Card-index course
Data Collection, Processing and Analysis in Social Sciences
Production, traitement et analyse des données en sciences sociales
Responsible Faculty: Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (SSP)
Teacher(s): Véronique Mottier
Lecturer(s): -
No timetable defined.
Seminar
Spring semester
2 hours per week
28 hours per semester
Teaching language(s): French
Public: Yes
Credits: 0
Content
This course aims to further contribute to the training in qualitative methods of students in the social sciences, especially in sociology, social anthropology, political science and social psychology. The course will be structured around three parts: firstly, we will examine the various competing perspectives and research traditions within the wider field of qualitative methods, and explore the central debates and controversies within this field. Secondly, we shall focus more particularly on those perspectives that are conventionally regrouped under the label of 'the interpretive turn' in the social sciences. We will draw out the main methodological implications of the theoretical sources upon which interpretative perspectives are based (hermeneutics, ethnomethodology, symbolic interactionnism, structuralism and poststructuralism, narrative theory, etc.). Thirdly, we will explore the ways in which interpretative theories and epistemologies can be translated into practical tools for the analysis and collection of qualitative data in the social sciences, centering especially on textual analyses. We shall discuss examples of practical applications, with specific focus on the analysis of individual as well as collective identities (including sexual, gender, ethnic, and national identities). The advantages as well as disadvantages of the application of interpretative methods will be critically examined.
The seminar which is attached to this course involves active student participation: reading and discussion of texts, practical exercises and a written essay. The aim of the seminar is to collectively interrogate the different methodological requirements of social science research.