Qualitative Methods Spring 2011

Qualitative Research (Research Methods II)
JOUR 5260 6:30-9:20 Thursdays, Universities Center, Dallas
Spring 2011

Professor Tracy Everbach, Ph.D.
Phone/office 214-995-8464-cell; GAB 102J in Denton
Office hours Office hours in Dallas before class; in Denton on Friday afternoons
E-mail everbach@unt.edu



Texts Required: The Practice of Qualitative Research, Second Edition, Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber & Patricia Leavy, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage: 2011
Supplementary (not required): Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches (Second Edition), John W. Creswell, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage: 2007
Strongly recommended: Choice of Publication Manual of the APA (6th Edition), www.apastyle.org or Chicago Manual of Style (16th Edition) www.chicagomanualofstyle.org. Also, www.citationmachine.net



Description This course is both theoretical and practical in its approach to qualitative research. We will cover the history of academic research and philosophy; the present state of qualitative research (and cultural and critical studies in mass media); the comparison of qualitative research to other methods; its tools and its methods. We also will read examples of qualitative mass media studies in current journals and books. You actually will use the methods you learn in this class through several group projects.

Course goals include:
• Field research using qualitative methods
• Think critically, creatively and independently
• Conduct research and evaluation information by methods appropriate to the communications professions
• Apply tools and technologies appropriate for the profession
• Attainment of a qualitative vocabulary
• Understanding of the difference between quantitative and qualitative research
• Knowledge of various qualitative traditions, methods, and objects of research
• Ability to design a research study and to complete a project using academic protocols
• Comprehension of the standards of the qualitative research community, its writing forms, and APA or Chicago style, as demonstrated in a final project


Grades Your grade for this course will be based on:
●Five qualitative group projects (50 percent of grade—10 percent each)
●Online discussion/class participation/contributions (30 percent)
●Final individual paper/qualitative project (20 percent)

Online discussion When the class meets online, you will be given questions under the “discussions” feature of Blackboard/Vista. Each student is expected to answer the questions and participate in the discussion, based on the readings and presentation given. Discussions are considered formal and academic and are to be conducted civilly and professionally.


Academic Honesty When you submit work for this class, that is the same as making a statement that you have produced the work yourself, in its entirety.

Plagiarism, fabrication, copyright infringement, and similar uses of other people’s work are unacceptable. You are expected to comply with the UNT Student Code of Conduct: www.unt.edu/csrr.

Plagiarism, in a nutshell, is using other people’s written words as your own. Some people consider the use of 7-10 words in a row, copied from another source, as plagiarism. Be sure to include citations when using other people’s writing, because plagiarism is a serious offense in any discipline, especially in journalism. It’s a firing offense in the professional world. In this department, students face a range of penalties for plagiarism (depending on the importance of the assignment): a grade of zero on a minor assignment; a request that the student drop the class; withdrawal of the student from the class, initiated by the professor; an “F” in the course; a referral to the UNT Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities; a notation on the student’s transcript; and expulsion from the university. A combination of these penalties may also be used.

Attendance One unexcused absence in the course is the limit without penalty toward your final grade, unless you have communicated with me from the beginning about an extraordinary problem. If you are absent, you will still be responsible for the material on those days.



Textbook policy The Mayborn School of Journalism doesn’t require students to purchase textbooks from the University Bookstore. Many are available through other bookstores or online. They also may be rented.


SETE The Student Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness (SETE) is a university-wide online evaluation and a requirement for all UNT classes. The Mayborn School of Journalism needs your input to improve our teaching and curriculum. This short survey will be available at the end of the semester, providing you a chance to comment on how this class is taught. Prompt completion of the SETE will mean earlier access to final semester grades. You’re a critical part of our growth and success. We look forward to your input through SETE.


Accommodation The School of Journalism cooperates with the Office of Disability Accommodation to make reasonable accommodations for qualified students. If you have not registered with ODA, please do so and present your written accommodation request to me by the 12th day of class.

Cell phone policy Cell phones should NEVER be used in class, including text messaging. You may be asked to leave class for using a cell phone.


Syllabus This is tentative outline. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to keep up with changes in this syllabus and additional assignments.

Week 1 Jan. 20: DALLAS Introduction to qualitative research, go over syllabus and class projects, fieldwork/observation exercise in class. Establish research groups.

Week 2 Jan. 27: ONLINE *Read Chapters 1 and 2 of Hesse-Biber & Leavy book, “An Invitation to Qualitative Research” and “Approaches to Qualitative Research.”
*Read handout, John W. Creswell, “Five Qualitative Approaches to Inquiry.”
Respond to online questions.

Week 3 Feb. 3: DALLAS *Read Chapters 3 and 4 of Hesse-Biber & Leavy book, “Designing Qualitative Research Approaches” and “The Ethics of Social Research.” Be prepared to discuss.
Introduction to the IRB.

Week 4 Feb. 10: ONLINE *Read Chapter 5 of Hesse-Biber & Leavy book, “In-Depth Interview” and Chapter 12 of Hesse-Biber & Leavy, “Analysis and Interpretation of Qualitative Data.”
Begin work on in-depth interview project with your group.


Week 5 Feb. 17: DALLAS In-depth interviews.
*Read: Deuze, Mark. “Popular journalism and professional ideology: Tabloid reporters and editors speak out,” Media, Culture & Society 27, 6 (March 2005): 861-882. (Find in UNT electronic library.)

Week 6 Feb. 24: DALLAS Present group in-depth interview projects. Written final paper proposals due.

