Monday, October 25, 2010
GS2321: PM Seminar #3
This seminar will be held on Thursday, October 28 at the School of Global Studies.
GS2321: Report from Exercise on Participatory Methods and Action Research
The report will be made on Thursday, October 28 from 10.00-12.00 at the School of Global Studies.
Exercise directions are included in the PowerPoint on "Transdisciplinary Research Methods" and are posted on GUL (https://gul.gu.se/courseId/41279/courseDocsAndFiles.do).
Exercise directions are included in the PowerPoint on "Transdisciplinary Research Methods" and are posted on GUL (https://gul.gu.se/courseId/41279/courseDocsAndFiles.do).
GS2321: Introduction to Exercise in Policy and Project Evaluation
This introduction will be held on Tuesday, October 26 from 13.00-15.00 in SA 326. The following directions are posted on GUL (https://gul.gu.se/courseId/41279/showMessage.do?id=495029&tableSortBynoticeboard=lastChanged):
Exercise IAGG: Evaluation Design
Anna Persson & Martin Sjöstedt
With the point of departure in Sida’s Evaluation Manual “Looking Back, Moving
Forward”, design an evaluation of one of the development policies described in the
document “Government Communication 2004/05:4 – Sweden’s Global Development
Policy”. The proposed evaluation design should include purpose, evaluation criteria (i.e.
effectiveness, impact, relevance, sustainability, or efficiency), specific evaluation
questions, design, methodology, and material. The assignment should be carried out in
the groups described below. Each participant should contribute to the assignment and
each group should be prepared to orally present their evaluation in front of the class on
October 29th (15 minutes per group maximum).
Exercise IAGG: Evaluation Design
Anna Persson & Martin Sjöstedt
With the point of departure in Sida’s Evaluation Manual “Looking Back, Moving
Forward”, design an evaluation of one of the development policies described in the
document “Government Communication 2004/05:4 – Sweden’s Global Development
Policy”. The proposed evaluation design should include purpose, evaluation criteria (i.e.
effectiveness, impact, relevance, sustainability, or efficiency), specific evaluation
questions, design, methodology, and material. The assignment should be carried out in
the groups described below. Each participant should contribute to the assignment and
each group should be prepared to orally present their evaluation in front of the class on
October 29th (15 minutes per group maximum).
Sunday, October 24, 2010
GS2321: Borrowing Methods from Unexpected Sites
Christine Sylvester
- Professor Sylvester is a visiting chair who will be at the School of Global Studies for this academic year.
- She is a social scientist who has combined her research interests in international relations with her love for the arts.
The Social Science/ Humanities Divide
- Social science tends to separate itself from the humanities.
> This can be traced back to the Enlightenment.
> The social sciences only recently integrated quantitative methodology.
- Art was inappropriate because it was seen as the realm of the sublime, the emotional.
- Many people employ "throw-away" expressions in the social sciences such as "the art of diplomacy" or "the art of war."
> These terms do not signal a relationship between art and the social sciences.
> These terms, however, do imply that there are places where social science methodologies cannot go.
- Art is the gap between what the social sciences know and what it doesn't.
- Art/ Museums: International Relations where you least expect it
> Professor Sylvester wrote this book to address the (artificial) divide between the social sciences and the humanities.
> One of her arguments is that the site of the Twin Towers will always by the museum of international relations in the early 21st century.
- Today we will discuss how art can add humanity to your research.
Art and the Social Sciences
- Art gazing is a form of seeing, feeling, and visiting a work of art.
> It is differentiated from reading and listening.
- James Elkins, Painting in Tears
- Who and what is the art? The painting/ play/ sculpture or the audience and their reactions?
Fiction/ Literature and the Social Sciences
- Experiencing reality is often comparable to inhabiting a novel.
- A major problem in social science research is that written words cannot replicate the feelings and textures of lived experience. Literature, however, has the power and ability to do this.
- "People themselves are bits of imaginations, imagined by other people." (Zimbabwe author in exile)
- How can you let your informants speak and get away from you researching you researching them?
- Sylvester overcame this problem by borrowing from post-colonial literature by local authors.
> These works allowed her to give voice to her informants in Zimbabwe.
> Sylvester employs this method in Producing Women in Progress in Zimbabwe.
- Development studies never considers that poor, disempowered people are creating art in their minds.
> Social scientists often simply envision women in developing countries as poor, uneducated, wretched problems.
- Excellent book: Writers Writing about Conflicts and War in Africa
> The introduction is amazing.
> Art interacts with society and society with art.
- Professor Sylvester is a visiting chair who will be at the School of Global Studies for this academic year.
- She is a social scientist who has combined her research interests in international relations with her love for the arts.
The Social Science/ Humanities Divide
- Social science tends to separate itself from the humanities.
> This can be traced back to the Enlightenment.
> The social sciences only recently integrated quantitative methodology.
- Art was inappropriate because it was seen as the realm of the sublime, the emotional.
- Many people employ "throw-away" expressions in the social sciences such as "the art of diplomacy" or "the art of war."
> These terms do not signal a relationship between art and the social sciences.
> These terms, however, do imply that there are places where social science methodologies cannot go.
- Art is the gap between what the social sciences know and what it doesn't.
- Art/ Museums: International Relations where you least expect it
> Professor Sylvester wrote this book to address the (artificial) divide between the social sciences and the humanities.
> One of her arguments is that the site of the Twin Towers will always by the museum of international relations in the early 21st century.
- Today we will discuss how art can add humanity to your research.
Art and the Social Sciences
- Art gazing is a form of seeing, feeling, and visiting a work of art.
> It is differentiated from reading and listening.
- James Elkins, Painting in Tears
- Who and what is the art? The painting/ play/ sculpture or the audience and their reactions?
Fiction/ Literature and the Social Sciences
- Experiencing reality is often comparable to inhabiting a novel.
- A major problem in social science research is that written words cannot replicate the feelings and textures of lived experience. Literature, however, has the power and ability to do this.
- "People themselves are bits of imaginations, imagined by other people." (Zimbabwe author in exile)
- How can you let your informants speak and get away from you researching you researching them?
- Sylvester overcame this problem by borrowing from post-colonial literature by local authors.
> These works allowed her to give voice to her informants in Zimbabwe.
> Sylvester employs this method in Producing Women in Progress in Zimbabwe.
- Development studies never considers that poor, disempowered people are creating art in their minds.
> Social scientists often simply envision women in developing countries as poor, uneducated, wretched problems.
- Excellent book: Writers Writing about Conflicts and War in Africa
> The introduction is amazing.
> Art interacts with society and society with art.
GS2321: Action Research
Stellan Vinthagen
Lecture Outline
- Today we will discuss a slightly unusual and unconventional form of research: action research.
- We will first talk about the basics and then I will tell you about my (Stellan's) own experiences.
Action Research: The Basics
- Action research is not very well established and, as a result, is not as systematized as other research avenues.
- The suggested literature for this lecture can give you some ideas of how to use action research in your master’s thesis.
- Action research is the way that we experience and study the world, or at least that's what Stellan thinks.
- The action research cycle: plan, act, review/ reflect, repeat (This is how children interact with the world around them.)
- It is an exploratory method that combines both action and research.
- This may seem strange since traditional research methods discourage researcher/ subject interaction.
- However, a researcher can find out more through intervention then passive observation.
- Action research combines planned intervention with the resulting responses.
- The researcher necessarily involves his or herself in the process.
- This is the best way to find out how a social system really works.
- However there are problems. For example, how do you differentiate between your intervention(s) and the normal functioning of a social organization?
- Action research allows the researcher to take in information and challenge that information as well as the contradictions.
- Is action research ethical? In other words, is it ethical to intervene and/or challenge a social organization? Is it ethical to check up on the space between what people say they do and what they actually do?
> These are difficult questions to answer. However, you may overcome these ethical dilemmas by trying to help people and/or to support groups in achieving their goals.
- Action research is a method for reaching a deeper understanding of what's really going on.
- By challenging laws/ rules/ customs, you can make social norms visible.
- You don't know how strong a norm is until you challenge it. (Example: Buffet experiment in Norway.)
- Action research opens up a new world, a new approach to research.
- We live with the basic dichotomy of research as external observation--- this is the traditional approach taken from the natural sciences--- versus self-reflective practice--- this has long been regarded as an illegitimate research approach even though self-reflection is inherently social and human.
> I think (act, react, rethink), therefore I am.
- Action research is research through action.
- Action research is also known as social experimentation, collaborative research, and experiential learning.
