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, 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 15		

January 22	
*Carspecken Ch. 1
* Willis, pages 1-88	
Reflection paper; 2-3 pages

January 29	
*Willis, pages: 89-116
*Carspecken, Ch. 2, pages 30-58	Interview protocol

February 5	
*Willis, pages: 117-159
*Carspecken, Ch. 2, pages 58-117	
Reflection paper; 2-3 pages

February 12	
*Willis, pages: 117-159	Transcribed interview

February 19	
*Willis, pages: 160-218
Two-four page essay on Willis and Power, Truth and Method

February 26	
*Carspecken, Ch. 4
*Carspecken, Being, Doing, Becoming (to be passed out)	Interview
codes and partial analysis


BLOCK TWO: SYSTEMS, THE SELF, CULTURAL ANALYSIS

March 4	
*Nespor, Chs. 1-2	
Final day for the project / study contract	

March 11	
*Nespor, Chs. 3-4
*Additional, to be determined		
Nvivo workshop

SPRING BREAK	SPRING BREAK	SPRING BREAK	SPRING BREAK

March 25	
*Nespor, Chs. 5-6
*Additional, to be determined		

April 1	*Nespor, Ch. 7
*Additional, to be determined	
Two-four page essay comparing Willis and Levinson	
Guest speaker

April 8	
*Carspecken, Scene’s 2 and 3 in Chapter 3	
One-two page reflection paper	Film

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

The dates for block three are April 15th, 22nd, 29th and May 6th.  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 eight
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

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

Nespor, Jan (1997).   Tangled Up in School; Politics, Space, Bodies,
and Signs in the Educational Process.  Mahwah N.J: Lawrenece Erlbaum
Associates.