Instructor: Dr. Jasmine Hill (she, her)
Email: [email protected]
Office: Public Affairs 6359
This course is designed to introduce students to the craft of qualitative research, with a focus on observations and interviews. During the quarter, students will be exposed to different styles of qualitative research and they will consider the myriad ways that qualitative data is used in practice.
Outcome #1: Students will build capacity to conduct and evaluate different kinds of qualitative research.
Outcome #2: Students will develop a nuanced understanding of research ethics, power, and positionality. Outcome #3: Students will gain skills to craft compelling, well-researched and ethically conducted interviews, observations, and qualitative analysis.
One of the objectives of our course is to practice using qualitative methods. In this assignment, you will use qualitative methods to explain a policy-related current event or social phenomenon. Your job is to teach us something new about your topic using interview(s) and ethnographic observation. You will complete this assignment in a team of three.
Through this assignment, you will practice the following skills:
The final product for this assignment is a podcast episode of 15-30 minutes, which you will research, script, and produce in a team of three. There are five building-block assignments, including the final podcast, due throughout the quarter, and described in detail below. All should be turned in via Canvas.
Your podcast will include recordings of your ethnographic observations (via live recording or fieldnotes) and excerpts from your interview(s). Each group is responsible for conducting and recording 60 minutes worth of interview content (typically in the form of one 60 minute interview or two 30 minute interviews). While we encourage projects to be creative, you cannot interview: