Vienna, Austria

An Introduction to Qualitative Research

when 17 February 2013 - 22 February 2013
duration 1 week
credits 2 EC

The course will demonstrate the potential of qualitative methods to address a range of questions relevant to political scientists –e.g. accessing „public opinion‟; individual attitudes; how political ideas are debated and constructed; and understanding political behaviour (whether individual or at an institutional level).. The main qualitative traditions (and epistemologies) will be outlined and the respective advantages and disadvantages of different approaches and range of methods for generating data will be discussed (emphasising the importance of matching research questions and research design). This will include ethnography, semi-structured interviewing; case studies focus groups, case studies and mixed methods designs and exam[les from political science research will be presented. There will be an opportunity both to generate some qualitative data and to carry out some „hands-on‟ data analysis. The principles of qualitative data analysis will be outlined and the possibilities afforded by different approaches (including „grounded theory‟, conversation analysis, and discourse analysis)

Course leader

Rosaline Barbour
The Open University

Target group

advanced students and junior researchers in political science and adjacent disciplines

Course aim

as above

Credits info

2 EC
Participants have the opportunity to gain 2 ECTS credits from the University of Vienna for attending an Introductory or Advanced Courses (15 hours). Participants must successfully complete their course, and successfully complete their project assignment in order to obtain 2 ECTS credits – Transcripts will be sent to the participants by The University of Vienna.

For all courses being attended (Introductory, Advanced and/or Software Training Courses), participants also receive a certificate of attendance.

Certificates of accreditation (if applicable) as well as certificates of attendance are sent to the participants after the Winter School has ended, by the University of Vienna

Fee info

EUR 0: ECPR Member – €495
Non-ECPR Member – €690
ECPR Member who has attended the ECPR SSMT 2012* – €445
Non-ECPR Member who has attended the ECPR SSMT 2012* – €640
*There is a €50 loyalty discount deducted from all Introductory and Advanced Courses to participants who attended the 2012
Summer School in Methods and Techniques (SSMT) in Ljubljana (this discount does not apply to Software Training Courses).

Scholarships

Self funded students from ECPR member institutions will be able to apply for funding in the form of scholarship funds and travel and accommodation grants. Please use the following link for further information: http://new.ecprnet.eu/Funding/WinterSchool.as