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DHD 446 - Qualitative Methods in Disability Research
Course Syllabus
Spring semester - 2005
Class meets: Thursday, 3:00 - 6:00 pm., Room 204 DHSP Building Office hours: Thursdays, 1:00 - 2:30 pm, Room 236
Instructor: Carol J. Gill, Ph.D. Office: Room 236, DHSP Bldg.
Phone: (312) 355-0550 TTY: (312) 996-1233
Fax: (312) 996-0885 E-mail: cg16@uic.edu
Description and Objectives: This course reviews and examines the application of qualitative research methods to the study of disability. Students will engage in class assignments and discussion exploring:
the description and demonstration of commonly used approaches
comparisons between quantitative and qualitative approaches to disability research
issues of qualitative research design, analysis, and interpretation in a disability context
in-depth consideration of contemporary dilemmas and challenges associated with ethical, just, and rigorous disability research
Texts:
Patton, Michael Quinn. (2002). Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. (3rd edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
A course "reader" of assigned articles has been assembled and is on reserve in Room 215. Call Sarah Rothberger at 312-996-1508 to check out the reader for 4-hour time periods. See CLASS SCHEDULE (starting on p. 4 of this syllabus) for a list of the readings and the dates for which they have been assigned.
Format: The course will be presented through a combination of lectures, class discussion and reports, interactive exercises and demonstration, and critique of readings.
Reasonable accommodation: Students who require access accommodations (e.g., sign language interpreters, alternate formats, etc.) or types of assistance beyond those commonly provided in classes should inform the instructor in the first week of class and contact the UIC Office of Disability Services for support of the request.
Assignments and Grading: Students are expected to attend each class and should contact the instructor if any problems arise that prevent attendance. Because this course is designed to be a highly interactive, collegial, and fun learning experience, its success depends on all participants arriving well- prepared and willing to collaborate in the learning process. Therefore, students are expected to read all assigned material before class and to complete all assigned work on time. Class participation will be considered in grading and will be negatively affected by unexcused absences.
Grading scale:
A = 90% to 100%
B = 80% to 89%
C = 70% to 79%
D = 60% to 69%
Students will be evaluated as follows:
Class participation/article discussion - 20% Assignment #1 ("Field observation") - 10% Assignment #2 ("Questions, questions!") - 10% Midterm exam - 25%
Final proposal - 35%
ASSIGNMENTS:
EVERY WEEK - Read each chapter or article in advance of the class for which it is listed. As you read, make note of questions or comments that occur to you so you can contribute them to class discussion. Each student will sign up to be the "associate facilitator" for one class meeting during the semester. The associate facilitator will develop at least 3 questions to facilitate class discussion about the assigned readings or exercises for the week. Associate facilitators must e-mail their draft questions to the instructor for feedback no later than 9:00 am on Monday morning preceding class. Questions will be revised and e-mailed to all students by Monday afternoon.
ASSIGNMENT #1 DUE JANUARY 27- "Field observation." Students will individually complete a short observation exercise in a public place. Instructions for this assignment will be distributed in class, and the completed assignment will be due in class on January 27.
ASSIGNMENT #2 DUE FEBRUARY 24 - "Questions, questions!" Choose a disability-relevant topic that sparks your interest. (If you can't think of anything, find a disability-focused article that interests you, read it, and think about the unanswered questions it prompts.) Think about what you would like to know about this topic that you don't know. Generate a list of at least 5 questions that you would like to pursue through research if you could-the questions can be interrelated. Let your curiosity and imagination lead you in this; don't worry about the wording of the questions or their soundness for research purposes. Just get them down. Hand in the list of questions by class on February 24. These questions will be the start of developing your final research proposal for this course.
FINAL PROPOSAL DUE APRIL 28 (maximum 30 pages, not counting references) - You will work on a qualitative research proposal throughout this course. It will be due on the last day of class: April 28.
NOTE: A preliminary 2-page summary or outline of your proposal will be due by the beginning of class on March 17. The preliminary proposal must include:
the background of the problem
preliminary description of literature (citing at least 3 references)
DHD 446 Syllabus - Page 3
the research question(s)
sample
method
Full proposals must be printed in 12-point font, double line spaced (except for tables or figures), with one-inch margins. The following sections must be included:
Introduction - Lay out what you will do and catch the reader's interest
Literature review - What's been done? What do we know?
Problem/Question statement - Argument for the importance of a study
Method - Include information about research participant selection and recruitment; research setting; consent process; procedures/activities; interview questions or observation guides
Analysis - Include data management plan and steps of analysis
Discussion of what you'll get and the strengths and limits of the study
CLASS SCHEDULE
Week 1, 1/13 - INTRODUCTION: "Hello, I'm a research instrument. . ."
