Sociology 624, Fall 2015

Office: Rm. 415 Academic Bldg. (845-9706)

Professor: Kathryn Henderson

hendrsn@tamu.edu

Soci 624 Qualitative Methods

Required Texts:
Emerson
Contemporary Field Research (research) 2nd Ed
Emerson, Fretz, Shaw Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes (fieldnotes)- any Ed.
Denzin, Norman K
Interpretive Interactionism
Adele E. Clarke
Situational Analysis: .. After the Postmodern Turn
Kathy Charmaz
Constructing Grounded Theory
eRP
electronic Readings Packet in e-Campus
Recommended (distributed presentation in class)
Whyte
Street Corner Society - any ed.
Burawoy, Blum, George, Gille, Gowan, Haney, Klawiter, Lopez, O'Riain & Thayer
Global Ethnography
MacLeod
Ain't No Makin' It - any ed.
Luker
Dubious Conceptions: Politics of Teenage Pregnancy
Duneier
Sidewalk
Recommended Reference Works:

Marshall & Rossman

Designing Qualitative Research - any ed.

Howard Becker
Writing for Social Scientists
Denzin & Lincoln
Handbook of Qualitative Research (HQR)
Denzin, Lincoln, Tihiwa Smith Handbook of Critical and Indigenous Methodologies

WEEK 1: Introduction and Orientation (Wed. Sept. 2)

READ IN CLASS:
Miner: "Body Ritual among the Nacerima"
Naryayan: "Participant Observation" from Women Writing Culture
READ:
Emerson: (Research) Preface, Introduction, Part 1 intro, ch 1-Geertz
Denzin: ch 1, "Interpretive Criteria in the Seventh Moment",
ch 2, "The Interpretive Point of View"
Clarke: ch 1: Pushing and Being Pulled Around the Postmodern Turn

WEEK 2: Ethnography of Qualitative Work (Wed. Sept 9)

* journal assignment- a day in your life- due
* IRB training certificate:
* ONLY those working on thesis, dissertation, publication, sensitive subject. (Sensitive subject matter
allowable for thesis/ dissertation, only): Submit IRB approval or IRB application
READ: Emerson (Research) ch 3-Atkinson
Emerson et al: (Fieldnotes) preface & ch. 1 & 2
Denzin: ch. 6: "Thick Description"
Clarke Ch 2: From Chicago Ecologies to Situational Analysis.
Charmaz: Constructing Grounded Theory ch.1.
1

WEEK 3: (Wed. Sept. 16) Ethics, alliances and politics

*silent observation due

READ:
From texts:
Emerson, (Research), Ch. 6 Baca Zinn, Ch.12 Leo
Emerson et al (Fieldnotes ) ch. 5
From electronic Reading Pack in eCampus (eRP)
Battiste. 2008. Research Ethics for Protecting Indigenous Knowledge and Heritage:
Institutional and Researcher Responsibilities, in Denzin, Lincoln, Tihiwa Smith
Handbook of Critical and Indigenous Methodologies (henceforth HCIM)
Cannella and Manuelito, 2008. Feminism From Unthought Locations: Indigenous Worldviews,
Marginalized Feminisms, and Revisioning an Anticolonial Social Science, in Denzin,
Lincoln, Tihiwa Smith (HCIM above).
Denzin, "The Sixth Moment" (especially Feminist Communitarian Ethics)
Blee & Currier. 2011.Ethics Beyond the IRB, introduction in Qualitative Sociology, Special Issue on
Ethics Beyond the IRB. 34: 401-413 (and selected articles). Available through articles at TAMU
Library Website: http://library.tamu.edu