- Action research is a way of doing research that creates a lot of data.
> It is messy and time consuming and thus is not always appropriate.
- In action research, it is necessary to be clear about what you are studying, the aspects on which you will focus, existing theories and models, and then initiate a creative intervention.
- For Stellan, action research is a way of making a contribution toward democracy, equality, liberty, and social change.
- How can you make action research acceptable?
> It's risky.
> People will inevitably criticize your involvement.
> But you can do things to help yourself out like reflecting on your assumptions and where you can find contradictory evidence which speaks against your assumptions; find several sources of data and methods for data gathering; when you have completed a preliminary analysis, go to the people you are studying and elicit their feedback; continuously engage in planning, action, and reflection.
Stellan's Action Research Experiences
- Non-violent direct action against arms factories and military bases
> Stellan and friends destroyed/ disarmed weapons at various locations.
> At the time, Stellan didn't see this as a form of research but it could have been.
> Later, this activist group formed a research group which made Stellan realize that research and action could be combined.
> Stellan wrote a book as a result of his involvement in this organization.
- Nonviolent resistance in South Africa
> Stellan interviewed members of the nonviolent resistance as well as the armed resistance--- which was an attempt to generate contradictory evidence.
> Stellan did his research as a non-participate.
> However, he had quite a lot of knowledge of the activities undertaken by the activists he interviewed because he had engaged in similar activities.
- World Bank/ IMF protests in Prague
> Stellan was a distant participant.
> He only focused on his research interests.
> He protested but he also took notes and photographs.
> In other words, he tried to observe and participate.
> He used his own experiences as an activist to help him understand what was going on.
> It became clear that one needs to be familiar with the activist culture in order to understand it.
> In other words, it is vital to be familiar with the environment you study.
Lecture Outline
- Today we will discuss a slightly unusual and unconventional form of research: action research.
- We will first talk about the basics and then I will tell you about my (Stellan's) own experiences.
Action Research: The Basics
- Action research is not very well established and, as a result, is not as systematized as other research avenues.
- The suggested literature for this lecture can give you some ideas of how to use action research in your master’s thesis.
- Action research is the way that we experience and study the world, or at least that's what Stellan thinks.
- The action research cycle: plan, act, review/ reflect, repeat (This is how children interact with the world around them.)
- It is an exploratory method that combines both action and research.
- This may seem strange since traditional research methods discourage researcher/ subject interaction.
- However, a researcher can find out more through intervention then passive observation.
- Action research combines planned intervention with the resulting responses.
- The researcher necessarily involves his or herself in the process.
- This is the best way to find out how a social system really works.
- However there are problems. For example, how do you differentiate between your intervention(s) and the normal functioning of a social organization?
- Action research allows the researcher to take in information and challenge that information as well as the contradictions.
- Is action research ethical? In other words, is it ethical to intervene and/or challenge a social organization? Is it ethical to check up on the space between what people say they do and what they actually do?
> These are difficult questions to answer. However, you may overcome these ethical dilemmas by trying to help people and/or to support groups in achieving their goals.
- Action research is a method for reaching a deeper understanding of what's really going on.
- By challenging laws/ rules/ customs, you can make social norms visible.
- You don't know how strong a norm is until you challenge it. (Example: Buffet experiment in Norway.)
- Action research opens up a new world, a new approach to research.
- We live with the basic dichotomy of research as external observation--- this is the traditional approach taken from the natural sciences--- versus self-reflective practice--- this has long been regarded as an illegitimate research approach even though self-reflection is inherently social and human.
> I think (act, react, rethink), therefore I am.
- Action research is research through action.
- Action research is also known as social experimentation, collaborative research, and experiential learning.
- Action research is a way of doing research that creates a lot of data.
> It is messy and time consuming and thus is not always appropriate.
- In action research, it is necessary to be clear about what you are studying, the aspects on which you will focus, existing theories and models, and then initiate a creative intervention.
- For Stellan, action research is a way of making a contribution toward democracy, equality, liberty, and social change.
- How can you make action research acceptable?
> It's risky.
> People will inevitably criticize your involvement.
> But you can do things to help yourself out like reflecting on your assumptions and where you can find contradictory evidence which speaks against your assumptions; find several sources of data and methods for data gathering; when you have completed a preliminary analysis, go to the people you are studying and elicit their feedback; continuously engage in planning, action, and reflection.
