half of the subject asks students to apply the ideas discussed in the first half by conducting a piece of qualitative research in an area of their own choosing. Taken together, the two halves of the subject seek to help students to make connections between the theory and practice of qualitative research. In part, it does this by requiring students to keep an ongoing reflective journal which consists of a series of compulsory tasks and questions as well as the students' reflections on the subject materials. Using a structured and sequential list of readings, stimulus questions and spaces for student reflection, the subject prosecutes a single objective; that all research method choices should derive from philosophical and theoretical principles which can be explained and defended, as opposed to simply conforming to taken-for-granted ideas about how research should be done.