ASA Code of Ethics [reference] (ASA web page) (recommended)

http://www.asanet.org/documents/teaching/pdfs/Quick_Tips_for_ASA_Style.pdf

WEEK 4: (Wed. Sept. 23) Observation, Power, and Access: developing an identity &
place in the field site
*genealogy due
Field study topic DUE
READ:
Emerson (Research) Ch 2 Wieder, ch. 9 Warren, ch. 11 Emerson & Pollner
Emerson et al (Fieldnotes ) ch. 3
Denzin: ch. 3 Securing Biographical Experience & Ch 4 The Interpretive Process
eRP: Dunbar, 2008. Critical Race Theory and Indigenous Methodologies,
in Denzin, Lincoln, Tihiwa Smith (HCIM above).
Fine, Tuck & Seller Berkman. 2008. Do You Believe in Geneva? Methods & Ethics at the
Global-Local Nexis, in Denzin, Lincoln, Tuhiwa Smith (HCIM above)
WEEK 5: (Wed. Sept 30) Interviews in Context

*exploratory interview due

READ:
Emerson (Research) ch. 4: Hammersley, ch.5: Goffman, ch.8: Kondo, ch.10: Thorne
Emerson et al (Fieldnotes ) ch. 4
Denzin: ch 5: "Situating Interpretations"
eRP: Weiss, Learning from Strangers, ch. 4
Ellis, Kiesinger, Tillmann-Healy: Interactive Interviewing
Krog, Mpolweni-Zanysi, Ratele. 2008. The South African Truth and Reconciliation
Commission (TRC): Ways of Knowing Mrs Konile in Denzin, Lincoln,
Tihiwa Smith (HCIM above).
Fontana & Frey, Interviewing... ch 22 HQR (recommended)

WEEK 6: (Wed. Oct. 7) Learning from Exemplary Studies I: critique of a classic

* field site access progress report due, (1 page statement)AND your consent form
READ:
Whyte, Street Corner Society (chapter presentations dispersed throughout class)
eRP: Street Corner Society Revisited (Jrnl. of Contemporary. Ethnography in

WEEK 7: (Tues Oct. 14) Analyzing Data I, Grounded Theory

READ:
Charmaz: Constructing Grounded Theory chs. 3-6
Emerson et al (Fieldnotes ) ch. 6
eRP: Strauss and Corbin, Grounded Theory (selections)
From Strauss & Corbin, Grounded Theory in Practice:
Charmaz: "Identity Dilemmas of Chronically Ill Men"
Star & Bowker: "Of Lungs & Lungers: Classification: Tuberculosis"

WEEK 8: (Wed. Oct. 21) Analyzing Data II, Epistemology and Alternatives
1st set field notes from your study site due

READ:
Emerson: Becker: "The Epistemology of Qualitative Research &"Tricks of the Trade"
Denzin: ch. 7: "Doing Interpretation"
ch 8: "Conclusion: On Interpretive Interactionism"
eRP: Tomaselli, Dyll, & Francis, 2008. Self and Other: Auto-Reflexive and Indigenous
Ethnography in Denzin, Lincoln, Tihiwa Smith (HCIM above).
Adams and Holman Jones, 2008 Autoethnography is Queer in Denzin, Lincoln,
Tihiwa Smith (HCIM above).
Recommended Barton, Bernadette. 2011. My Auto/Ethnographic Dilemma: Who Owns the Story
in Qualitative Sociology, Special Issue on Ethics Beyond the IRB. 34: 431-445.
Available through articles at TAMU Library Website. http://library.tamu.edu

WEEK 9: (Wed. Oct.28) New Turns in Theory and Methods I:

Situated Knowledge & Discourse

READ: Clarke: from Situational Analysis: Grounded Theory after the Postmodern Turn
ch 3: Situational Maps & Analysis
ch 4: Turning to Discourse(s)
eRP: Haraway: "Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism
and the Privilege of Partial Perspective"
Clarke, Friese, Washburn, eds. 2015. Situational Analysis in Practice: Mapping Research
with Grounded Theory-introductory chapters
Marshall & Rossman, Designing Qual. Research, handout to inform writing grant proposal

WEEK 10: New Turns in Theory and Methods II:

