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Introduction to Qualitative Research: Online (3-day)
This is an introductory unit for individuals with limited or no previous experience with qualitative traditions or techniques of inquiry.
Instructor
Dr Emma Mitchell is a Macquarie University Research Fellow in the Macquarie School of Communications, Society and Culture. She is an experienced teacher and has taught undergraduate, postgraduate, and intensive Bloc mode courses at the University of Sydney and Macquarie University. Emma has designed and convened undergraduate and specialist courses on qualitative inquiry in the social sciences and conducted qualitative research across multiple ARC and partner-funded projects. Emma's research has used inclusive methodologies to explore culturally and linguistically diverse contexts of poverty, welfare, and housing precarity, with a focus on the everyday forms of care that enable survival and make life liveable in hardship. Her current research uses child-focused, creative methods to investigate how children’s care activities help sustain low-income families.
Course Level
In this course you will learn about the foundational elements of qualitative research and how they are interrelated. We will unpack the key components of qualitative research design, including the stances and theories that underpin qualitative methodologies, as well as techniques of data collection and analysis. We pay particular attention to what’s involved in ethically employing popular methods such as interviewing and observation. We also address the practical and ethical considerations of online methods, given the growing uptake of remote research during the coronavirus pandemic.
The course combines short lectures covering foundational issues with practical workshops that give you a chance to practice qualitative techniques first-hand.
The target audience for this course is those who would like to become more familiar with qualitative research techniques, from postgraduate university students and staff, to researchers in government and private organisations.
This course will run over the following zoom sessions each day:
- 10.00 am to 11.30pm
- 12.00pm to 1.30pm
- 2.30pm to 4.00pm
Preparation will be required before each Zoom session, which will involve reading, watching, or listening to short sources.
Day 1 - Foundations of qualitative design
- Participant introductions and interests
- Design elements and issues (paradigms, framing, research strategies, sampling)
- Ethics and positioning
Day 2 - Choosing qualitative methods
- Interviewing (forms of interview, rapport, phrasing questions, probing)
- Observational practices (forms of observation, what to look for, writing field notes)
- Texts and things (unobtrusive methods, context and interpretation, access)
Day 3 - Data handling and analysis
- Preliminary data analysis and data storage
- Data driven and concept driven analysis
- Introducing coding systems and cycles
- Criteria for assessing qualitative research
There are no prerequisites for this course.
Other reading that may be useful:
- Creswell, J. (2016) 30 Essential Skills for the Qualitative Researcher, Sage: Thousand Oaks.
- Tracy, S.J. (2013) Qualitative Research Methods: Collecting evidence, crafting analysis and communicating impact, Wiley-Blackwell: West Sussex.
The instructor's course notes will serve as the course text.
These will be posted to your nominated 'shipping address' in advance.
I enrolled in this course to get a taste of a social research method (something I have no experience), and this course was a great introduction and left me eager to learn more.
Emma was amazing in balancing content delivery and activities.
Well balanced and thoughtful approach to the content and group size. It felt dynamic and was varied, so kept it engaging
As a professional currently working on a mixed methods project, and not having a qualitative background this course was very useful for situating me in the work and has inspired me to keep building my qual skillset and learning more
Q. Do I have to have had any qualitative or quantitative research experience to do this course?
A. No, this is an introductory course and no prior knowledge is required.
Q: Do I have to complete coursework outside of the face-to-face Zoom sessions?
A: Yes, key components of the course are delivered as short video lectures and other pieces of text and audio-visual media, available on the course Moodle page. You will be invited to raise questions and comments about this material during face-to-face sessions and informed when it will be used as the basis of group discussion or activities.
Q: Will we learn the technical skills to use computer assisted qualitative analysis sofware, such as NVivo?
A: No, will we discuss the potential of computer software to aid qualitative analysis, but we will not practice the technical aspects of a particular program. ACSPRI offers the following courses: NVivo Essentials: Online or Introduction to Computer-assisted Qualitative Data Analysis using NVivo: Online
Upcoming offerings
Online Winter Program 2026
Course schedule
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Venue
Early Bird Deadline
Pricing