COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course builds students’ understanding of the nature of conducting qualitative research in education, with three focuses: theories, steps, and proposals. It addresses topics such as generating research questions, the centrality of purpose in developing a research proposal/study, inductive and deductive approaches, the role of conceptual and theoretical frameworks, the significance of the literature review, the uses of specific methods and the relation between theory and methodology. The course will also encourage students to reflect on philosophical questions related to the nature and politics of educational research.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of this series of lectures, students will be able to:

· Identify major theoretical and empirical issues related to qualitative research in education;

· Use theories and concepts to frame qualitative research problems and questions in educational contexts;

· Propose a qualitative research design for conducting a research project in an education-related area;

· Produce an annotated bibliography using scholarly sources and databases;

· Identify relevant academic sources that inform the development of a qualitative research project;

· Incorporate theoretical and methodological tools and concepts to the development of a qualitative research project in education.

COURSE TEXTS/MATERIALS

Required:

Cohen, L, Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2018). Research methods in education (8^th Ed.). London & New York: Routledge.

Mertens, D. M. (2015). Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Discretionary:

Bryman, A. (2012), Social research methods, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Creswell, J. W. (2017). Qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five traditions (4^th Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Creswell, J. W. (2015). Educational research: Planning, conducting and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (5^th Ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2017), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (5^th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Guba, E. G. (1990). The paradigm dialog. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Guppy, N., & Gray, G. (2008). Successful surveys: Research methods and practice. Toronto: Nelson.

Helskog, G. H. (2014). Justifying action research. Educational Action Research, 22(1), 4–20.

Jerry, J. (2004). What is a case study and what is it good for? American Political Science Review, 98(2), 341-354.

Miles, M. B, & Huberman, A. M. (2013). Qualitative data analysis (3^rd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Punch, K. F. (2009). Introduction to research methods in education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Smart, B. (2013). Observation methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5^th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

TOPICS

LEARNING OUTCOMES (OPTIONAL)

OUTCOME 1: Annotated Bibliography

Create an annotated bibliography focusing on one academic journal that uses qualitative, research methodology that may help you reflect on a research problem/topic and identify relevant methodologies to investigate it. For each source please indicate: 1) Core topic or problem identified/discussed in the article; 2) Methodology and design employed by the sources; 3) Research findings and/or conclusions; and 4) Your critical assessments. This annotation may be finished around 350-500 words.

OUTCOME 2: A Qualitative Research Proposal (Outline)

The outline of a qualitative research proposal is an essay-type product with around 2,500 words in APA Style that explores an issue related to education concerned by you. The proposal must reflect an integrated approach to theory and method and an understanding of research design. You will be expected to pose and justify clear research question(s), to outline appropriate research method(s), and theoretical framework(s) in your proposal based on what you have learned through this course. The proposal should explore the various implications of your methodological and theoretical choices. In particular, you are suggested to cover at least the following 8 key dimensions of a research proposal:

1). Introduction: A brief summary of the topic, questions, and issues explored in the proposal.

2). Research Question(s) and Context: An elaboration of your research concern and justification with regard to education in a particular context, and frame it into your research question(s) for further considerations of your research design.

3). Theoretical Perspective(s): An elaboration of the paradigm that frames the research question(s) and design, presenting a description of your theoretical positioning and the theoretical lens adopted in the research.

4). Methodology and Research Plan: A description of the selected methodological approach and plan including a justification for adopting them to address your research question(s). Data collection methods and analysis strategies shall also be discussed here.

5). Research Significance, Ethics and Limitations: An explicit consideration about how your participant(s)/case(s) will be protected ethically, in addition to what could be the limitations of your research design (e.g., sample size, etc.).

6). Discussion: An elaboration of the connections between theory and method in relation to the research question. This section could include a discussion of implications of the theory and methods for the study of the selected research question.

7). Conclusion: Recommendations for further research and a reflection about what was accomplished through this proposal.

8). References/Appendixes: A list of all sources cited/referred in your proposal and all appendixes supporting your proposal (if any).