400012 SE Design and methods of Interpretive Social Research (2018S)

The course is intended for PhD students who have started or are midway in an interpretive or qualitative research project. (As I will argue in the course, qualitative research is the most frequently used interpretive research strategy.) The course is primarily aimed at students of all social science disciplines. The course is hands-on and based in principles of experiential learning (Bartels and Wagenaar, under review) It is set up as an intensive dialogue between the theory and practice of interpretive social research. The course is organized around the student’s own PhD or Masters research. It does not provide a mere toolbox of analytical instruments to be applied, but will introduce participants to, and let them practice with, heuristics and methods for increasing the productivity of their skills in research design, data collection and data analysis.

Hendrik Wagenaar is professor of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of Sheffield (Until August 31, 2017). He publishes in the areas of urban governance, citizen participation, prostitution policy, administrative practice, and interpretive policy analysis. His publications include: Deliberative Policy Analysis. Understanding Governance in the Network Society (Cambridge University Press, 2003) (with Maarten Hajer), and Meaning in Action: Interpretation and Dialogue in Policy Analysis, (M.E. Sharpe, 2011).
His most recent book is Designing Prostitution Policy: Intention and Reality in Regulating the Sex Trade, (Bristol: Policy Press, 2017. With Helga Amesberger and Sietske Altink)