ILAS Seminar-E2 :A Beginners' guide to Carrying out Field Surveys and Qualitative Research
| Numbering Code | U-LAS70 10002 SE50 | Year/Term | 2022 ・ First semester | |
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| Number of Credits | 2 | Course Type | seminar | |
| Target Year | Mainly 1st year students | Target Student | For all majors | |
| Language | English | Day/Period | Wed.5 | |
| Instructor name | SAMADDAR，Subhajyoti (Disaster Prevention Research Institute Associate Professor) | |||
| Outline and Purpose of the Course |
A deep and complete understanding of local people and communities is very important to design practical and effective development plans and policies. Quantitative research methods are most commonly used for this purpose. However, quantitative research methods have several limitations. Why ? Because their questions and reply options are designed and predetermined by the researchers who question the people. The respondents or communities have limited freedom to express what they think, why they think so and what they would like to do. Therefore, to understand communities own voices, thinking, we depend on qualitative research methods to understand the reality and everyday life from common people's views, from their own words and eyes. It brings the voices of voiceless and hears the unheard. It is bottom up approach. Therefore, carrying out qualitative research methods is not only science, but also an art. In this course, we will learn those skills and art as well as science to run qualitative research methods. By discussing with each other, observing our campus and fellow-students, reading articles we will learn the first steps of conducting qualitative research methods. This course will offer to learn a basic practical knowledge on qualitative research methods by conducting practical exercises, field surveys and analyzing field data. |
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| Course Goals |
This seminar course has following key objectives - 1. To learn the art and practical skills to carry out interviews, group discussions, photo and document analysis. 2. To learn how to select research fields, decide samples and collect data from interviews, observations, photos and text. 3. To learn how to analyze and present those data scientifically and aesthetically by coding, decoding as well as phasing and paraphrasing. |
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| Schedule and Contents |
Week 1: Introduction - Understanding the basic concepts of qualitative research. - Why study qualitative research methods. Week 2: Designing qualitative studies - Filed Survey and Data collection decisions. - Method choices and decisions. Week 3 : Sampling - Purposeful sampling and case selection. - Deciding sample size - Sampling strategies and options. Week 4: Fieldwork strategies - Rapport building techniques. - Pilot survey techniques for knowing the fields. - How to reduce the biases. Week 5: Interview Techniques - Question options and skilled question formulation. - Rapport, neutrality and interview relationships. - Open-ended interviews. Week 6: Group Discussion Techniques - How to conduct Group Discussion - Number of participants, time and resources for Group Discussion - Focus Group Meeting Week 7 : Observation techniques - What to observe? - How to observe? - Data gathering process through observation. Week 8: Other Methods of Qualitative Data Collections - Case Study - Oral history - Photography Week 9 : Recording data - What to record - Note-taking practices when doing field works. - Converting field notes into fuller notes. - Keeping personal journal. Week 10 : Analyzing Qualitative Data. - Organizing the data - Reading and Memoing. Week 11 : Coding and Decoding - Codes and themes - Representing and visualizing Week 12: Presenting the results - Graphic and pictorial presentation techniques. - Displaying qualitative data. - Using words table to summarize analytical findings. - Making good use of photographs. Week 13: Writing a Qualitative Data - Encoding our writings. - Quotes in our writings. - Overall structure. Week 14: Composing research, to share it with others. - Composing qualitative research. - Reworking your composition. Week 15: Final Presentation and report submission Week 16: Feedback |
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| Evaluation Methods and Policy |
Evaluation will be based on - Active participation (30 points). - Report Writing (20 Points) - Presentations (50 points). Assignments and report presentations will be assessed on the basis of achievement level for course goals |
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| Course Requirements | None | |||
| Study outside of Class (preparation and review) |
Field surveys will be conducted for practical understanding. Students individually or in group will take small projects or existing case studies within the university campus to practically learn the qualitative research method techniques. Students will present their project findings and discuss with teachers and fellow students. |
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| Textbooks | Textbooks/References | Handouts will be distributed by the instructor if necessary. | ||
| References, etc. | Field Surveys will be conducted within the campus. | |||