Stellan's Action Research Experiences
- Non-violent direct action against arms factories and military bases
> Stellan and friends destroyed/ disarmed weapons at various locations.
> At the time, Stellan didn't see this as a form of research but it could have been.
> Later, this activist group formed a research group which made Stellan realize that research and action could be combined.
> Stellan wrote a book as a result of his involvement in this organization.
- Nonviolent resistance in South Africa
> Stellan interviewed members of the nonviolent resistance as well as the armed resistance--- which was an attempt to generate contradictory evidence.
> Stellan did his research as a non-participate.
> However, he had quite a lot of knowledge of the activities undertaken by the activists he interviewed because he had engaged in similar activities.
- World Bank/ IMF protests in Prague
> Stellan was a distant participant.
> He only focused on his research interests.
> He protested but he also took notes and photographs.
> In other words, he tried to observe and participate.
> He used his own experiences as an activist to help him understand what was going on.
> It became clear that one needs to be familiar with the activist culture in order to understand it.
> In other words, it is vital to be familiar with the environment you study.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
GS2321: PM Seminar 2
The following instructions can be found in the course guide:
The students shall continue to think through their research interests (and passions!) and their proposed research project for their Master's thesis. They should come prepared to the seminar with at least two A4 pages in which they have (re)formulated their research area, research problem and some possible research question(s). Additionally, the students should begin to think through their theoretical framework (as motivation for the research problem and question? As guideline for the operationalization of their research question?) We suggest that the students have begun reading (or rereading) relevant literature to help them with this task. If, for example, a student wants to write about processes of democratization, then literature on theories of democracy and democratization would be appropriate. At the seminar, we will discuss these and begin to play with the chosen research question and theoretical framework in relation to text analysis. What happens to the research question when, for example, the chosen method is discourse analysis? What kinds of texts would be most appropriate? What kinds of questions would one ask of a text? The students shall think about their research interests (and passions!) and formulate... [sic]
***Please note that all groups are meeting at the School of Global Studies from 10.00-12.00 on Thursday, October 21.***
The students shall continue to think through their research interests (and passions!) and their proposed research project for their Master's thesis. They should come prepared to the seminar with at least two A4 pages in which they have (re)formulated their research area, research problem and some possible research question(s). Additionally, the students should begin to think through their theoretical framework (as motivation for the research problem and question? As guideline for the operationalization of their research question?) We suggest that the students have begun reading (or rereading) relevant literature to help them with this task. If, for example, a student wants to write about processes of democratization, then literature on theories of democracy and democratization would be appropriate. At the seminar, we will discuss these and begin to play with the chosen research question and theoretical framework in relation to text analysis. What happens to the research question when, for example, the chosen method is discourse analysis? What kinds of texts would be most appropriate? What kinds of questions would one ask of a text? The students shall think about their research interests (and passions!) and formulate... [sic]
***Please note that all groups are meeting at the School of Global Studies from 10.00-12.00 on Thursday, October 21.***
GS2321: Exercise Report in Discourse Analysis and Argumentation Analysis
The following instructions are posted in the course guide:
Students will divide up into small groups of 3-6 people and conduct first an argumenentation analysis and then a discourse analysis on the same short text (to be posted on the course portal).
Here is the text (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=24992):
Good morning. I'm Laura Bush, and I'm delivering this week's radio address to kick off a world-wide effort to focus on the brutality against women and children by the al-Qaida terrorist network and the regime it supports in Afghanistan, the Taliban. That regime is now in retreat across much of the country, and the people of Afghanistan -- especially women -- are rejoicing. Afghan women know, through hard experience, what the rest of the world is discovering: The brutal oppression of women is a central goal of the terrorists. Long before the current war began, the Taliban and its terrorist allies were making the lives of children and women in Afghanistan miserable. Seventy percent of the Afghan people are malnourished. One in every four children won't live past the age of five because health care is not available. Women have been denied access to doctors when they're sick. Life under the Taliban is so hard and repressive, even small displays of joy are outlawed -- children aren't allowed to fly kites; their mothers face beatings for laughing out loud. Women cannot work outside the home, or even leave their homes by themselves.
