Qualitative Research MethodsModule Details

Module Description (Overview, Aim, Additional Information)

This course is an examination of qualitative methods for studying human behavior including grounded theory, narrative analysis, ethnography, mixed methods, and case studies.
The purpose of this course is to introduce doctoral students to the field of qualitative research and prepare them in the skills, techniques, and knowledge necessary to undertake independent research using this methodology.
Finally, in this course, students will learn about the historical and philosophical foundations of qualitative research methodology and be introduced to key research strategies in qualitative research and principles for research design in qualitative research.

Module Objectives
This module aims to:
Introduce to students to qualitative research methods, and discussing the appropriateness of these methods for different areas of research and types of research questions.
Expose to students the practice of qualitative research, and encouraging them to experiment in the use of the fundamental methods for qualitative data collection and analysis.
Explore ways in collecting, analysing, and reporting from qualitative research, and discussing the challenges and opportunities of publishing qualitative research.

Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcomes after the effective completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Examine and describe various qualitative data collection procedures.
2. Describe how to compile, summarize and analyze qualitative data, and describe the use of qualitative data analysis software.
3. Prepare a research proposal that employs at least one method of collecting and analyzing qualitative data.
4. Develop a set of qualitative research questions.
5. Summarize peer reviewed, qualitative research to identify the problem, purpose, and design of the research.
6. Match different qualitative designs and data collection possibilities.
7. Assess the applicability of a range of core qualitative approaches to their own research topics and understand how these approaches can be applied to conduct effective research.
8. Effectively analyze and write up qualitative data based on exercise.