5
Jan Marontate Spring 2012
School of Communication Simon Fraser University
(Burnaby)
CMNS 801-5: Design and Methodology in Communication Research
Handout 1: Syllabus and Preliminary Outline of Class Sessions
1. Overview
This course examines the interplay of research questions, theoretical frameworks and empirical methods in research design. It focuses on the epistemological foundations of various methodological approaches and contemporary debates about specific empirical methods. The course is intended to introduce debates about methods and promote reflection on ways of assessing their appropriateness, limitations, assumptions and practical applications in research.
One objective is to encourage students to develop familiarity with a broad range of methodological strategies to enable them to read and critically assess communication research conducted in a variety of different perspectives. Another objective is to provide an opportunity for students to develop a methodological strategy related to their research program and interests. The selection of methods covered in the course and additional readings will be finalized in consultation with the class.
2. Course Administration
The course will be run as a seminar with regular class sessions on Wednesday afternoons from 1:30-5:20.
Grades and Assignments
65%-- Seminar Participation (25%), Reading Presentations (20%) and “Empirical Research” Assignment (20%):
Participation: Students are expected to attend all class sessions, come to class prepared and participate actively in class discussions. Participation includes a few in-class writing assignments.
Article Reviews and Presentations of Readings: Each student will be assigned readings to review. For each assigned reading they will prepare in a short written article review that describes and critically analyzes methodological issues raised by each reading (750-1250 words each) and present the reading orally in class. Each written report is due the day of the class presentation.
Empirical Research Assignment: Each student will design and conduct a pre-test of a small empirical research project. This could be a pre-test of an interview protocol, a coding scheme for content analysis, a strategy for critical discourse analysis, a survey, use of unobtrusive measures, a sampling techniques or another specific data-collection or information-gathering tool. This project will be discussed in more detail in class. This could be related to the final term project.
35% Term Project (research proposal, class presentation, essay and annotated bibliography):
This project will focus on specific methodological issues and their applications in a well-defined substantive area of inquiry (ideally, but not necessarily related to the chosen area(s) of specialization related to thesis or dissertation research). The project can be
· an in-depth exploration of epistemological and methodological issues in a well-defined research area, or
· a presentation of a detailed methodological strategy for an empirical research project.
A short (1 to 2-page maximum) proposal of the topic for the term project must be briefly presented in class and submitted for approval on March 7th. Students will present their final version in one of the last two classes and participate as a discussant of another student’s work in one of the final classes. The final paper (approximately 15 pages plus an annotated bibliography) is due one week after the last class.
The paper should draw extensively on readings covered in class, appropriate journal literature and monographs by key writers on methodological issues. It should not be based only on undergraduate survey textbooks. If appropriate (depending on the stage of the student in their thesis or dissertation research) this paper may be designed with the intention of adapting it for use as a methodological chapter or appendix for your thesis or dissertation.
Required Readings
Most required readings (and many recommended readings) will be available on-line through SFU library or put on reserve or made available electronically. Some course materials will be posted in the readings folder on the course site:
https://webdav.sfu.ca/web/cmns/courses/2012/801
or http:// webdav.sfu.ca/web/cmns/courses/2012/801 (varies with location and type of computer)
To access this folder you must log on to the SFU computer system.
Online instructions for using webdav are available at:
http://www.sfu.ca/itservices/publishing/publish_howto/webdav.html
(Scroll to the step-by-step instructions on how to connect to Webdav from your computer).
Students should expect to do a substantial amount of reading each week. Reading assignments will be finalized in consultation with the class.
Resources for “brushing up” on Terminology & Concepts in Research Design and Methodology
Most students will find it necessary to look up basic terminology from time to time. Undergraduate methodology courses are often rather selective in their coverage. Technical terms or concepts that have not been used often can be easy to forget. The course will also cover a range of methodological issues that crosses disciplinary boundaries, therefore it is important to try to situate terminology in context. For example, some words used in everyday language have specific meanings in the context of specific methodological strategies in the social sciences that may not have been encountered in courses in the humanities (like ‘reliable’, ‘valid’, ‘random’ and ‘representative’). Similarly social science methodology courses may not have covered methodological debates current in the humanities (such as debates in historiography, critical discourse analysis or visual studies).
In addition to the required readings students should familiarize themselves with an appropriate introductory survey text in social science methodology suited to their research agenda. During the first two weeks of classes skim through at least one comprehensive general methodology textbook and examine Trochim’s website (listed below) to understand the way it is organized. This will help you prepare to use it to learn (or refresh your memory of) basic terminology and concepts as you encounter them throughout the term.
