Qualitative Research Methods
Course Dates
- July 19-21, 2021
Each day the course runs from 1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Course Cost
Regular Tuition: ,995
Students who complete this course will earn 1.2 continuing education units.
Registration
Course Information
Course Overview
This course will engage students with the design, collection, and evaluation of the methodological approaches we commonly think of as “qualitative,” emphasizing interview-based research, ethnography, and comparative research. The course takes students through the stages of various qualitative methods including research design, sampling, designing the instrument, data collection through one or more methods, coding and data analysis, and the writing and presentation of findings. Given that qualitative researchers have closer contact with respondents than other researchers typically do, we will consider ethical responsibilities and the role of social distance in the researcher-respondent relationship.
Course Goals
By the end of the class, students will be able to:
- Provide training in qualitative research by practicing the methods designing a research project;
- Understand the logic through which qualitative research is designed, implemented, and evaluated;
- Consider the various domains in social science and policy where qualitative work has made major contributions;
- Examine the ethical responsibilities of qualitative researchers, who have closer contact with “subjects,” “respondents, “informants” than other researchers typically do;
- Think collectively and critically about the forms of writing (articles, reports, books, memos, briefs, evaluations) that researchers must master to present qualitative work to others.
Target Audience
- People who want to know how to read and evaluate qualitative work, use focus groups and interviews to learn more about a policy approach or product development.
Executive Core Qualification (ECQ) Alignment
The content of this course covers competencies addressed by the following ECQs: Leading Change; Results Driven; Business Acumen.
Faculty
Eva Rosen
Eva Rosen is assistant professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. Her research is focused on social inequality in the urban context. In particular, she studies the intersection between poverty and American housing policy.
Rosen’s forthcoming book, The Voucher Promise: “Section 8” Housing and the Fate of an American Neighborhood, will be out in June 2020. The book considers recent changes in American housing assistance that have transformed the landscape of ghetto poverty from predominantly high-rise public housing to a voucher system where the poor are housed in the private market. Her ethnography of a Baltimore neighborhood examines the residential decisions and everyday lives of homeowners, renters, and the landlords who house them, in contexts of scarcity, violence, and instability. Current work examines low-income housing and the role that landlords play in four urban housing markets. Another ongoing project maps eviction trends in the District of Columbia with sociology professor Brian McCabe.
Rosen was recently named one of APPAM’s outstanding early career scholars , and received their 40 for 40 fellowship. She is a member of the Scholar Strategy Network , and has published papers in academic journals including the American Sociological Review, City & Community, The Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, and The Annual Review of Law and Social Science. Rosen’s work has been funded by: The National Science Foundation , The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), The Joint Center for Housing Studies , The Furman Center , The Meyer Foundation, and The Harvard Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality and Social Policy , among others. She received her doctorate in Sociology and Social Policy from Harvard University.