400022 SE Integrating qualitative and quantitative textual analysis (2024S)

Lecturer: Christian Baden

In the age of digital media, textual data rapidly exceeds what can be confidently captured by means of traditional qualitative analysis. While numerous quantitative techniques exist for inductively extracting qualitative patterns from textual big data, they are difficult to target onto specific patterns of interest, and face serious robustness issues. Inversely, many qualitative approaches to digital data face challenges with regard to the saturation and generalizability of findings. Textual researchers therefore need novel strategies for integrating qualitative and quantitative research methods, ensuring that quantitative procedures remain valid and that qualitative procedures capture the variability of the material.
In this class, we will examine contemporary research practices in qualitative-quantitative mixed methods textual research, identifying key avenues for mobilizing one strategy to add value to the other. The class takes an inclusive approach to textual research methodologies, spanning discourse analytic, grounded, content analytic as well as inductive and deductive computational approaches to the study of textual meaning. Discussing critical limitations and biases in the standalone application of different textual research methods, we will investigate how qualitative-quantitative method integration can help raise validity in cross-culturally and cross-lingually comparative research and enhance confidence in both manual and algorithmic inductive research. In the process of the class, students will be able to draw upon their ongoing thesis research or develop sandbox individual or group projects to apply the gained insights.
Day 1, morning: Quality in quantitative research: Theory, applications & approaches
Day 1, afternoon: Quantity in qualitative research: Theory, application & approaches
Day 2, morning: The measurement problem: Ascertaining validity in quantitative analysis
Day 2, afternoon: The integration problem: Ascertaining regularity in qualitative analysis
Day 3, morning: Comparative validity I: Commensurability & idiosyncrasy in comparative research
Day 3, afternoon: Comparative validity II: Equivalence & ambiguity in cross-lingual research
Day 4, morning: Project formation: Design challenge & Workshop
Day 4, afternoon: Method integration: Workshop & Groupwork
Day 5, morning: Sandbox application: Groupwork & Consultation
Day 5, afternoon: Presentation and discussion of student projects