Situational Analysis and Issues in Mixed Methods (Nov. 4)

2nd set Fieldnotes for individual projects due with initial coding
*Grant Proposal methods section for your project DUE
eRP:
Clarke, Friese, Washburn, eds. 2015. Situational Analysis in Practice: Mapping Research
with Grounded Theory-exemplary chapters
Denzin, Moments, Mixed Methods, and Paradigm Dialogs Qualitative Inquiry 2010 16:
419 originally published online 23 March 2010

Learning from Exemplary Studies II: methods/ theory comparisons

READ: selectively, choose one to report to class
(readings will be distributed among class members, covered collectively)
Burawoy, Blum, George, Gille, Gowan, Haney,
Klawiter, Lopez, O'Riain ,Thayer
Global Ethnography OR
MacCleod,
Ain't No Makin' It OR
Luker
Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy OR
Duneier
Sidewalk

WEEK 11: (Nov. 11) New Turns in Theory and Methods II:

Visual Discourses, Methods plus Artifacts

3rd set of fieldnotes from your study site with coding due
READ: Clarke: from Situational Analysis: Grounded Theory after the Postmodern Turn
ch 6: Mapping Visual Discourses
eRP: Henderson: The Political Career of a Prototype
Winner, Can Artifacts Have Politics?
Fallows: "The American Army and the M-16 Rifle"
Recommended: Harper, ...Visual Methods Ch. 25 from HQR

Week 12: (Nov 18) Student presentations in class start (Nov. 18)
DUE: Rough outline of project paper based on major themes, thus far, supported with field
data
Be prepared to present your findings orally in class from here out: may be informal work- inprogress; should cover major themes found with supporting observations or quotations shared in a
handout or power point.

Thinking about closure and writing

READ:
Charmaz: Constructing Grounded Theory chs.7 & 8
Emerson et al (Fieldnotes) ch. 7 & 8
eRP: Coffey: "Romancing (read 'leaving") the field" & "Writing the Self"
Rossman & Rolls: "Presenting the Learnings ch. 8
Jones with Jenkins. 2008. Rethinking Collaboration: Working the Indigene-Colonizer
Hyphen, in Denzin, Lincoln, Tihiwa Smith (HCIM above)
4

Week 13: Nov 25 - Reading Day, no classes: work on themes, oral presentation, paper
Nov. 26

Thanksgiving

WEEKs 14 & 15: Dec. 2 & Dec. 9 Student Presentations continue

Due Monday Dec. 14, date of assigned final: Final Draft of paper.
(Degree candidates, paper due Friday Dec. 11)
Grading:
Participation in discussion/reading presentation
Exercises
Proposal
Fieldnotes
Research Paper

10%
20%
10%
25%
35%

Grade Scale
A 90 100%
B 80 -- 89%
C 70 -- 79%
D 60 -- 69%
F 59% & below

100% The sum of the parts is more

than the sum of the whole
Everything is important

Attendance Policy:
Course adheres to university regulations on attendance (see student rule #7: http://Studentrules.tamu.edu). If you are going to miss class because of a university excused activity, let me
know beforehand.
*Note on use of internet sites: All internet information should be cited just as if the materials were
published in a book or journal. For the purposes of the clip journals, a print-out is sufficient. If you use
other internet materials for analysis in your research paper, cite it with author (individual name or institution
posting the site), title, and the web site address. Just like books and journals, direct quotes should include
quotation marks followed by author and page number; a paraphrase should include author and page
number at the end of the paragraph. The full citation with web address should then appear in a
bibliography. Using materials from the internet (or anywhere else, for that matter)and attempting to pass
them off as your own work is plagiarism which is illegal and could result in a failing grade.
All materials handed out in class such as syllabi, worksheets, guidelines, etc. are copyrighted and the property of the professor.
They may not be copied without her or his permission. To do so and pass off any such materials as your own is plagiarism. You
have my permission to copy any class materials you wish for legitimate learning purposes for this course.

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