Week 7 March 3: ONLINE *Read Chapter 6 of Hesse-Biber & Leavy book, “Oral History.” Begin work on oral history project with your group.

Week 8 March 10: ONLINE Oral histories.
Go to http://www.wpcf.org/oralhistory/intvwees.html. Choose one of the women journalists who participated in the Washington Press Club Foundation Oral History project and read her oral history. Write a 500- to 750-word summary of the oral history you read and how you think it adds or does not add to understanding of journalism.


Spring Break

Week 9 March 24: DALLAS Present group oral history projects.

Week 10 March 31: ONLINE *Read Chapter 7 of Hesse-Biber & Leavy book, “Focus Group Interviews.”
*Read Patricia Curtain and Scott Maier. “Numbers in the Newsroom: A Qualitative Examination of a Quantitative Challenge,” Journalism &Mass Communication Quarterly 78, 4 (2001): 720-738. (Find in electronic library.)
Begin work on focus group project with your group.

Week 11 April 7: DALLAS Present group focus group projects.

Week 12 April 14: ONLINE *Read Chapter 8 of Hesse-Biber & Leavy book “Ethnography.”
*Read Tracy Everbach, “The Culture of a Women-Led Newspaper: An Ethnographic Study of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune,” J&MCQ 83, 3 (2006): 477-493.
Begin work on ethnography project with your group.

Week 13 April 21: DALLAS Present focus group ethnography studies.

Week 14 April 28: ONLINE *Read Chapter 9 and Chapter 10 of Hesse-Biber & Leavy book, “Content Analysis and Unobtrusive Methods” and “Case Studies.”
*Read William Faux II and Heeman Kim, “Visual representation of the victims of Hurricane Katrina: A dialectical approach to content analysis and discourse,” Space & Culture 9, 1 (2006): 55-59.
Begin work on content analysis or case study project with your group.

Week 15 May 5: DALLAS Present group content analysis or case study projects.
*Read Chapter 13 and 14 of Hesse-Biber & Leavy book, “Writing nd Representation of Qualitative Research” and “The Research Nexus: Staying Centered and Building Knowledge.”

FINAL PAPERS DUE by 5 p.m. May 12


NOTE: Special thanks go to Dr. Jacqueline Lambiase and Dr. Dustin Harp for sharing their syllabi and ideas with me for this class.

Assignments:

Group projects should be completed in groups of two to four people. A 750- to 1,000-word report on the outcome of each project is due the day of the presentation and should have all participating members’ names on it. All members of the group should take part in the presentation of the findings to the class.

In-depth interview project: Each member of the group is assigned to find a journalist, journalism student (not in the class), or a person connected with journalism or with journalism education. All members of the group should focus on people in the same category. Each student should conduct a semi-structured interview with open-ended questions. The questions will focus on the person’s thoughts about the future of the journalism profession. Students also should gather information about the person’s background and experience in journalism to put the answers in context. Transcribe the answers and review the results with members of your group. Decide on the most important highlights of the interviews. Write a report on what you learned from conducting the interviews, asking follow-up questions, any resistance or pitfalls you encountered and how you handled them, and what themes resonated among the answers.

Oral history project: Identify a person who has an interesting background from a particular place and time in history. This could be a professor or researcher on campus, a student involved in an interesting project, a business owner in Denton, a musician, a UNT staff member who has worked here many years, a relative or friend who has an intriguing background. The group should conduct an oral history of this person, using written notes and a choice of either audiotape or videotape. Your report on this project should summarize the advantages and pitfalls of securing the interviews, completing the interviews, use of technology and ease or unease at drawing out information from the subject. You may play part of the tapes during your class presentation.

Focus group project: Conduct a focus group session with a minimum of three people on a topic having to do with journalism, public relations or advertising. For example, you could interview readers of a particular newspaper or Web site, working journalists (including student journalists), people who teach or study journalism, people who produce public relations campaigns or advertising campaigns, or advertising consumers. Prepare and revise a series of open-ended interview questions. Write a report on the project highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of conducting focus group interviews. Also include the results of your focus group interviews.

Ethnography project: Ask permission of a particular group, class or institution to observe them at work or other activity. Spend at least TWO sessions observing this group, class or institution and the process of what they do. Take plenty of field notes. After your observation sessions, meet in your group and write a report about your experiences completing this project.

Content analysis or case study project: (For content analysis) Select a television newscast or at least two editions of a daily newspaper or a magazine or a news Web site. Conduct a qualitative content analysis of the text you choose. The approach should be grounded in either discourse, ideological, rhetorical, or semiotic analysis.
(For case study) Choose coverage of a particular issue or incident in at least two media outlets. This can be two newspapers, two TV newscasts, TV and newspaper coverage, radio coverage or Web coverage.
For both projects, each student should write a separate analysis of the text (all using the same approach) and then get together to discuss the various interpretations. Together, write a report analyzing the assignment. Also attach each person’s original analysis to the report with names of the author on her or his work.

Individual final paper: This paper should run 10-15 pages long and include a references list (if you use APA style) or footnotes/endnotes (if you use Chicago style). Choose one or more qualitative methods to complete your study. Your study should include an introduction that states a research question. You should complete a literature review on the topic you choose (minimum 10 sources). This section should include your theoretical basis for the study. You should include a section explaining and justifying your methodology, a section on the results/findings, and a conclusion section that may include recommendations. I suggest selecting a topic that intrigues you and might be worth further study (including a thesis if you choose to complete one). Research proposal is due on Feb. 24. The final paper is due May 12.