Introductions
To each other
To our research interests
To the course
To qualitative research methods
Comparing and contrasting qualitative and quantitative approaches
Teams
Week 2, 1/20 - TRADITIONS, APPROACHES, AND OTHER VAGUE TERMS
Overview of traditions or strategies
What does "disability" bring to the picture?
The art of observation
Exercise: In-class observation
Readings: Patton chapts. 1, 2, 3 Rioux, M.H.
DHD 446 Syllabus - Page 4
Week 3, 1/27 - OBSERVATION (continued) AND FOCUS GROUPS
The art of observation (continued)
Introduction to interviews - starting with groups
Presentation: Ethnographic disability research
Readings: Patton - Chapter 4 (pp. 191-205) and Chapter 6 Adler, P.A. & Adler, P.
Wolcott, H.F.
Optional: Bonne!
ASSIGNMENT #1 DUE - Field observation
Week 4, 2/3 - FOCUS GROUP METHODS
Focus group rationale
Focus group methodology
Exercise: Class focus group
Readings: Krueger, R.A., pp. 1-183.
Week 5, 2/10 - INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS
Discussion of focus group exercise
Individual interview methods
Develop interview exercise
Presentation: Qualitative research with women with developmental disabilities Reading: Patton - Chapter 7
Optional: Mactavish, J., Mahon, M. & Lutfiyya, Z.
DHD 446 Syllabus - Page 5
Week 6, 2/17 -- INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS (continued) Exercise: INTERVIEW PRACTICE
Readings: Affleck, G., Pfeiffer, C.A,. Tennen, H., & Fifield, J. Silverman, D.
Optional: Schlesinger, L
Taub, D.E., McLorg, P.A., & Fanflik, P.L.
Week 7, 2/24 - SYSTEMATIC CREATION: DESIGNING A QUALITATIVE STUDY
Describing the conceptual framework
Articulating research questions
Stating and defending the problem
Developing objectives
Exercise: Generating researchable questions
Readings: Patton - Chapter 5
Hill, Thompson, & Williams, pp. 517-543 Morse, J.M.
Giacomini, M.K. & Cook, D.J.
ASSIGNMENT #2 DUE - Questions, questions
Week 8, 3/3 -- DESIGNING THE QUALITATIVE STUDY (Continued)
Selecting and describing the method
Planning the analysis
Anticipating the interpretation
Trustworthiness and its relationship to good old validity and reliability
Recruitment, compensation, access, and other disability considerations
Readings: Hill, Thompson, & Williams, pp. 543-572 Geertz, C.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS DUE
Note: Take-home Midterm Exam distributed
DHD 446 Syllabus - Page 6
Week 9, 3/10 -- ANALYZING QUALITATIVE DATA - CODING
Analysis overview
Constant comparison
Coding
grounded theory
theory or literature driven coding
Exercise: Analyzing the focus group data
Readings: None!
TAKE-HOME MIDTERM EXAM DUE
Week 10, 3/17 -- ANALYZING QUALITATIVE DATA - CATEGORIES
1 • Comparing codes
Agreeing on categories
Readings: Patton - Chapter 8, pp. 431-494 Jeon, Y.
Optional: J.F.Strauss, A. & Corbin, J.
PRELIMINARY PROPOSALS DUE - BRIEF REPORTS AND FEEDBACK
Week 11, 3/24 -- NO CLASS - SPRING BREAK!!!
Week 12, 3/31 - ORGANIZING, INTERPRETING, & REPORTING RESULTS
Sorting, clustering, relating, summarizing
Organizing and displaying
Interpreting results
Writing and presenting compelling and useful reports
Computer-aided analysis and interpretation
Readings: Patton - Chapter 8, pp. 494-534 Young, S. L. & Ensing, D.S. Knox, M. & Hickson, F.
DHD 446 Syllabus - Page 7
Week 13, 4/7 -- POWER ISSUES: ETHICS, PARTICIPATORY ACTION, AND EMANCIPATORY RESEARCH
Issues of "voice" and representation
Ethics and IRBs
Participatory, emancipatory, and action research
Presentation: Social Action Group research
Readings: Kitchin, R.
Zarb, G.
Pacific DAWN Guidelines
BCODP Briefing
DePoy, E, Hartman, A, & Haslett, D.
Optional: Barnes, C.
Week 14, 4/14 - EVALUATING THE QUALITY OF QUALITATIVE STUDIES
Rigor, Credibility
Utility, Relevance
Readings: Patton - Chapter 9 Goodley, D.
