SOC514 Seminar in Qualitative Methods Spring 2002
5:00-8:30 Wednesdays
Faner 3410
Kathryn Ward
Office: 3430 Faner Hall
Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 2:00-4 p.m. Wednesday 2-4 pm or by appointment
Phone: 453-7626 (Soc. Office)
E-mail: kbward@siu.edu
Seminar Objective:
The purpose of this course is to provide a background and practical experience
in a variety of qualitative research techniques: oral histories, narratives,
ethnography, visual representations, focus groups and overlapping variations. I
also want students to explore the joys
of planning fieldwork in other locations and/or abroad. Students will have an
opportunity to design and work with a project of their own choosing or to work
on (1) the Herrin Project--oral histories of various race-ethnic groups in
Herrin IL area and (2) the Vienna Oral History project. I also want to give
students an opportunity to explore locally available fieldwork opportunities.
Seminar Requirements:
In general, students
will be responsible for assigned readings, research portfolio (diaries [see
guidelines for entries], fieldnotes, transcripts, coding, memos, and analyses),
conducting two interviews (or related ethnographic/research activity such as
participant observation, oral history, focus group, historical documents, photos, or some combination). Diaries, memos, and class participation
should reflect an understanding of the assigned readings. Students will also
have rotating responsibility for leading discussions on the readings.
All assignments must be turned in on time. Given health concerns, I don't have the
energy to chase you down. So just turn
your work in!!!!
Course Grade
Research
portfolio 40%
--diary*
--fieldnotes
--transcripts
--coding
--memos
--analyses
Self-assessment 5%
Seminar
Participation 15
Scholarly
paper 40%
*Diary entries include:
a) Notebook
entries:summarize the major/salient points of
readings
b) Research entries:
describe your research related activities, problems questions, insights,
emotions—weekly basis
c) Integrative entries:
connect your research, class and & theoretical materials
d) Directed entries:
responses to directed questions, events
e) Queries:
Student
Self -Assessment : I think I have earned
an __ in this class. Please provide a one page rationale of your assessment.
Re-read the goals and course requirements and include such items as the grades
on your memos/diary entries/assignments, improvement in writing, your capacity
for integration and reflection on the material presented, your participation in
class discussions, your success at reading material in advance of each class
session, your preparation/participation in groups, and any other information
that you think is relevant. Do NOT include how much time you spent outside of
class reading and/or writing. (5% of grade)
Readings:
The readings (books and articles) give an overview of fieldwork &
historical research and analysis techniques for diverse groups in terms of
gender, race, class, sexuality, and geography. Some of the books and readings
will be on reserve in the soc reading room and eventually all on reserve at the
library. Most articles are available
from on-line sources.
We
will read all of a few books and selected parts of others so relax, we won't be
reading every word of all of these books.
Given the interdisciplinary nature and composition of the seminar, participants will also generate relevant readings from their disciplines and research
for assorted methods. I may assign a few other articles as needed during the
semester. Class members will share responsibility for leading discussions on
books and articles, including handouts on salient points.
Books
highly recommended for purchase
Diane
Wolf, ed: Feminist Dilemmas in Fieldwork
Robert
Emerson et al, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes
Joe
Feagin et al, A Case for the Case Study
Miller
and Dingwall, Context and Methods in Qualitative Research
Joseph Davis,
Stories of Change
Denzin and Lincoln, Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative
Materials
Valerie
Yow, Recording Oral History (Sage)
Ball,
Analyzing Visual Data
Smith,
Media Content Analysis
Robert Atkinson, The Life Story Interview
(Sage)
David Morgan, Focus Groups as Qualitative Research, 2nd ed (Sage)
Steve Jones (ed), Doing Internet Research. (Sage)
Collier
and Collier, Visual Anthropology, 2nd ed (New Mexico)
Lofland
and Lofland (3rd edition) Analyzing Social Settings.
A. Strauss
and J. Corbin, Basics of Qualitative Research (Sage)
Harry
Wolcott, Writing Up Qualitative Research Sage Qualitative Research
Methods # (Westview)
The
seminar will be conducted according to the following rules and goals:
Ground
Rules for the Course:
1. Acknowledge that racism, sexism, classism,
and homophobia exist.
2. Acknowledge that one of the meanings of
racism/sexism is that we have been systematically taught misinformation about
our own group and especially about members of devalued/minority groups (this
is true for both dominant and minority group members).
3. We cannot be blamed for the misinformation
we have learned, but we will be held responsible for repeating misinformation
after we have learned otherwise.
4. We will not blame victims for their
oppression.
5. We will assume that people are always
doing the best they can.