The severe repression and brutality against women in Afghanistan is not a matter of legitimate religious practice. Muslims around the world have condemned the brutal degradation of women and children by the Taliban regime. The poverty, poor health, and illiteracy that the terrorists and the Taliban have imposed on women in Afghanistan do not conform with the treatment of women in most of the Islamic world, where women make important contributions in their societies. Only the terrorists and the Taliban forbid education to women. Only the terrorists and the Taliban threaten to pull out women's fingernails for wearing nail polish. The plight of women and children in Afghanistan is a matter of deliberate human cruelty, carried out by those who seek to intimidate and control.
Civilized people throughout the world are speaking out in horror -- not only because our hearts break for the women and children in Afghanistan, but also because in Afghanistan we see the world the terrorists would like to impose on the rest of us.
All of us have an obligation to speak out. We may come from different backgrounds and faiths -- but parents the world over love our children. We respect our mothers, our sisters and daughters. Fighting brutality against women and children is not the expression of a specific culture; it is the acceptance of our common humanity -- a commitment shared by people of good will on every continent. Because of our recent military gains in much of Afghanistan, women are no longer imprisoned in their homes. They can listen to music and teach their daughters without fear of punishment. Yet the terrorists who helped rule that country now plot and plan in many countries. And they must be stopped. The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women.
In America, next week brings Thanksgiving. After the events of the last few months, we'll be holding our families even closer. And we will be especially thankful for all the blessings of American life. I hope Americans will join our family in working to insure that dignity and opportunity will be secured for all the women and children of Afghanistan.
Have a wonderful holiday, and thank you for listening.
Students will divide up into small groups of 3-6 people and conduct first an argumenentation analysis and then a discourse analysis on the same short text (to be posted on the course portal).
Here is the text (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=24992):
Good morning. I'm Laura Bush, and I'm delivering this week's radio address to kick off a world-wide effort to focus on the brutality against women and children by the al-Qaida terrorist network and the regime it supports in Afghanistan, the Taliban. That regime is now in retreat across much of the country, and the people of Afghanistan -- especially women -- are rejoicing. Afghan women know, through hard experience, what the rest of the world is discovering: The brutal oppression of women is a central goal of the terrorists. Long before the current war began, the Taliban and its terrorist allies were making the lives of children and women in Afghanistan miserable. Seventy percent of the Afghan people are malnourished. One in every four children won't live past the age of five because health care is not available. Women have been denied access to doctors when they're sick. Life under the Taliban is so hard and repressive, even small displays of joy are outlawed -- children aren't allowed to fly kites; their mothers face beatings for laughing out loud. Women cannot work outside the home, or even leave their homes by themselves.
The severe repression and brutality against women in Afghanistan is not a matter of legitimate religious practice. Muslims around the world have condemned the brutal degradation of women and children by the Taliban regime. The poverty, poor health, and illiteracy that the terrorists and the Taliban have imposed on women in Afghanistan do not conform with the treatment of women in most of the Islamic world, where women make important contributions in their societies. Only the terrorists and the Taliban forbid education to women. Only the terrorists and the Taliban threaten to pull out women's fingernails for wearing nail polish. The plight of women and children in Afghanistan is a matter of deliberate human cruelty, carried out by those who seek to intimidate and control.
Civilized people throughout the world are speaking out in horror -- not only because our hearts break for the women and children in Afghanistan, but also because in Afghanistan we see the world the terrorists would like to impose on the rest of us.
All of us have an obligation to speak out. We may come from different backgrounds and faiths -- but parents the world over love our children. We respect our mothers, our sisters and daughters. Fighting brutality against women and children is not the expression of a specific culture; it is the acceptance of our common humanity -- a commitment shared by people of good will on every continent. Because of our recent military gains in much of Afghanistan, women are no longer imprisoned in their homes. They can listen to music and teach their daughters without fear of punishment. Yet the terrorists who helped rule that country now plot and plan in many countries. And they must be stopped. The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women.
In America, next week brings Thanksgiving. After the events of the last few months, we'll be holding our families even closer. And we will be especially thankful for all the blessings of American life. I hope Americans will join our family in working to insure that dignity and opportunity will be secured for all the women and children of Afghanistan.
Have a wonderful holiday, and thank you for listening.
GS2321: Transdisciplinary and Participatory Methods
Per Knutsson
Please see PowerPoint posted on GUL.
