290184 PS Qualitative Methods for Advanced Students (2008S)

This is a methods course for advanced undergraduate or graduate students. It builds upon knowledge and experience acquired in a qualitative methods course for beginners, scheduled for each winter term. In the beginners' course, qualitative methods of data collection (narrative interviews, participant observation) are trained within the framework of a research project. In this advanced course, the focus is on qualitative methods of text analysis, in this case of the texts produced by the beginners' course. In 2008, interviews with foreign students at Vienna University, and related observation material, will be the raw material for the analysis - within the context of further research on international student migration. Philipp MAYRING's (8th ed. 2003) method of qualitative content analysis will be applied empirically. The pros and cons of competing methods of text interpretation (STRAUSS-CORBIN 1990, GLÄSER-LAUDEL 2004, ...) will also discussed in class.