6. We will actively pursue information about
our own groups and those of others.
7. We will share information about our groups
with other members of the class and we will never demean, devalue, or in
any way "put down" people for their experiences.
8. We each have an obligation to actively
combat the myths and stereotypes about our own groups and other groups so that
we can break down the walls which prohibit group cooperation and group gain.
9. We will create a safe atmosphere for open
discussion. This means both active listening to one another (and not always
thinking about what we would say next). We will make sure that all members have
an opportunity to contribute and will not allow a few to dominate the
discussion. Further, at times, members of the class may wish to make a comment
that they do not want repeated outside the classroom. If so, the student will preface his or her
remarks with a request and we will agree not to repeat the remarks.
################
TOPICS
AND ASSIGNMENTS
1. Overview of fieldwork
methods/epistemology/ethics
Discussion
of various projects and fieldsites why I am not going to Bangladesh at
the start of the semester to for two weeks….
Esterberg,
Chapters 1-3
Miller
and Dingwall, Introduction
Feagin
et al, Intro, A Case for the Case Study
Diane
Wolf, "Situating Feminist Dilemmas in Fieldwork." Pp1-55 in Diane
Wolf (ed.) Feminist Dilemmas in
Fieldwork. (W)
Patricia
Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought 2nd ed Chapter 11
Michelle
Fine;Lois Weis;Craig Centrie;Rosemarie Roberts; “Educating beyond the borders
of schooling” Anthropology and Education Quarterly; 31(2): 131 2000;
Peggy McIntosh, "White Privilege and Male
Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming
to See Correspondences Through Work in Women's Studies," in Maggie
Andersen and Pat Hill Collins, Race, Class, and Gender. Copies are floating around the department...
(1/29/02)
more epistemology and methodology
**ASSIGNMENT:
research problem statement/locating data and sources/first diary entry, due
Miller
and Dingwall, Context and Method, chapters 1-3
Ann
Chih Lin; Bridging positivist and interpretivist approaches to qualitative
methods;; Policy Studies Journal,
Urbana; Spring 1998; Vol. 26, Iss. 1; pg. 162, 19 pgs
Sandy
Marie Anglas Grande “American Indian geographies of identity and power: At the
crossroads of Indigena and Mestizaje” Harvard Educational Review; 70
(4):467-498 2000
Fine,
Michelle; Weis, Lois Writing the "wrongs" of fieldwork: Confronting
our own research/writing dilemmas in urban
ethnographies;; Qualitative Inquiry, Thousand Oaks; Sep 1996; Vol. 2,
Iss. 3; pg. 251, 24 pgs
Bradley
A Levinson (How) can a man do feminist ethnography of education?;; Qualitative
Inquiry, Thousand Oaks; Sep 1998; Vol. 4, Iss. 3; pg. 337, 32 pgs
Michael
Buroway, “The extended case method.” Sociological Theory 16(1): 4-33.
1998.
Wayne Brekhus, “The sociology of the Unmarked:
Redirecting Our Focus.” Sociological Theory 16(1): 34-51. 1998.
*Charlotte
Allen, "Spies Like Us: When Sociologists Deceive Their Subjects"
Lingua Franca November 1997:31-38
*Carolyn
Ellis, "Emotional and Ethical Quagmires in Returning to the Field" Journal
of Contemporary Ethnography
24(1):68-98 1995
*Richard
Leo, "Trial and Tribulations: Courts, Ethnography, and the Need for an
Evidentiary Privilege for Academic
Researchers." American Sociologist. Spring 1995: 113--134.
American
Sociological Association website for code of ethics:
http://www.asanet.org/ecoderev.htm
**get
Informed Consent form from the Office of Research and Development/ORDA--Woody
Hall or via ORDA web site.
**sign
up for an account with Community of Science via ORDA website
RECOMMENDED
ADDITIONAL READINGS [*]
*Maxine
Baca Zinn, "Field research in minority communities: ethical,
methodological and political
observations by an insider." Social Problems 27 (2):209-219. 1979.
