I.  Course Description

This course is for students who have already completed Y611.  All
students in this course must be engaged, or soon become engaged, in
an extensive qualitative research project suitable for a dissertation
and/or a publishable article or monograph.  Course instruction will
involve both commonly pursued objectives and individualized ones.

Commonly pursued objectives will include a review of the basic
principles of critical qualitative research, supplementation of these
basic principles with investigations into critical discourse analysis
and critical theory, an introduction to systems theory, and an
analysis of three ethnographies read by all class participants.  We
will also explore the use of one or two software programs designed
for qualitative data analysis.  Near the beginning of the course, we
will work on interviewing skills and interview analysis.

Individualized objectives will also be pursued.  Students will submit
a personal project contract to the instructor early in the course.
Project contracts will consist of agreements to undertake various
projects in the field, in data analysis, and/or in the scholarly
review of literature relevant to one’s research project.  Students
must form peer support and debriefing teams early in the course and
lend aid to each other in the pursuit of individualized objectives.

II.  Course Assignments

BLOCK ONE: REVIEW OF CRITICAL QUALITATIVE RESEARCH,
INTERVIEWING SKILLS AND INTERVIEW ANALYSIS

DATE/READINGS
WORK TO TURN IN

January 16		

January 23 Denzin and Lincoln, Chs. 1-2 Carspecken Ch. 1
Two-three page essay on “paradigms” in qualitative research

January 30 Willis, pages: 1-116 Carspecken, Ch. 2, pages 30-58
Interview protocol

February 6 Willis, pages: 117-192 Carspecken, Ch. 2, pages 58-117
Three pages of transcribed interview

February 13 Carspecken, Being, Doing, Becoming (to be passed out)
Two-four page essay on Willis and Power, Truth and Method

February 20 Interview codes and partial analysis

BLOCK TWO: THE SELF, CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS, SOFTWARE

DATE/READINGS	
WORK TO TURN IN
EVENTS

February 27 Carspecken, Ch. 4
Fairclough, pages 1-20
Project / Study Contract	

March 6 Fairclough, pages 21-83
Levinson, Intro and Ch. 1		

March 13 Fairclough—to be announced
Levinson, Chs. 2-3		
Nvivo workshop

SPRING BREAK	

March 27 Fairclough—to be announced
Levinson, Chs. 4-6		

April 3 Levinson, Chs. 7 & 8 plus appendices
Two-three page essay comparing Willis and Levinson
Dr. Levinson to talk with class

April 10 Carspecken, Scene’s 2 and 3
Film

BLOCK THREE: THIS BLOCK WILL BE DEVELOPED ACCORDING TO
CLASS NEEDS

The dates for block three are April 17th, 24th, May 1st, and May 8th
(finals day, if we need it).  By this time all of you will be working
hard to complete your project / study contracts.  We may decide to
have class sessions in which student work is orally presented and
discussed.  We will assign half of one class during this block to
discuss Troubling the Angels.  We may have lectures and presentations
on topics of common need or interest.  Many things are possible.

III. Assessment

Assessment for this course will be based on class participation,
completion of the project / study contract, and the above six
assignments.  The instructor will provide comments to students on
their work and may ask for certain pieces of work to be done over.
Students will be kept informed of their cumulative class grade as the
course moves along.

IV. Books

Carspecken, P. F.  (1999).  Four Scenes for Posing the Question of
Meaning, and other essays in Critical Philosophy and Critical
Methodology.  New York: Peter Lang.  ISBN 0-8204-3967-3    Paper Back

Denzin, N. F. and Lincoln, Y.S. (eds.) 1998.  Collecting and
Interpreting Qualitative Materials.  Thousand Oaks CA: Sage
Publications.  ISBN  0-7619-1434-X  Paper Back

Fairclough, N.  (1997).  Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical
Study of Language (Language in Social Life).  Addison-Wesley Pub Co;
ISBN: 0582219841  Paper Back

Willis, P.  (1981).  Learning to Labor.  New York: Columbia Univ Pr;
ISBN: 0231053576  Paper Back

Lather, P. and Smithies, C.  (1997).  Troubling the angels: women
living with HIV/AIDS.  Boulder, CO:  Westview Press.  ISBN:
0813390168  Paper Back

Levinson, B.  (2001).  We Are All Equal : Student Culture and
Identity at a Mexican Secondary School 1988-1998.  ISBN: 082232699X
Paper Back