Foundations of Qualitative Political Analysis 2102-ANG-L-D2FQPA

LECTURES + GROUP DISCUSSION MODULE
1) Assumptions of qualitative research 1: social phenomena vs variables; specificity vs generalisation
Reading:
• Merriam, B., & E. Tisdell. (2016). What is qualitative research? In: Qualitative Research : A Guide to Design and Implementation (pp. 5-21 only)

2) Assumptions of qualitative research 2: understanding vs explaining; subjective vs objective perspective
Reading:
• Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design. Choosing Among Five Approaches (pp. 35-41 only)

3) Assumptions of qualitative research 3: small q studies vs large Q studies - positivist and antipositivist approach in qualitative research; inductive vs deductive approach
Reading:
• McNabb, D. E. (2010). Research Methods for Political Science: quantitative and qualitative approaches. Routledge (pp. 225-232 only)

4) What is a research problem? What makes a question a good research question for qualitative study? Research problems and typical perspectives in qualitative research. The role of context in understanding phenomena
Reading:
• Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design. Choosing Among Five Approaches, Chapter 6

5) Single case study. Spaces, places and political events as objects of political research. Observation and participatory methods
Reading:
• McNabb, D. E. (2010). Research Methods for Political Science: quantitative and qualitative approaches. Routledge, Chapter 17
• Jahoda, M., Lazarsfeld, P. F., & Zeisel, H. (2017). Marienthal: The sociography of an unemployed community. Routledge. Please skim intro pp 1-10, pp. 36-39, pp 45+, pp 52-55.

6) Research ethics. Power asymmetry in research project. Informed consent. Data management and protection. Anonymity
Reading:
• Babbie, E. (2010). The Basics of Social Research (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth), Chapter 3

7) Non-comparative small N studies. People and their experiences as objects of political research. Individual in-depth interviews
Reading:
• Entries “Interviewing” (pp.470-472), “Structured Interview” (pp.837-838), “Unstructured Interview” (p 907), “In-depth Interview” (p. 422) In: The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods, Give, L. (ed.), Sage 2008.

8) Non-comparative small N studies. People and their political attitudes as objects of political research. Sampling for qualitative research. Focus groups
Reading:
• Babbie, E. (2010). The Basics of Social Research (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth), on sampling and on interviewing, pp. 206-210 & 339-344

9) Content analysis in practice: what gets coded, how to code, first and second cycle coding
Reading:
• Schreier, M. (2012). Qualitative content analysis in practice. Sage publications, pp 106-125
• McNabb, D. E. (2010). Research Methods for Political Science: quantitative and qualitative approaches. Routledge, Chapter 21

10) Media analysis and political communication as objects of political research
Reading:
• Schreier, M. (2012). Qualitative content analysis in practice. Sage publications, pp .1-20.

11) Political communication and discourse as objects of political research 2. Discourse analysis. Text sampling for discourse analysis
• M. Reisgl, The Discourse-Historical Approach. In: The Routledge Handbook of Critical Discourse Studies, J. Flowerdew, J. Richardson (eds.)

12) Comparative small N studies. Institutions as objects of political research. Triangulation and mixed methods
This topic builds on the theme of comparative studies you had in the course “Introduction to political research” It’s recommended to go through Haperin’s chapter 9 you’ve read for that course
13) Legislative and legal analysis for political science
Reading:
• McConville, M. (2007). Research methods for law (Vol. 104). W. H. Chui (Ed.). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, Chapter 1 Qualitative Legal Research

WORKSHOP MODULE
Reading: selected parts of: J. Saldana (2013), Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers
1)
Designing own research project: content/thematic analysis of political text
2)
Retrieving, sampling, organizing text for analysis
3)
Deductive coding. Content analysis
4)
Inductive coding. 1st cycle coding. Coding procedures. Memos
5)
1st cycle of coding. Developing codes. Constructive and reflexive approach
6)
2nd cycle of coding. Developing themes/categories
7)
Text retrieval. From codes and memos to a research paper. Quoting, arguing, interpreting, synthesising
8) Presentations and discussion