SOC400 SEMINAR WORKS. IN SPECIAL FIELDS OF SO
| Course Code: | 2320400 |
| METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week): | 3 (3.00 - 0.00) |
| ECTS Credit: | 6.0 |
| Department: | Sociology |
| Language of Instruction: | English |
| Level of Study: | Undergraduate |
| Course Coordinator: | Prof.Dr. HEDİYE SİBEL KALAYCIOĞLU |
| Offered Semester: | Fall or Spring Semesters. |
Course Objectives
The aim of this course is to introduce how to conduct fieldwork by using qualitative research techniques, namely in-depth interviews on a selected topic (s). It will also focus on the roles and identities of the researcher in the field and ethnical aspects on conducting fieldwork.
Lectures and Classes:
Each week we shall approach a topic using a combination of lectures, mini-lectures, classes and seminar sessions along with extensive practical sessions throughout the term.
Students are highly encouraged to attend the lectures each week. It is essential that students prepare for class by reading the required readings each week. The lecturer will ensure that copies of all recommended readings are available.
Assessment:
One essay: 15p.
Designing a Questionnaire: 15 points
Conducting In-depth Interviews: 30 points
Term Paper: 30 points
Textbooks:
Bryman, A. & Burgess, R.G. (eds) (1999) Qualitative Research, London: Sage.
Burgess, R.G. (2000) In the Field-An Introduction to Field Research, London: Routledge.
Mason, J. (1996) Qualitative Researching, London: Sage.
Seale, C. (ed.) (1998) Researching Society and Culture, London: Sage.
Weinberg, D. (2002) Qualitative Research Methods, Malden: Blackwell Publishers
Reference Books:
Arksey, H. & Knight. P. (1999) Interviewing for Social Scientists, London: Sage.
COURSE SYLLABUS:
Week 1 (8 March): Introduction:
Week 2 ( 15 March): How to Formulate a Research Question
Week 3 (22 March): Introduction to Qualitative Research
Merton, R. K. (1972) ‘Insiders and Outsiders: A Chapter in the Sociology of Knowledge’, The American Journal of Sociology, 78 (1).
Adams, Laura L. (1999) ‘The Mascot Researcher: Identity, Power and Knowledge in Fieldwork,’ Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 28:4, pp. 331-363.
Guevarra, Anna Romina (2006) ‘The Balikbayan Researcher: Negotiating Vulnerability in Fieldwork with Filipino Labor Brokers,’ Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 35:5, pp. 526-551.
Bolak, H. C. (1996) ‘Studying One’s Own in the Middle East: Negotiating Gender and Self-Other Dynamics in the Field’, Qualitative Sociology, 19 (1).
Week 4 (29 March): Relations in the Field
Topics to be covered: role problems, insider-outsider relationship, active and passive participation
Kalır, B. (2006) ‘The field of work and the work of Field: Conceptualizing an Anthropological Research Engagement’, Social Anthropology, 14 (2).
Lomba De Andrade, L. (2000) ‘Negotiating from the Inside’, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 29 (3).
Sherif, B. (2001) ‘The Ambiguity of Boundaries in the Fieldwork Experience: Establishing Rapport and Negotiating Insider/Outsider Status’, Qualitative Inquiry, 7(4), pp. 436-447
Ergun, A. & Erdemir, A. (2010) ‘Negotiating Insider and Outsider Identities in the Field: “Insider” in a Foreign Land, “Outsider” in one’s own Land’, Field Methods (2010), 22(1) pp. 16-38
Week 5 (5 April): Qualitative Research Design & Fieldwork
Topics to be covered: research question, evolving the research design, research techniques characteristics of the qualitative research, qualitative research techniques, designing a qualitative study
&
definition of fieldwork; varieties of fieldwork; What do we do when we first go to an ‘unknown’ field? How do we familiarise with the field?; How do we find interviewees? How do we construct the relationship between interviewee and interviewer? Single case study, comparative study. What do we do before the fieldwork, during the fieldwork and after the fieldwork?
Gery W. Ryan and H. Russell Bernand (2003) “Techniques to Identify Themes” Field Methods, https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X02239569
Mason, J (1996) ‘Planning and Designing Qualitative Research’ in Qualitative Researching, London: Sage
Goldbart, J., Hustler, D. (2005) ‘Ethnography’ in B. Somekh and C. Lewin (eds.) Research Methods in Social Sciences, London: Sage.
Mccall, G.J. (2006) ‘The Fieldwork Tradition’ D. Hobbs and R. Wright (eds.) The Sage Handbook of Fieldwork, London: Sage
Silverman, D. (1997) ‘The Logics of Qualitative Research’ in G. Miler and R. Dingwall (eds.)
Week 6 (12 April) Interviews
Week 7 to Week 13: Fieldwork
Week 14: (7 June ): Presentations
Course Content
This course is organized in the form of a research workshop, and the content of the course is determined by the instructor.
Course Learning Outcomes
This course is designed to enable students to design a research project through which they will learn how to use concepts and theories in understanding social realities and phenomena, the practicalities of procedures of sampling, data collection, analysis and reporting.
Program Outcomes Matrix
| Level of Contribution | |||||
| # | Program Outcomes | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1 | To correlate sociology and other social sciences | ✔ | |||
| 2 | To interpret knowledge produced by society from a sociological perspective | ✔ | |||
| 3 | To renew and improve their accumulation by following up-to-date publications and research programs in their fields | ✔ | |||
| 4 | To be open to occupational novelties in order to understand social change | ✔ | |||
| 5 | To produce original solutions within and outside the discipline and in interdisciplinary levels | ✔ | |||
| 6 | To know and implement the ethics of sociological research | ✔ | |||
| 7 | To be aware of social, environmental, and economic effects in the areas where sociological approaches are appropriated | ✔ | |||
| 8 | To use and transfer the accumulation of sociological knowledge in an interdisciplinary way | ✔ | |||
| 9 | To understand social structures and dynamics by correlating the past, the present and the future | ✔ | |||
| 10 | To connect social theories of knowledge and social practices | ✔ | |||
0: No Contribution 1: Little Contribution 2: Partial Contribution 3: Full Contribution