Week 15, 4/21 - OTHER IMPORTANT TYPES OF STUDIES
Case studies
Archival research
Phenomenology
Presentation: Case study research
Readings: Yin, R.K., Chapters 1, 2, & 4 King, S.V.
Willard-Holt, C.
Week 16, 4/28 - FINAL CONCERT: HEARING THE INSTRUMENTS
Reviewing
Reporting
Reports on Final Proposals FINAL PROPOSAL DUE
DHD 446 Syllabus - Page 8
DHD 446 - READING LIST
Adler, P.A. & Adler, P. (1998). Observational techniques. Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials. Edited by Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. (1998). SAGE, Chapter 3: pp. 79-109.
Affleck, G., Pfeiffer, C.A,. Tennen, H., & Fifield, J. (1988). Social support and psychosocial adjustment to rheumatoid arthritis: Quantitative and qualitative findings. Arthritis Care & Research, Vol 1(2), 71-77.
Barnes, C. (1992). Qualitative research: valuable or irrelevant? Disability, society & handicap_, 7(2), 115-124.
BCODP: The Social Model of Disability and Emancipatory Disability Research - Briefing Document
Bonnel, W.B. (1993). The nursing home group dining room: Managing the work of eating. Journal of Nutrition for the Elderly, Vol 13(1), 1-10.
DePoy, E, Hartman, A, & Haslett, D. (1999). Critical action research: A model for social work knowing. Social Work, 44(6), 560-569.
Geertz, C. (1973). Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Giacomini, M.K. & Cook, D.J. (2000). User's guide to the medical literature; XXIII. Qualitative research in health care A. are the results of the study valid? JAMA, 284, 357-362.
Goodley, D. (1999). Disability research and the "Researcher Template": reflections on grounded subjectivity in ethnographic research. Qualitative Inquiry, 5, 24-46.
Hill, C.E., Thompson, B.J., & Williams, E.N. (1997). A guide to conducting Consensual Qualitative Research. The Counseling Psychologist, 25, 517-572.
Jeon, Y. (2004). The application of grounded theory and symbolic interactionism. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Science, 18, 249-256.
King, S.V. (1998). The beam in thine own eye: Disability and the black church. Western Journal of Black Studies, Vol 22(1), 37-48.
Kitchin, R. (2000). The researched opinions on research: disabled people and disability research. Disability & Society, 15(1), 25-47.
Knox, M. & Hickson, F. (2001). The meanings of close friendships: the views of four people with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 14, 276­291.
DHD 446 Syllabus - Page 9
Krueger, R.A., (1994). Focus Groups : A Practical Guide for Applied Research, 2nd ed., pp. 1- 183.
Mactavish, J., Mahon, M. & Lutfiyya, Z. (2000). I can speak for myself: involving individuals with intellectual disabilities as research participants. Mental Retardation, 38, 216-227.
Morse, J.M. (1998). Designing funded qualitative research. Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry by Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. (1998). SAGE, Chapter 3: pp. 56-85.
Pacific DAWN: Pacific DisAbled Women's Network ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR RESEARCH
Rioux, M.H. (1997). Disability: The place of judgment in a world of fact. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 41, 102-111.
Schlesinger, L. (1996). Chronic pain, intimacy, and sexuality: A qualitative study of women who live with pain. Journal of Sex Research, Vol 33(3), 249-256.
Silverman, D. (2000). Chapter 5 - Selecting a topic. In Doing Qualitative Research. London: SAGE, 61-72.
Strauss, A. & Corbin, J. (1998). Grounded theory methodology; an overview. Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry Edited by Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. SAGE, pp. 158-183.
Taub, D.E., McLorg, P.A., & Fanflik, P.L. (2004). Stigma management strategies among women with physical disabilities: contrasting approaches of downplaying or claiming a disability status. Deviant Behavior, 25, 169-190
Willard-Holt, C. (1998). Academic and personality characteristics of gifted students with cerebral palsy: A multiple case study. Exceptional Children. Vol 65(1), 37-50.
Wolcott, H.F. (1995). Fieldwork: the basic arts. In The art of fieldwork (pp.86-121). Walnut Creek: Altamira Press.
Yin, R.K. (2003). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. 3r Ed, SAGE, Chapters 1, 2, & 4.
Young, S. L. & Ensing, D.S. (1999). Exploring recovery from the perspective of people with psychiatric disabilities. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, Vol 22(3), 219-231.
Zarb, G. (1992). On the Road to Damascus: first steps towards changing the relations of disability research production. Disability, Handicap & Society, 7: 2, 125-138.
DHD 446 Syllabus - Page 10