Observational and ethnographic research in Social Science
Duration 0.5 days
Team Central Short Courses
Target Audience

Mid stage postgraduate research students

Early career researchers

This course was aimed primarily at research students in the social sciences. However, it may be of interest to students in other disciplines who plan to incorporate this approach in their work.

Pre-requisites
 
Participants should have some prior understanding of qualitative research methods in the social sciences. For example, they should normally have attended an introductory course on qualitative research in their School or the course 'Introduction to Qualitative Research' in Researcher Academy's Researcher Development Programme.

Process

You will be involved in whole and small group work as well as some 'hand-on'experience of conducting observational research. The session will be supported by supplementary readings and a bibliography.

Description

The session will offer the chance for 'hands-on' experience in using some of the typical approaches. Observation might be an appropriate method to use in a wide variety of settings, and in research on many different aspects of social life, including: organisational change, cultures and practices; occupational cultures and practices; human interaction and behaviours; and in the area of cultures and cultural studies.

Related courses

Introduction to Qualitative Research (GSTRM4); Further Qualitative Research (GSTFQR); Focus Groups(GSTRM6); Case Studies(GSTRM7); Interview Workshop(GSTRM8); Questionnaires(GSTRMQ); Analysing interview transcripts (GSTAIT) and Using NVivo® to analyse qualitative data(GSTNVA)

If you are thinking of asking your research participants to complete an on-line questionnaire or interview, you may find these e-learning materials developed at Leicester University useful: http://www.geog.le.ac.uk/orm/

Aims

This session will give you the opportunity to explore the nature, purposes and complexities of qualitative methods methodologies, including those informed by ethnographic principles and theory.

Objectives

By the end of the course you should have:
  • developed understanding of the principles underlying observational research in social science
  • developed understanding of the the variety of methods that use observational approaches
  • experienced and explored the strengths and limitations of different types of observational studies (eg shadowing, structured observation, unstructured observation)
  • considered the reliability and generalisability of such studies.
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