Widely-used general introductory survey texts vary in their approaches but usually include helpful glossaries of terms and descriptions of basic concepts, among them:
· Neumann, W.L. (1999) Social Research Methods. Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, Allyn and Bacon, and
· Babbie, E. (2007) The Practice of Social Research. Thomson Wadsworth.
Some introductory methodology textbooks written from specific perspectives also cover basic terminology, such as:
· Reinharz, Shulamit with L. Davidman. (1992) Feminist Methods in Social Research, New York : Oxford University Press, 1992.
There is a useful, simple review of terms used in social science methodology written by W. Trochim of Cornell University available on-line:
· http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/
The course is intended to help you engage with more advanced issues in methodological design. For more detailed information about terminology, concepts and debates about methodological design you will need to turn to monographs about specific methods and journal articles. Some introductory textbooks (like the one by Neumann listed above) provide short bibliographies pointing to key texts related to specific methods. We will be devoting some class time to ways of searching for information about methodological debates and trends.
Overview of Class Sessions (Changes and more details will be announced in class.)
Part I : Introduction to advanced studies in research design and methodology.
(See Handout 2 for Readings)
Week 1 (Jan. 11th): Course Organization Overview. Introduction.
Week 2 (Jan 18th): Paradigms and Debates about Types of Research Strategies
Required Readings:
Feyerabend, Paul. (1976) Excerpts from Against Method. Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge. Humanities Press)
http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/feyerabe.htm
Pajares, Frank. (n.d.) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn: A Synopsis. The Philosopher's Magazine. On-line: http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/kuhnsyn.html
Guillory, John (2002) The Sokal Affair and the History of Criticism. Critical Inquiry, Vol. 28, No. 2 (Winter, 2002), pp. 470-508 (on webdav or through library website).
Popper, Karl. (1963) Conjectures and Refutations, London: Routledge and Keagan Paul. (read only pp. 33-39, Science as Falsification) on webdav.
Recommended Readings:
Case Studies about Competing Methodologies (Read about at least one conflict):
1- Debate about Approaches in Cultural Studies and Social Scientific Methods
Haraway, D. (1990). “Teddy bear patriarchy: taxidermy in the Garden of Eden, New York City, 1908-36”, In Primate Visions: Gender, race and nature in the world of modern science. New York: Routledge.
Shudson, M. (1997). “Paper tigers: A Sociologist follows cultural studies into the wilderness”, Lingua Franca: The Review of Academic Life, 7(6), 49-56.
2- “The Social Text Hoax”
Alan Sokal’s website: http://www.physics.nyu.edu/faculty/sokal/
Browse this to familiarize yourself with some debates surrounding the ‘hoax’.
Other Recommended Readings (about paradigms, relationships between methods and theory, and why people write methodology texts):
Burrell, G. and Morgan, G. (1982) “In search of a framework”, Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis. London: Heinemen, pp. 1-37. (See also Deetz, S. (1996) “Describing Differences in Approaches to Organization Science: Rethinking Burrell and Morgan and their Legacy”, Organization Science, 7(2): 191-207.)
Kuhn, Thomas. (1962) “The Nature and Necessity of Scientific Revolutions” Excerpts from The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. U. Chicago Press.
http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/kuhn.htm
Latour, Bruno (1997) “Crisis”, We have never been modern. Cambridge U. Press. pp. 1-12.
Law, John. (2004) After Method: Mess in Social Science Research, London: Routledge. (selections)
Platt, Jennifer. (1996) “Writing on Method” and “Theory and practice” in A history of sociological research methods in America, 1920-1960. Cambridge: Cambridge U. Press, pp. 1-67, 106-142. (Not on reserve but in Bennett library collection)
SchrØder, K., K. Drotnew, S. Kline and C. Murray. (2003) “Methodological pluralism: the Meta-theoretical foundations of discursive realism”, Researching Audiences. New York: Arnold.
Week 3 (Jan. 25th, Feb 1st ): Research Ethics in the 21st Century/ The Place of Commitment, Bias & Reflexivity in Methodologies
Required Readings:
Panel on Responsible Conduct of Research. Tri-agency Framework for Responsible Conduct of Research. Ottawa. December 20111
http://www.rcr.ethics.gc.ca/eng/policy-politique/framework-cadre/
Crisp, J. (1999) " 'Who has counted the refugees?' UNHCR and the politics of numbers " New Issues in Refugee Research, Working Paper No. 12. UNHCR, Geneva
Mattingly, C. (2005) “Toward a vulnerable ethics of research practice”, Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine. Vol 9(4): 453-471.
