Welcome to the course Methods of Analysing Qualitative Data!
This intensive doctoral level seminar course focuses on analyzing your research data which you have either gathered yourselves or on the preceding course, Methods of gathering qualitative data. The course consists of three lectures but majority of the classes will focus on each student's own work. Each student will be given a task to analyze their own data, present their analysis to others in class and receive feedback for the analysis from discussant and the whole group.
Work load
Study time appr. 108 h
- lectures and seminars: 27 h
- independent and group work: 81 h
Contact time will consist of three lectures and seminars focusing on data analysis. You must attend 80% of classes unless separately agreed in advance with me. Provide advance notification of absence, and if you miss more than one session, expect to be asked for documentation of legitimate reasons.
Readings will be selected in relation to your own project and some texts will be read in relation to guest seminars (see below). Finding relevant texts to help the data analysis will be part of your individual work load. For the lectures you will read texts assigned to you. As background texts you will have two books (see below). These books are available online and in the Aalto library.
Leavy, Patricia 2017, Research Design. Quantitative, Qualitative, Mixed Methods, Arts-Based, and Community-Based Participatory Research Approaches. New York and London: Guilford Press, 23–53. eBook: https://aalto.finna.fi/Record/alli.798308.
Miles, Matthew B., Huberman, A. Michael, Saldaña, Johnny 2014, Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook. 3rd ed. Los Angeles: Sage.
Deliverables and requirements
You will be given two tasks:
1.) Make an analysis of your (or part of your) research data and present the analysis in class
2.) Be an opponent to another student in class
In order the opponent and your peers to be able to comment and discuss your analysis, send your analysis to everyone 2 days prior to your presentation. Upload your analysis onto My Courses.
At the end of the course, you will submit your analysis for assessment, maximum length of the analysis is 10 pages. The deadline for submitting your analysis is Friday 22 February at midnight.
Evaluation
Generic assessment criteria:
1) evidence of thoughtful and creative analysis;
2) evidence of intellectual and creative engagement with your peer's analysis;
3) quality and clarity in your articulation and communication;
4) systematic and clear presentation, both oral, textual and visual.
Grading
Key criteria on a scale from 0 - 5: a 5 will normally be granted to work that demonstrates excellence in all areas; a 4 will be granted to a work that is excellent if uneven or slightly lacking in some area; a 3 suggests the work is good but the issues are not very developed, or that there are shortcomings in structure, critical insight or presentation; a 2 may contain good contents but is weaker, possibly superficial or mechanical; a 1 is normally granted to a piece of work that shows little effort or understanding of the course content. Submitting work late incurs an automatic penalty of one grade. All submitted work as well as active class participation contribute to the final mark. All coursework including the final assessment will be examined holistically, with assessment criteria applied as appropriate to each exercise.
PROGRAM
28.1. Introduction to the course
29.1. Going through your data portfolios, discussing them and which methods of analysis you could use for analyzing the data, assigning times for presentations and a discussant for everyone
31.1. Seminar with me on my book Fashionable Childhood and methods of (visual) analysis used in it
Reading:
Vänskä, Annamari 2017, Fashionable Childhood. Children in Fashion Advertising. London and New York: Bloomsbury. eBook:
https://aalto.finna.fi/Record/alli.785340.
Further reading:
Berger, Arthur Asa 2014, Semiotic Analysis, in Media Analysis Techniques, 5th edition. London: Sage Publishing, 3–42.
Kress, Gunther and van Leeuwen, Theo 2009, Materiality and Meaning, in Reading Images. The Grammar of Visual Design, Second Edition. London and New York: Routledge, 215–238. eBook: https://aalto.finna.fi/Record/alli.675774.
4.2. Analysis seminar I
5.2. Seminar on content analysis with PhD, Post-Doctoral Researcher Linda Turunen (Centre for Consumer Society Research, University of Helsinki )
Reading:
Chapters 1, 3, 4 and if you are interested, also chapter 5. No need to read the theoretical context / literature review; summaries are enough.
Turunen, Linda Lisa Maria 2015. Consumers’ Experiences of Luxury – Interpreting the Luxuriousness of a Brand. University of Vaasa. The dissertation is available on-line here: https://www.univaasa.fi/materiaali/pdf/isbn_978-952-476-608-1.pdf.
7.2. Analysis seminar II
11.2. Analysis seminar III
12.2. Seminar with PhD, Adjunct Professor of Philosophy of Art and Culture Yvonne Förster (Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany)
Reading:
Heidegger, Martin [1962]1977. The Question Concerning Technology, in The question concerning technology, and other essays. Translated and with an Introduction by William Lovitt. London & New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 3–35. PDF-of the book at the bottom of this page.
14.2. Analysis seminar IV and end discussion
Berger, Arthur Asa: Semiotic Analysis File PDF document