*Annette
Lareau, Appendix, Home Advantage (memorize if you haven't read this)
2. Interviews (2/5/02-2/12/02)
Robert
Emerson et al, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes, Chapter 1
Feagin
et al, A Case for the Case Study Chapt 1, 3
Esterberg, Qualitative Methods Chapter 5
Miller & Dingwall, Context & Method
Chapter 4 & 5
**ASSIGNMENT:
research methods/questions/photo/documents ideas memo
**ASSIGNMENT:
'PRACTICE' INTERVIEWS/CODES/DATA COLLECTION
Discussion of Cairo project/multimedia display—
Kristen L Easton;Judith Fry McComish;Rivka
Greenberg; Avoiding common pitfalls in qualitative data collection and
transcription Qualitative Health
Research; Thousand Oaks; Sep 2000;
10(50:703
Colin MacDougall;Elizabeth Fudge;Planning and
recruiting the sample for focus groups and in-depth interviews Qualitative Health
Research; Thousand Oaks; Jan 2001;
11(1):117
Jen’Nand
Ghazal Read and John Bartkowski, 2000. “To veil or not to veil?” Gender
& Society 14(3): 395-417
Sabina
Faiz Rashid; Indigenous notions of the workings of the body: Conflicts and
dilemmas with norplant use in rural Bangladesh Qualitative Health Research;
Thousand Oaks; Jan 2001; 11(1):85
Erin
McNamara Horvat "Hey, those shoes are out of uniform": African
American girls in an elite high school and the importance of habitus;; Anthropology and Education
Quarterly, Washington; Sep 1999; Vol. 30,
Iss. 3; pg. 317, 26 pgs
Elaine
Bell Kaplan Women's perceptions of the adolescent experience;;
Adolescence, 1997; Vol. 32, Iss. 127;
pg. 715, 20 pgs
Elaine Bell Kaplan; It's going good": Inner-city Black and Latino adolescents' perceptions about achieving an education; Urban Education, Thousand Oaks; May 1999; Vol. 34, (2)181
Reed W
Larson; How urban African American
young adolescents spend their time: Time budgets for locations, activities, and companionship; American Journal of
Community Psychology, New York; Aug 2001; Vol. 29, Iss. 4; pg. 565, 33 pgs
Angela Valenzuela; "Checkin' up on my
guy": Chicanas, social capital, and the culture of romance; Frontiers,
Boulder; 1999; Vol. 20, Iss. 1; pg. 60, 20 pgs
Meenakshi
Gigi Durham; Girls, media, and the
negotiation of sexuality: A study of race, class, and gender in adolescent peer
groups; Journalism and Mass
Communication Quarterly, Columbia; Summer 1999; Vol. 76, Iss. 2; pg. 193, 24 pgs
Kathleen
M Fallon; Education and perceptions of social status and power among women in
Larteh, Ghana; Africa Today,
Bloomington; Spring 1999; Vol. 46, Iss. 2; pg. 67, 25 pgs
Laura S Abrams; Planning for school change: School-community collaboration in a
full-service elementary school; Urban Education, Thousand Oaks; Mar 2000; Vol.
35, Iss. 1; pg. 79, 25 pgs
Eric
Margolis and Mary Romero "The department is very male, very white, very
old, and very conservative": The functioning of the hidden curriculum in graduate sociology
departments; Harvard Educational Review, Cambridge; Spring 1998; Vol. 68, Iss. 1; pg. 1, 32 pg
Bonnie Thornton Dill; A better life for me and my children: Low-income single mothers'
struggle for self-sufficiency in the rural south; Journal of Comparative Family
Studies, Calgary; Summer 1998; Vol. 29,
Iss. 2; pg. 419, 10 pgs
Kristin
L Anderson; Debra Umberson “Gendering violence: Masculinity and power in men's
accounts of domestic violence”Gender & Society; 15(3):358-380 2001
(P)
Russell
P Dobash;R Emerson Dobash;Kate Cavanagh;Ruth Lewis;“Separate and intersecting
realities: A comparison of men's and women's accounts of violence against
women” Violence against Women;
4(4):382-414,-1998; (P)
Margaret
Abraham “Sexual abuse in South Asian immigrant marriages”
Violence
against Women; 5(6): 591-618 1999 (P)
Nancy
Berns “Degendering the problem and gendering the blame: Political discourse on
women and violence” Gender & Society; 15(2): 262-281 2001; (P)
Lois Presser; Emily Gaarder; “Can restorative
justice reduce battering? Some preliminary considerations “ Social Justice;
27 (1): 175. 2000;
Jennifer
Dunn. 1998. “Defining women: Notes toward an understanding of structure and
agency in the negotiation of sex.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
26(4):479
Yow,
Recording Oral History
Robert Atkinson, The Life Story Interview
(Sage)
Gaye
Tuchman, "Historical Social
Science: Methodologies, Methods, and Meanings." Pp. 306-323 in D&L (Big Pink book) or in Strategies of Qualitative
Inquiry(small blue book)
Jane Adams, The Transformation of
Rural Life—intro chapters 1-2
Collier
& Collier, Visual Anthropology (Chapters 1-4) Pp 1-44.
