Political Science 3324F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Conversation Analysis, Ethnography, Thick Description

• School: Western University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: Political Science 3324F/G
• Professor: Roberto Leone

Document Summary

Today"s agenda: what is qualitative research, steps in qualitative research, considerations for qualitative research, goals for qualitative research, critiques of qualitative research, comparing qualitative with quantitative research. > qualitative research is concerned primarily with words and images rather than numbers. The process starts with field research, then concepts/theories are developed -> it tends to be interpretivist; based on perception. Concerned with finding out what an action or event means to the people involved. Social life is not seen as fixed, but as an outcome of interactions and negotiations; understanding context and relationships -> takes a naturalist perspective. When doing research, the social world should be lej as undisturbed as possible; not necessarily controlled groups, but just observing society. Kinds of qualitative research: ethnography/participant observation-> immersed in the social setting, qualitative interviewing. > people usually have knowledge of the topic being discussed: focus groups. > interview several people together: discourse and conversation analysis-> analyse the language.