Marcus, George E. (1998) “Censorship in the Heart of Difference: Cultural Property, Indigenous Peoples’ Movements, and Challenges to Western Liberal Thought” in Post, Robert (ed.) Censorship and Silencing: Practices of Cultural Regulation. Santa Monica: Getty Research Institute, pp. 221-242.
One of:
Menzies, Charles R. (2004) “Putting Words into Action: Negotiating Collaborative Research in Gitxaala”, Canadian Journal of Native Education, Volume 28(1-2):15-32.
http://www.ecoknow.ca/journal/15.html
Menzies, Charles R. (2001) “Reflections on Research with, for, and among Indigenous Peoples.” Canadian Journal of Native Education. Vol. 25(1):19-36.
http://www.ecoknow.ca/articles/reflection.pdf
Recommended Readings:
Michaels, Eric. (1994) “A Primer of Restrictions on Picture-Taking in Traditional Areas of Aboriginal Australia”, Bad Aboriginal Art. Tradition, Media and Cultural Horizons. Minneapolis: U. Minnesota Press, pp. 1-18.
Nicholson, Ian (2011) “Shocking Masculinity. Stanley Milgrim, <obedience to Authority< and the Crisis of Manhoon in Cold War America” ISIS. (June 2011) 102(2): 238-268.
Parry, Odette and Natasha S. Mauthner (2005) “Whose Data are They Anyway?: Practical, Legal and Ethical Issues in Archiving Qualitative Research Data” Sociology 38(139)
And a comment: Bishop, Libby. (2005). “Protecting Respondents and Enabling Data Sharing: Reply to Parry and Mauthner” Sociology. 39: 333-360.
http://soc.sagepub.com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/cgi/reprint/39/2/333
Sin, Chih Hoong (2005) “Seeking Informed Consent: Reflections on Research Practice” Sociology. 39:277-294.
http://soc.sagepub.com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/cgi/reprint/39/2/277
Week 4-5 (Feb.1st & 8th ): Dealing with the Unexpected (See Handout 2 for reading list).
Selections from Hargittai, Eszter (Ed.) (2009) Research Confidential : solutions to problems most social scientists pretend they never have. Ann Arbour: U. Michigan.
http://site.ebrary.com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/lib/sfu/docDetail.action?docID=10389769
Part Two: Selected Topics and Debates in Research Methodology
(Note: No classes on Feb. 15 and 22th due to Study Week & the visit of External Reviewers to the School February 22-25th).
Week 6 (Feb. 29th ): Virtual Ethnography & Internet Research
Beaulieu, Anne. (2004). Mediating Ethnography: Objectivity and the Making of Ethnographies of the Internet. Social Epistemology 18(2-3): 139-163. On moodle.
Selections from:
Hines, Christine (ed.) 2005. Virtual methods: issues in social research on the Internet. NYC: Berg.
Lee, Raymond M. 2000. Unobstrusive Measures in Social Research. Buckingham: Open U. Press.
Weeks 7-10 (Mar.7th, 14th 21s,28th): Ethnography & Participant Observation, Textual Analysis Visual Methodologies, Spatial and Geographic Methods
Topics for Weeks 7-10 will be finalized in consultation with the class.
In some classes there may be additional workshops or guest presentations, such as presentations by librarians and archivists of research tools and resources (to be determined based on students’ backgrounds and research interests).
Part 3: Term Project)
Weeks 11-12 (Apr. 4th & 11th) and possibly Week 13. (An additional class session may be added in the first week of exams if needed, depending on class size).
Here are some preliminary questions proposed by Professor C. Sanvig (U. Illinois) to consider when embarking on a research methodology course:
“
· What is method? What is methodology? What's the difference?
· Does every research project have a method?
o That is, is there a "latent" method hidden in every project, even where method is not discussed?
· Is it useful to reject method? Or reject "a" method?
o Does the existence of method itself (that is, the idea of method) damage research?
· What is the relationship between method and skill?
o What is the relationship between method and tacit knowledge?
o How much of a method is never written down?
· Does technology drive method?
o Or... Does method drive theory?
· What is the relationship between theory and method?
o How do some methodological choices imply theoretical commitments?
· Are theoretical disputes really methodological disputes? (or epistemological disputes?)
More practically:
· How can methods be creative?
· When would it be a good idea to come up with a new method rather than use an existing method?
· How can you tell if a new method is a good idea?
· How do you defend a method as superior to other methods?
· How are methods codified and taught?
· How do new methods become orthodox? “
Source: Sanvig, Unorthodox Research Methods http://www.communication.illinois.edu/csandvig/