*Charles
Payne. 1996. I've Got the Light of
Freedom esp Bibliographical essay
*Belinda
Robnett, How Long? How Long? African-American Women and the Struggle for Civil Rights
*Gwendolyn
Etter-Lewis and Michele Foster (eds.), Unrelated Kin: Race and Gender in Women's Personal Narratives.
Routledge. 1996.
*Kennedy
and Davis, Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold
*Michael
Hill, Archival Strategies and Techniques. Qualitative Research Methods
#31 Sage.
3. Participant Observation/Ethnography
(2/10-2/26/02)
How do you do research
in other sites, i.e., overseas? So you want to travel to study and research
abroad? Which country or region? How do you prepare? Language? Passport? Visas? Shots?
www.travlang.com
(check out Bangla)
Pick one country, region, or group that you would like to conduct similar research in/on/about. What are the practical, political, socio-economic, funding issues, and sociological issues? ()
**ASSIGNMENT:
first interviews/fieldnotes/transcription/content code/historical
documents/photos-visuals due
Emerson
et al, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes rest of book
Esterberg,
Qualitative Methods chapter 4
Feagin
et al
Daniel
Dohan and Martín Sánchez-Jankowski USING COMPUTERS TO ANALYZE ETHNOGRAPHIC
FIELD DATA:Theoretical and Practical Considerations. Annu. Rev. Sociol. 1998.
24:477-498.
A
Alty;K Rodham; The ouch! factor: Problems in conducting sensitive research
Qualitative
Health Research; Thousand Oaks; Mar 1998;
8(2): 275
All Things Considered Radio Program, May 23, 2000, “Ethnography” Ethnography All ThingsConsidered Host Robert Siegel travels to New York City and Saint Louis, Missouri, to talk with several ethnographers who gather information about illicit drug use. These ethnographers are often sociologists or anthropologists, teaching in criminology
departments at colleges and universities.
(20:30) Listen with RealAudio: 14.4
or 28.8K, www.npr.org go to archives
Annette Lareau; Moments of social inclusion
and exclusion race, class, and cultural capital in family-school
relationships;Sociology of Education, Albany; Jan 1999; Vol. 72, Iss. 1; pg. 37
Lareau,
Annette; Shumar, Wesley; The problem
of individualism in family-school policies; Sociology of Education, Albany; 1996; pg. 24, 16 pgs
Brackette
Williams, "Skinfolk, Not Kinfolk: Reflections on the Identity of
Participant- Observation in Two Field
Situations" Pp 72-95 in Wolf reader
Jayati
Lal, "Situating Locations: The Politics of Self, Identity, and 'Other"
in Living and Writing the Text"
Pp. 185-214 in Wolf reader
John
Van Maanen, Tales from the Field (esp chapters 3-5)
Jasbir Kaur Puar; “Global circuits: Transnational sexualities and Trinidad”Signs; 26(4): 1039-1065 2001;
Mimi Schippers; “The social organization of sexuality and gender in alternative hard rock: An analysis of intersectionality” Gender & Society; 14(6): 747. 2000;
Randy Hodson. “Organizational ethnographies: An underutilized resource in the sociology of work” Social Forces; 76(4): 1173 1998;
Christine
B N Chin “Walls of silence and late twentieth century representations of the
foreign female domestic worker: The case of Filipina and Indonesian female
servants in Malaysia”
The
International Migration Review; 31(2):353-385 1997;;
Christine
G T Ho “Carribbean transnationalism as a gendered process”
Latin
American Perspectives; 26(5)-34-54 1999;
Julian Mcallister Groves. 1999. "Romancing resistance and resisting romance." Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 28(3):235
Altheide
and Johnson, “Criteria for Assessing Interpretitive Validity in Qualitative
Research.” Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials (little
Blue)
Charles
Suchar, "Grounding Visual Sociology Research in Shooting Scripts" Qualitative
Sociology 20(1): 33-56. 1997
Rose Jones, “Husbands and Lovers: Gender
Construction and the Ethnography of Sex Research” Pp25-42 in Fran Markowitz and
Michael Ashkenazi (eds), Sex, Sexuality, and the Anthropologist. 1999.
