Overview
This course offers a hands-on introduction to creative approaches to doing qualitative research. It is designed for researchers and PhD students who already have a background in qualitative research techniques and would like to expand their knowledge to include more creative techniques. The course will engage with various stages of research including data collection and analysis through to writing with qualitative data.
The course is taught by a team based in Sociology. The team are all members of the Morgan Centre for Research into Everyday Lives which is established internationally as a centre of excellence for research in the fields of personal life, relationships, and everyday life.
Meet the course Team*
The course will be taught by a team from the Morgan Centre who have a expertise in a variety of creative approaches to qualitative research.
Further course details
We begin by introducing what is meant by doing qualitative research creatively and course participants will have the opportunity to provide short introductions to their research projects.
Participants will be given a practical and hands-on introduction to methods such as elicitation and sensory methods, mobile methods and mapping methods. We will also introduce facet methodology and cover creative ways of analysing qualitative data and practical and intellectual strategies for writing with qualitative data.
The course includes practical exercises involving creating qualitative data and data analysis. Participants will also have the opportunity to discuss methodological issues related to their ongoing research projects.
Course aims
At the core of the week’s course is helping to develop an inventive orientation that puts the researcher’s creativity and imagination at the heart of methodological practice.
This will include:
- Introducing participants to creative methods both as an approach, and as a means of generating social science research data
- Providing an introduction to, and practical experience in, the use of a range of creative methods of data collection
- Introducing participants to creative analytical strategies
- Offering participants opportunities to think about how they could use creative approaches in their own research
- Introducing participants to strategies for writing with qualitative data
Any pre-requisites?
This is an intermediate-level course, and to be able to benefit and engage fully, all participants are required to have some experience in qualitative research methods, data collection and analysis (we do not require experience in creative methods specifically).
By purchasing a place on this course, therefore you are confirming that (a) you have some previous experience of qualitative methods and (b) you will be able to bring some data to the course.
If you are unsure whether your experience fits this criteria, then please email methods@manchester.ac.uk outlining your qualitative methods experience/questions and we will check with the course leads.
Following registration on the course, all attendees will be asked to answer a few questions in order to provide some further pre-course information about their interests and experiences with qualitative data and the nature of the data they will be bringing to the course. We reserve the right to cancel the place (refunding any monies paid) of anyone who does not have the required experience outlined above, so please do check with us prior to registration if you have any doubts that you meet this requirement. Many thanks for your understanding.
Pre-course reading
You may find the following helpful:
- Holmes, Helen and Hall, Sarah Marie (eds.) (2020) Mundane Methods: Innovative Ways to Research the Everyday, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
- Mason, J. (2018) Qualitative Researching (3rd edn), Sage: London.
- Mason, J. (2011) ‘Facet methodology: The case for an inventive research orientation’, Methodological Innovations Online 6(3): 75-92 (open access here).
- Pink, S., 2015. Doing Sensory Ethnography (2nd edn), Sage, London.
- Woodward, Sophie. 2020. Material Methods: Researching and Thinking with Things. London: Sage.
Course timetable
Please see below for the indicative timetable (please note the topics discussed in each of the sessions may change). The course begins at 9.00am on Tuesday 25th June and finishes 5pm Thursday 27th June 2024.
Costs
- Full price: £675
- Reduced/PGR cost: £450
Book your place
Places should be booked through the Methods@Manchester e-store by clicking the button below (payment by card only).
Bursaries
We are pleased to be able to offer a limited number of bursaries for Summer School applicants eligible for reduced fees.
The main bursary scheme is limited to PGRs from the North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership, but we also have a very limited number of bursaries for other applicants eligible for reduced fees who are facing exceptional circumstances.
Please see the main Summer School website (bottom of the page) for details of these bursaries and information about how to apply.
Any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us on methods@manchester.ac.uk
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