Qualitative Methods for the Social Sciences at The University of Washington

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Anthropology | Communication | Geography | Nursing | Sociology | Women’s Studies	Next working group meeting -
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To post to this list, send your email to qualcrew@u.washington.edu. General information about the mailing list.	Angelina Godoy - Katherine Beckett - Anthropology Susan Pitchford - Sociology Gary Hamilton - Sociology Alexes Harris - Philip Howard - Communication Kathie Friedman - Judy Howard - Sociology Jonathan Warren - Lucy Jarosz - Geography David Allen - Steve Herbert - Geography

Department of Anthropology

ANTH 550 Field Techniques in Ethnography

Techniques of collecting, ordering, and utilizing ethnographic data in the field. Problems of rapport, elicitation, observation, interpretation, and ethics. Credit/no credit only.

Enrollment: 5

Instructor(s): Laurna Rhodes

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Next Taught: A03

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Course Outline: anth550.doc

ANTH 552 Practicum in Ethnographic Research

Techniques of data recording, analysis, and writing for the field ethnographer. Not recommended for non-anthropology graduate students. Prerequisite: ANTH 550 and ANTH 551.

Enrollment: 3

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Department of Communication

COM 501 Methods of Inquiry

Overviews some of the most important methods of inquiry used to investigate communication phenomena. Includes textual criticism, content analysis, ethnography, experimentation, survey research, and historical approaches. Explores the utility of different methods for investigating research topics, defining and measuring concepts, reading texts, and investigating theories.

Enrollment: 5

Instructor(s): Baldasty/Manusov

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Next Taught: W04

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COM 511 Content Analysis

Content analysis as a technique for making inferences from texts. Includes quantitative, qualitative, and computer-assisted approaches to analysis.

Enrollment: 5

Instructor(s): Giffard

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Next Taught: A03

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COM 513 Fieldwork in Communication

Methods of fieldwork research in communication studies, with emphasis on participant observation, ethnography, and discourse analysis.

Enrollment: (5-, max. 10, 2 qtr., 10 credits)

Instructor(s): Philipsen

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Next Taught: W04

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COM 515 Rhetorical Criticism (5)

History and method of rhetorical criticism. Application of critical standards to various rhetorical artifacts.

Enrollment: 5

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COM 516 Descriptive and Analytic Communication Research Methods

Development of the historical approach to communications research. Study of historical methods, bibliography, and criticism.

Enrollment: 5

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Department of Geography

GEO 425 Qualitative Methodology in Geography

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Enrollment: 30-35

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Next Taught: W04

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Course Outline: geo425.doc

Department of Sociology

SOC 419 Fieldwork

This seminar is a graduate-level introduction to field research. The term “fieldwork” covers a vast array of qualitative methods, from classic “hang-out-and-see-what-you-can-learn”-style ethnography to life histories, narrative and textual analysis, discourse analysis and semiotics, and so on. This being an introductory seminar, we will focus on the basic methods that belong in the repertoire of any field researcher: participant observation, interviewing, archival work and artifact analysis. Seminar participants will have the opportunity to try their hand at each of these methods, in the field setting of their choice. Additionally, we will discuss key issues such as the ethics of covert observation, the politics of cultural interpretation, and how to carry out fieldwork in a hostile environment. Students should emerge from this course with the skills to undertake fieldwork on their own, as well as the beginnings of a serious field research project.

Enrollment: 5

Instructor(s): Pitchford

Last Taught: WA02

Next Taught:

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Course Outline: soc419.pdf