Essentials of Qualitative Research (EQR)
An integrated course series in qualitative research methodology May, 2006 Overview of EQR course series A coordinated and integrated set of courses, called Essentials of Qualitative Research, or EQR, is offered collaboratively between the Department of Public Health Sciences (Faculty of Medicine) and the Faculty of Nursing, with an additional course in the series being offered by the Department of Sociology. The course series is intended to provide graduate students with comprehensive, advanced-level training in the theory, methodology, and practice of qualitative research. Most of the courses draw heavily on social science and health research, but all address core generic issues of interpretive qualitative inquiry. The series is based on the premise that qualitative research is more than a toolbox of methods or techniques, and that to mine its optimum potential as a form of inquiry students must understand its epistemological and theoretical underpinnings and logic of practice. Students who have no prior exposure to qualitative research and who wish a general introduction to and overview of the nature and varieties of qualitative research, can take course # 1: NUR 1028 Introduction to Qualitative Research which is a course (to be offered for the first time in the fall of 2006) offered primarily for Master’s level students in Nursing, but which is also suitable for Master’s-level students in other health science or related faculties, and for doctoral students with no prior training in qualitative research methodology who wish to explore its possibilities for their thesis research. The other courses in the series are primarily intended for doctoral students. Course #2 NUR 1024 Foundations of Qualitative Inquiry is fundamental to all subsequent methodological training; it sets the stage for qualitative inquiry by reviewing major theoretical traditions of research. Grounded conceptually in the Foundations course, Course #3, NUR 1025 Doing Qualitative Research: Design and Data Collection, shifts students into a more practical ‘do-it’ mode. The course focuses on the theoretical and practical matters of research design, data collection and proposal preparation. An alternative or additional course at the same level as NUR 1025 is Course #4, SOC 6713 Qualitative Research Methods I—Qualitative Interviewing, a course that takes students through the steps in conducting and analyzing qualitative interviews with immigrant families, and into proposal development. Course #5, CHL 5115 Qualitative Analysis and Interpretation, focuses on data analysis, and is intended to be a course taken after at least two other courses, either at the stage when students are completing their final proposals, or, ideally when they are in the midst of analyzing their own thesis data. This course focuses on the theory and practice of analysis throughout the research process, assuming that students have theoretical and data collection experience already. Finally, when students are in the advanced stage of thesis writing, they can take Course # 6, CHL 5122 Qualitative Research Practice, a pass-fail course (recognizing that students do not typically take courses at this stage in their programs but still need opportunities for
2 contact and discussion with fellow students at the same stage of research). Here students present their own work, discuss a range of advanced methodological issues, and explore various professional/career development topics such as publishing and job interviews. It is anticipated, that some Master’s students will undertake just part of the series and that some doctoral students may enter their programs with prior formal training in qualitative research, hence may not need certain of the courses, or may take them out of ‘order’ to capture something they are missing. Enrollment Eligible students wishing to enroll in NUR 1028 Introduction to Qualitative Research and NUR 1024 Foundations of Qualitative Research, and NUR 1025 Design and Data should do so via ROSI where they are admitted according to pre-established priorities and thereafter on a first-come-first-served basis. For CHL 5115 and 5122, permission of instructor is required for enrollment. There are caps on all the graduate seminars to ensure optimal learning/teaching (15-18 students, depending on the course); students who do not secure a place in the course can go on a wait list and are admitted as space and priorities permit. Priority is given to students taking the EQR series, and to students in programs with special arrangements with the EQR course series (e.g.the Faculty of Pharmacy). Auditors are normally not permitted in EQR graduate seminars. Certificate in Qualitative Research Methodology PhD students who take at least 3 EQR courses (#s 2, 3 or 4, and 5) will receive upon graduation a certificate that they have taken the EQR series and have advanced-level methodological training. Outline of EQR courses Course #1 NUR 1028 Introduction to Qualitative Research Fall and winter terms, Professor Jan Angus, Faculty of Nursing This course (to be offered for the first time 2006-07, and to be taught two times per year) is an introduction to qualitative research. A large course format (plenary lectures with small group tutorials) designed primarily for Master of Nursing students, this course is also suitable as an introductory-level course for other graduate students in the health sciences, including doctoral students with no prior training in qualitative research methodology, students curious about the methodology but not yet committed to engaging in such research. The course will be taught by Dr Jan Angus in the Faculty of Nursing, with the assistance of other faculty members associated with the EQR course series. The course will acquaint students with the diversity, creativity and potential contribution to knowledge of qualitative research methodology. The course addresses the philosophical foundations of qualitative inquiry and equips students to read and appraise research in various qualitative traditions. Introductory experience with data collection and analysis of
