Advanced Seminar in Qualitative Research

Advanced Seminar in Qualitative Research:

Approaches to the Analysis of Qualitative Data Spring 2014

LSAP 3595, #26695 Instructor

Jennifer Russell

808 LRDC [email protected]

(412) 624-7489 Office Hours: By appointment

Student Teaching Assistant Lauren Allen [email protected]

Schedule Wednesdays, 1:30 – 4:10, LRDC 9th Floor

Course Description This course will focus on approaches to the analysis of qualitative data. It is designed for students who have some experience with qualitative field research methods (introductory coursework or project experience) and have a set of qualitative data they are interested in analyzing for their own research. The principal aims of the course are to: (1) enable you to make informed and well-documented choices regarding the analysis of qualitative data – that is to establish a “transparent path of inference” in your analysis and writing; and (2) explore a range of analysis strategies, techniques and tools. The course has two primary strands. The reading strand will introduce readings about qualitative analysis that delve into methodological issues, technical aspects of various approaches to qualitative analysis, validity and reliability, and issues related to writing and presentation of qualitative research. We will also explore examples of published qualitative analysis for their methodological and presentation choices.

The second strand will be a practicum segment included in each course session that will provide time for consultation on your own work in small groups. The course will provide opportunity for people to present and consult on their analyses as they unfold. This means preparing memos, presentations, graphical displays, and draft writing for sharing in your practicum group. If you do not already own it, please purchase:

1 Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M. & Saldana, J. (2013). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Recommended software available for ~$13 per month (wait until February to download):

Dedoose www.dedoose.come You will also need a copy of:

Ragin, C. C., Nagel, J. & White, P. (2004). Workshop on scientific foundations of qualitative research. National Science Foundation. [Available for free download at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2004/nsf04219/start.htm] All other readings are available on Courseweb.

Course Requirements Students are responsible for completing the weekly reading assignments and preparing to actively participate in class discussions. Students are also expected to prepare for consultation sessions in the workshop segment and will often have mini-assignments to guide this preparation.

Review of an Empirical Article: Students will write a formal review of an empirical article employing qualitative data analysis. Students will have an opportunity to express their preference for the article they will review. The whole class will read the article and the assigned student will present their review and lead a class discussion of the article.

Culminating Project: In keeping with the primary goal of the course – students will make progress on their own analysis project – the culminating project will display the product of this analysis. Students will gather artifacts of the steps in your analysis such as analytic memos, codebooks, segments of coded data, matrix displays and other visualizations. In addition, you students will write an extended analytic memo that describes their analysis process, findings and conclusions. Think of this memo as a partial empirical paper. Final projects will be shared with peers on the last class session through a whole class poster session (posters will consist of a set of printed power point slides).

Grades will be determined by class attendance, active participation in class / workshop discussion (25%), by the quality and timely completion of the article review (15%), by the timely completion of all memos/assignments for workshop sessions (15%), and final paper and analysis portfolio (45%). Students should notify the instructor in advance of absences whenever possible. In order to avoid a deduction in participation points when absent, students should prepare a 2 to 3 page memo that summarizes and reacts to the assigned course readings. The memo and other assignments (if applicable) should be emailed to the instructor before the next course session. Absences greater than two will result in a reduction in participation points regardless of memo completion.

2 The statements contained in this syllabus, other than the grading policies, may be subject to change with reasonable advance notice as deemed acceptable by the instructor.

If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and Disability Resources and Services (DRS), 216 William Pitt Union, 412-648-7890 (412- 282-7355 for TTY) as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course.

3 Approaches to the Analysis of Qualitative Data - Schedule

Week Session 1 Course overview

1/8 Resources: Miles, Huberman & Saldaña, 1-54.

Creswell, J. W. (2006). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage.

2 Epistemology, methodology & methods Miles, Huberman & Saldaña, Qualitative Data Analysis, 1-54. 1/15 Usher, R. (1996). A critique of the neglected epistemological assumptions of educational research. Understanding educational research, 9-32.

Becker, H. S. (1996). The epistemology of qualitative research. Ethnography and human development: Context and meaning in social inquiry, 53-71.

Workshop: Extended introductions to individual projects and semester plans & priorities. Interrogate proposed research questions: Do they match available data? Are they sufficiently bounded?

3 Standards of evidence, validity and reliability in qualitative analysis

1/22 Miles, M. B. & Huberman, A. M. (1984). Drawing valid meaning from qualitative data: Toward a share craft. Educational Researcher, (May), 20-30.

Freeman, M., Preissle, J., Roulston, K., & Pierre, E. A. S. (2007). Standards of evidence in qualitative research: An incitement to discourse. Educational Researcher, 36(1), 25-32.

LeCompte, M. D., & Goetz, J. P. (1982). Problems of reliability and validity in ethnographic research. Review of educational research, 52(1), 31-60.

Miles, Huberman & Saldaña, pages 310-314.

4 Week Session 4 Building theory from cases & introduction to coding

1/29 Miles, Huberman & Saldaña, Chapter 4. Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building theories from case study research. Academy of management review, 14(4), 532-550.

Review article: Malen, B., Croninger, R., Muncey, D., & Redmond-Jones, D. (2002). Reconstituting schools:“Testing” the “theory of action”. Educational evaluation and policy analysis, 24(2), 113-132.

