Innovative Qualitative Methods and Orientations 

Corey Shdaimah, LLM, PhD, cshdaimah@ssw.umaryland.edu

Chrysanthi Leon, JD, PhD santhi@udel.edu 

Description

The instructors draw on their backgrounds and experiences as researchers, teachers and writers in the interdisciplinary field of law and society, which incorporates methods from sociology, criminology, political science, anthropology, and social work. Both are widely published and have served as reviewers for funding, promotion, and peer-reviewed publications in the US and internationally. Both instructors have also served in university-wide and national leadership positions providing mentorship and training to graduate students and junior faculty. This workshop features research methods that have been used by the instructors in innovative ways, and has special emphasis on the ethics and techniques of research with vulnerable and hard to reach populations.

Course objectives

Participants will

●       Be exposed to a range of qualitative methods used across a range of social science disciplines 

●       Discuss ethical implications and practical challenges of qualitative research, including:

○        connections between research and policymaking 

○        its potential for both benefit and harm 

○        the appropriate role for researchers, students, and academics 

○        how to meaningfully include vulnerable subjects and/or activist voices in research

■     lessons learned from research with vulnerable populations 

■     intersectional approaches

○        Career considerations for academics using qualitative research, including funding, publishing, and career advancement

●       Workshop their current interests and projects in small groups with peer and facilitator feedback.  

Course Audience

This course is appropriate to graduate students and researchers in any field that uses social science methods. This includes socio-legal scholarship, political science, sociology, anthropology, social work, nursing, education, and psychology. Readings and discussions draw on insights from all of these disciplines. 

Course Prerequisites

Participants should have foundational research skills and introductory knowledge of qualitative methods. Discussion can be adapted to the knowledge level of participants. It would be helpful for participants to skim recommended readings prior to participation.

Topics Covered

1.      Qualitative research: Beyond the Basics. 

Epistemological frameworks: Between “alternative facts” and multiple realities

Incorporating qualitative data in mixed-methods frameworks

Enhancing methodological rigor 

Grounded theory as meta-approach

2.       Spotlight on Study Participants

Working with so-called “hard-to-reach”, “ vulnerable”, or “stigmatized” populations

Recruitment and data collection techniques

Ethical concerns and how to manage them

3.       Innovative qualitative methods

Photo-voice and other visual methodologies

Participatory methods such as Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Community

Based Participatory Research (CBPR)

“I poems” and other phenomenological methods

4.       Now What?: What to do with/how to use findings 

Moving away from damage-centered frameworks

Publishing for different audiences (academic, policymakers, media, lay audiences)

5.       Developing, funding, and writing up viable qualitative research studies

            Focused workshop for participants to bring their own questions and project proposals 

            Setting up qualitative research networks for ongoing consultation and collaboration

Recommended readings

1. Denzin, N.K., & Lincoln, Y.S. (2011). Introduction: The discipline and practice of qualitative research. In N.K. Denzin  & Y.S. Lincoln (Eds.). The Sage handbook of qualitative research (4th ed.), pp. 1-19. Thousand Oaks: Sage

2. Bailey-Kloch, M. (2017). Poetry in street-based sex work. In K. Hail-Jares, C. Shdaimah, & C. Leon, Challenging Perspectives on in street-based sex work, pp. 227-232. New York: Columbia University Press.

3. Lassetter et al., (2007). Family photographs: Expressions of parents raising children with disabilities. Qualitative Health Research, 17(4), 456-467.

4. National Science Foundation – Workshop on Interdisciplinary Standards for Systematic Qualitative Research (2005) http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/ses/soc/ISSQR_workshop_rpt.pdf, pp. 2-17, 60-64

5. Shdaimah, C.S., & Leon, C. (2018). Whose knowledges?: Moving away from damage-centered research in studies with women in street-based sex work. Criminological Encounters 1(1) doi:10.26395/CE18010103

Public Scholarship Resources and Models:

Life of the Law: http://www.lifeofthelaw.org/#&panel1-1

Open Global Rights: http://www.opendemocracy.net/openglobalrights

The Society Pages: http://thesocietypages.org/

Public Criminology: http://thesocietypages.org/pubcrim/

Chris Uggen's blog: http://chrisuggen.blogspot.com/