3 interviews, observations, and focus groups will be provided in tutorials. No prior experience with qualitative method is required. Course # 2 NUR 1024 Foundations of Qualitative Inquiry Fall term, Professor Denise Gastaldo, Faculty of Nursing This course provides the critical foundations to qualitative research. It examines the conceptual and philosophical bases of various frameworks/approaches to qualitative research and their methodological implications. Specific debates related to theories employed in the field of health, research questions, designs, the positionality of the researcher, rigour, and ethics will be discussed. The course sets the stage for the ‘how-to hands-on’ instruction that comes in the data generating and analysis courses. The course may be taken by those just entering this methodological arena, or by those familiar with techniques/methods but missing the theoretical dimension. The course is designed for PhD students who have committed to qualitative theses and who are taking the EQR certificate series. There are no prerequisites and enrollment is via ROSI on a first-conefirst-serve basis, with priority given to those in the Essentials series, and to those in selected programs with special arrangements with the EQR program. Course #3 NUR 1025 - Doing Qualitative Research: Design and Data Collection Winter term, Professor Jan Angus, Faculty of Nursing This course addresses the theory and practice of qualitative research fieldwork and data gathering. Picking up issues of research design started in NUR 1024, the focus is on the practical, hands-on considerations associated with writing research proposals, entering the field, coordinating fieldwork, techniques of data collection, and data management. Students can begin development of their thesis proposals. Prior grounding in the philosophical/theoretical foundations of qualitative research (the Foundations course in the Essentials series or its equivalent) is strongly recommended, and students with these qualifications will be given preference. Enrollment is by ROSI on a first-come-first served basis, with preference to those who have taken other courses in the Essentials series, and to those in selected programs with special arrangements with the EQR program.The course is intended for PhD students. Course #4 SOC6713 - Qualitative Research Methods I Fall term, Professor Ping-Chun Hsiung, Department of Sociology This course focuses on the “technical aspect” of qualitative interviewing. That is, it will take students through all the steps in conducting and analyzing qualitative interviews. Using primary interview data from immigrant families from the Caribbean, China, Italy, and Sri Lanka, students will learn what types of interview data are needed to understand experiences of immigrant families, how to conduct qualitative interviews to elicit such types of data, how to analyze conceptual baggage in qualitative interviewing, and how to transcribe and analyze interview data. Students will acquire skills in qualitative interviewing by reading good examples and mistakes from transcripts of the 38 immigrant interviews, commenting on and revising the good examples and the mistakes, conducting and transcribing one interview of one’s own, using interview data in the data set and/or collected by oneself to write a research proposal. The course is an introductory
4 level course and does not require prior methodological experience, although since it is a course designed for sociology graduate students, prior experience with social science or completion of Course #1 (theoretical foundations of qualitative inquiry) is preferred. Permission of instructor required to enroll. The course accepts Master’s and PhD level students. Course #5 CHL 5115 - Qualitative Analysis and Interpretation Fall term, Professor Joan Eakin, Department of Public Health Sciences This course focuses on the theory, techniques and issues of data analysis and interpretation. Topics addressed include the implications of data collection for analysis and other components of the research process, problems of meaning, concept development, analytic devices, theorization, writing and representation. Students are expected to have their own data to work with, ideally from their own thesis projects, or from other or past research. Prerequisites for enrollment include grounding in the philosophical and theoretical foundations of qualitative research, qualitative research design, and data gathering. Students are expected thus to have completed at least one or two qualitative methodology courses (or the equivalent research experience). Preference will be given to those who have taken other courses in the Essentials series, and to those in selected programs with special arrangements with the EQR program. The course is designed primarily for PhD students. Permission of instructor is required for enrollment. Course #6 CHL 5122 Qualitative Research Practice Winter term, Professors Ellen MacEachen and Joan Eakin, Department of Public Health Sciences A pass-fail course for students who have completed their program coursework and who are in the final stages of qualitative theses (normally in the last 6 months to 1 year of their programs). The course is a forum for presentation and discussion of thesis work, and for deeper exploration of methodological, theoretical and professional development issues. Topics include positioning within texts, writing for different audiences, cross-paradigm ‘communication’, thesis design and writing, publication and grant writing, issues of evidence and quality. Designed to counter the isolation of late-stage thesis work and the challenges of working within a research tradition that runs ‘against the grain’ of conventional science, this course will assist students in establishing contact with likeminded colleagues, set the stage for establishing on-going work groups that continue after completion of the course, facilitate the timely completion of projects and prepare students about to enter academic and other fields. The course is designed primarily for PhD students. Permission of instructors is required for enrollment, with preference being given to students in the Certificate program and to students from selected programs with special arrangements with the EQR program. Further Information To enroll, follow the instructions outlined above. For more information on the series as a whole, or on CHL 5115, contact Professor Joan Eakin at joan.eakin@utoronto.ca Regarding admissibility and other course matters, contact the relevant course instructors: Professor Jan Angus jan.angus@utoronto.ca Professor Denise Gastaldo denise.gastaldo@utoronto.ca Professor Ping-Chun Hsuing pchsiung@utsc.utoronto.ca
5 Professor Ellen MacEachen emaceachen@iwh.on.ca For information on other qualitative methodology courses at the University of Toronto, consult the course and faculty inventories in the QUIG website: http://www.phs.utoronto.ca/qualmethod