Workshop: Revised research questions & bounding your data set 5 More coding…

2/5 Read 1 article (specific assignments TBD in class) Boyatzis, R. E. (1998). Chapter 1 & 2. In Transforming qualitative information: Thematic analysis and code development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Strauss, A. L. (1987). Codes and coding. In Qualitative analysis for social scientists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

MacQueen, K., McLellan, E., Kay, K., & Milstein, B. (1998). Codebook development for team-based qualitative analysis. Cultural Anthropology Methods, 10(2), 31-36.

Spradley, J. (1979). Making a taxonomic analysis. In The ethnographic interview. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Lampert, M. D. & Ervin-Tripp, S. M. (1993). Structured coding for the study of language and social interaction. In J. A. Edwards & M. D. Lampert, Talking data: Transcription and coding in discourse research. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Review article: Coburn, C. E. (2004). Beyond decoupling: Rethinking the relationship between the institutional environment and the classroom. Sociology of Education, 77(3), 211-244.

5 Week Session 6 Uncovering emic category systems John, W. S., & Johnson, P. (2000). The pros and cons of data analysis software for 2/12 qualitative research. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 32(4), 393-397.

JENN Bowker, G. C., & Star, S. L. (2000). Introduction. Sorting things out: Classification OUT and its consequences. The MIT Press. [Optional]

Review article: Horn, I. S. (2007). Fast kids, slow kids, lazy kids: Framing the mismatch problem in mathematics teachers' conversations. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 16(1), 37-79.

Dedoose demo

Workshop --- Developing an approach to coding your data – bring a draft codebook with a cover memo

6 Week Session 7 Review Articles (everyone read both):  Johnson, S. M., & Birkeland, S. E. (2003). Pursuing a “sense of success”: 2/19 New teachers explain their career decisions. American Educational Research Journal, 40(3), 581-617.  Tare, M., French, J., Frazier, B. N., Diamond, J., & Evans, E. M. (2011). Explanatory parent–child conversation predominates at an evolution exhibit. Science Education, 95(4), 720-744.

Technique-Based Reading Assignments Student

Analysis of Situated Interaction

Erickson, F. (1992). Ethnographic microanalysis of interaction. In Elaine M. D. LeCompte, W. L. Millroy, & J. Preissle (Eds.), The handbook of qualitative research in education. Academic Press, Inc, 202-225.

Engle, R. A., & Conant, F. R. (2002). Guiding principles for fostering Hannah productive disciplinary engagement: Explaining an emergent argument in a community of learners classroom. Cognition and Instruction, 20(4), 399-483.

Interview Analysis

Riessman, C. K. (2013). Analysis of personal narratives. Qualitative Becky Research in Social Work, 168.

Ochs, E., & Capps, L. (2001). A dimensional approach to Afton narrative. Living narrative: creating lives in everyday storytelling. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1-58.

Boeije, H. (2002). A purposeful approach to the constant Jenn comparative method in the analysis of qualitative interviews. Quality and quantity, 36(4), 391-409.

Weiss, R. (1994). Learning from strangers: The art and method of Haixia qualitative interview studies. New York: Free Press. Chapter 6 – Analysis of data.

Case Study Analysis

Yin, R. (2014). Analyzing case study research (Chapter 5). In Case Stacy study research: Design and methods. Sage Publications.

Yin, R. (2014). Analyzing case study research (Chapter 5). In Case Calli study research: Design and methods. Sage Publications.

7 Week Session 8 No reading – extended consultation sessions (3 * 45 min.)

2/26 Workshop – discuss Taking Stock memos & some artifact that represents your analysis 9 Matrix and network displays

3/5 Miles, Huberman & Saldaña, Chapter 5

Review article: Coburn, C. E., & Russell, J. L. (2008). District policy and teachers’ social networks. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 30(3), 203-235

10 Exploring, Describing and Ordering

3/19 Miles, Huberman & Saldaña, Ch. 6

Review article: Allen, L. B., & Crowley, K. J (in press). Challenging beliefs, practices and content: How museum educators change. Science Education.

Workshop: Bring a matrix or network display with a cover memo about what you were trying to understand and your preliminary conclusions

11 Explaining and Predicting

3/26 Miles, Huberman & Saldaña, Ch. 7

Bob Woodward on Jim Belushi (Slate article)

Review article: Booher-Jennings, J. (2005). Below the bubble:“Educational triage” and the Texas Accountability System. American Educational Research Journal, 42(2), 231-268.

8 Week Session 12 Qualitative Comparative Analysis

4/2 Ragin, C. C. (1996). The distinctiveness of comparative social science. Comparing nations and cultures: Readings in a cross disciplinary perspective. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. [Optional]

Review article: Coburn, C., Russell, J, Kaufman, J. & Stein, M. K. (2012). Supporting sustainability: Teachers’ advice networks and ambitious instructional reform. American Journal of Education, 119(1), 137-182.

Workshop --- Share matrices

13 Drawing and verifying conclusions

4/9 Miles, Huberman & Saldaña, Ch. 11 – just first half drawing conclusions

Review article: Anagnostopoulos, D., & Rutledge, S. (2007). Making sense of school sanctioning policies in urban high schools: Charting the depth and drift of school and classroom change. The Teachers College Record, 109(5), 1261-1302.

Workshop – Develop an analysis plan for the remaining weeks of the semester

14 Critical attributes of good qualitative research / Writing about qualitative research 4/16 Miles, Huberman & Saldana, pages 293-322

NSF proceedings - Blee (pp. 55-58)

NSF proceedings – Katz (pp. 83-90)

15 Wrap Up / Poster session