Paul
Atkinson and Marten Hammersley, " Ethnography and Participant
Observation" Pp. 236-247 in
D & L in big pink or Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry
Patricia
Adler and Peter Adler, "Observational Techniques" Pp. 361-376 in D
& L. Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials (little Blue)
Denzin,
“The Art and Politics of Intepretation.” Collecting and Interpreting
Qualitative Materials (little Blue)
Altheide,
Qualitative Media Analysis
Douglas
Harper, "On the Authority of the Image: Visual Methods at the
Crossroads" Pp.403- 412 in D &
L or in Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials (little Blue)
Ching
Kwan Lee, Gender and the South China Miracle Chapts 1-3, 8
Methodological Appendix
*Whyte,
Street Corner Society
*Anderson,
Streetwise
4. Oral
history/Narratives/Historical
(3/5-3/19/02) (Spring break 3/12/02)
Sample
questions, informed consents, interviews from Cairo, Mentoring Projects; Outsider Lawyers
**ASSIGNMENT:
first analysis memo due
Esterberg,
Qualitative Methods chapter 7
Feagin
et al
Miller
and Dingwall, chapter 6-8, 12
Roberto
Franzosi. NARRATIVE ANALYSIS—OR WHY
(AND HOW) SOCIOLOGISTS
SHOULD
BE INTERESTED IN NARRATIVE. Annu. Rev. Sociol. 1998. 24:517-554.
Jon
Rieger, ""Photographing Social Change" Visual Sociology
11(1):5-49
Preston
Ewing Jr. and Jan Roddy (eds.), Let My People Go 1996
Patricia
Zavella, "Feminist Insider Dilemmas: Constructing Ethnic Identity with
Chicana Informants." Pp 138-159 in
Wolf
Carol
Stack, "Writing Ethnography: Feminist Critical Practice" Pp. 96-106
in Wolf
Valerie
Matsumoto, "Reflections on Oral History: Research in a Japanese American Community" Pp. 160-169 in Wolf
Bob
Blauner, "Problems of Editing 'First- Person' Sociology" Qualitative
Sociology (10)1: 46-64. Spring 1987
Fontana
and Frey, “Interviewing: The Art of
Science.” Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials (little
Blue)
Harry
Wolcott, Writing Up Qualitative Research Chapter 3 pg 36-46
Barney
Glaser and Anselm Strauss, The Discovery of Grounded Theory Pp 1-44.
Collier
& Collier, Visual Anthropology
Chapters 5-8, Pp 45-116
K.
Tsianina Lomawaima, They Called It Prairie Light: The Story of Chilocco
Indian School , Intro and skim
methods
Douglas
Pryor, Preface, Chapter 1, 9 in Unspeakable Acts: Why Men Sexually Abuse Children 1996
5. Biography/Autobiography/Life
Course/Documents (3/26-4/2/02)
**ASSIGNMENT:
Second diary due
**ASSIGNMENT:
second interview/fieldnotes/analysis /documents/photos due
Bridge
women in Cairo; Mentoring chains
Esterberg,
Qualitative Methods chapter 6
Feagin
et al
Lutz
and Collins, Reading National Geographic
Janice M Morse; Validity by committee
;
Sally Thorne;Ethical and representational issues in qualitative secondary
analysis
Qualitative
Health Research; Thousand Oaks; Jul 1998. 8(4):547
Jeffrey K. Olick and Joyce Robbins, SOCIAL MEMORY STUDIES: From "Collective Memory" to the Historical Sociology of Mnemonic Practices Annu. Rev. Sociol. 1998. 24:105-140
Joan Fleitas; Spinning tales from the World Wide Web: Qualitative research in an electronic environment Qualitative Health Research; Thousand Oaks; Mar 1998; 8(2):283
Barbara Einhorn, Gender, Nation, Landscape, and Identity in Narratives of Exile and Return. Women’s Studies International Forum 23(6):701. 2000
Jago, Barbara J Postcards, ghosts, and fathers: Revising family stories; Qualitative Inquiry, Thousand Oaks; Dec 1996; Vol. 2, Iss. 4; pg. 495, 23 pgs
Ferree, Myra Marx; Rethinking stratification from
a feminist perspective: Gender, race, and class in mainstream textbooks;American
Sociological Review, Albany; Dec 1996; Vol. 61, Iss. 6; pg. 929, 22 pgs
Bernice A Pescosolido; Culture and conflict: The portrayal of blacks in U.S. children's picture books through the mid-and late-twentieth centuryAmerican Sociological Review, Albany; Jun 1997; Vol. 62, Iss. 3; pg. 443, 22 pg
Marybeth C Stalp and Linda Grant; Teaching qualitative coding in
undergraduate field method classes: An exercise based on personal ads;Teaching
Sociology, Apr 2001; Vol. 29, Iss. 2;
pg. 209, 10 pgs
;
Laura Fingerson; Active viewingJournal of Contemporary Ethnography, Thousand
Oaks; Aug 1999; Vol. 28, Iss. 4; pg.
389, 30 pgs
Melissa A Milkie; Social compari