Postgraduate course
2022/2023
Qualitative research methods in education
Type:
Elective course
Area of studies:
Postgraduate Studies
Delivered by:
Institute of Education
When:
1 year, 1, 2 semester
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of one campus
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
2
Contact hours:
20
Course Syllabus
Abstract
The course is designed to help students to develop an intellectual stance - or way of thinking - about qualitative research, as well as to learn specific skills that will support them in enacting this stance in their research. The central goals of the course are a) to enable the student to become a critical reader of qualitative research; b) to assist the student in developing an understanding of the purposes, tools, theoretical assumptions and limitations of the key strands of qualitative research; and c) to prepare the student for further study of, engagement in and use of qualitative research. By the end of the course, the students will familiarise themselves with key approaches to qualitative research, examine and learn to critically engage with qualitative research studies as well as carry out independent qualitative research. Having examined key characteristics of qualitative research, the course will investigate the main approaches to qualitative research , including case study, ethnography, discourse analysis, frame analysis, grounded theory, digital ethnographies and others. In addition to familiarising themselves with key qualitative methods and approaches, the students will develop hands on understanding of basic data handling techniques, such as data storage, coding and presentation. The course does not aim to provide a comprehensive overview of all or most qualitative methods, instead, it provides an in-depth coverage of a few selected methods and approaches in order to illustrate the advantages and limitations of qualitative inquiry as well as to allow students to master some of the basic analytical tools, such as thematic coding and analysis, generalisability, drawing implications, mixed designs and research ethics.