Please see PowerPoint posted on GUL.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
GS2321: Discourse Analysis (take two)
Maria Stern
Introductory Note
- The following is a basic, general overview of approaches and tools used in critical discourse analysis.
- It is important to remember that there is no single way to do discourse analysis.
Theoretical Underpinnings
- Discourse analysis usually coincides with a constructivist way of thinking.
- That is, those using this method typically believe that the relationship between reality and language is socially constructed or that language produces reality and/ or provides access to reality.
- To do discourse analysis is to question the production of meaning/ 'reality.'
- There are competing versions of the world.
- Discourses are considered systems of representation in which meaning is constructed through difference among other things.
- How you delimit your study is dependent upon what you want to find out. That is, which 'discourse' are you looking for?
Helpful Guiding Questions
- How is it that this particular story appears instead of another?
- What is taken for granted?
- Why does it make sense?
- What holds the story together?
- How can you (as a researcher) make the familiar strange?
- What are the underlying assumptions?
- What is left out? / What are the ghosts?
Important Theorists
- Fairclough offers a systematic way of coding and is commonly referred to in the literature. However, discourse analysis doesn't have to be so technical.
- Foucalt: genealogy
- Derrida: deconstruction
- Laclau and Mouffe
An Example of Discourse Analysis: The History of Sexuality by Foucalt
- In this text, Foucalt uses genealogy to question the seemingly 'natural' assumptions of the social world.
- In doing so, Foucalt identifies contingencies or things that could have gone differently / choices that were made.
- He also analyzes specific historical relations of power.
- Foucalt also asks how the discourse constitutes it's objects. As well as what are the modes of objectification, what are the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion; and what are the discursive strategies?
Conclusions / General Observations about Discourses
- Regimes of power overlap.
- Discourses strive for cohesion. In other words, people want their stories to make sense.
- Most good stories 'cover up' all of the discursive strategies in play.
Practical Steps in Discourse Analysis
1. Choose your text(s) and delimit them.
> This is related to your research question and your theoretical underpinnings.
2. Map the representations.
> What are the dominant representations?
> What are the limits of the representations?
> What representations are repeated?
> What picture is being drawn?
> What are the lines of distinction?
3. Analyze the construction of the discourse.
> What is uniting/ differentiating?
> What are the dominant, normal understandings?
> What are the underlying assumptions?
> What signs are so normalized that it is difficult to recognize them?
> How are signs given meaning in relation to other signs?
> How are subject positions allotted/ defined/ delineated?
> What is excluded/ silenced?
> How are myths employed?
> What are the nodal points or main themes that organize the discourse?
> What are the master signifiers?
> What happens when and if you take a nodal point out and replace it?
Deconstruction, Derrida
- Deridda suggests that one should first conduct a double reading.
> Opposition relies on illusion.
> Seeks to reveal the process of construction.
> This has to do with hierarchies in language which are written through violence.
- A double reading consists of brings out the assumptions of the main story and reinstating the binary with a reversal.
> This helps determine the condition of possibility. In other words, when you speak about a man, the conditions of possibility are everything else.
> The 'other' is defined as not 'us' and vice versa.
- Derrida also suggests that one look for the points of condensation or where arguments and values are brought together.
> One should also look for 'ghosts' or silences.
How can you validate a discourse analysis?
- By asking if it makes sense.
- Above all, a discourse analysis must be systematic and explicit.
Introductory Note
- The following is a basic, general overview of approaches and tools used in critical discourse analysis.
- It is important to remember that there is no single way to do discourse analysis.
Theoretical Underpinnings
- Discourse analysis usually coincides with a constructivist way of thinking.
- That is, those using this method typically believe that the relationship between reality and language is socially constructed or that language produces reality and/ or provides access to reality.
- To do discourse analysis is to question the production of meaning/ 'reality.'
- There are competing versions of the world.
- Discourses are considered systems of representation in which meaning is constructed through difference among other things.
- How you delimit your study is dependent upon what you want to find out. That is, which 'discourse' are you looking for?
Helpful Guiding Questions
- How is it that this particular story appears instead of another?
- What is taken for granted?
- Why does it make sense?
- What holds the story together?
- How can you (as a researcher) make the familiar strange?
- What are the underlying assumptions?
- What is left out? / What are the ghosts?
Important Theorists
- Fairclough offers a systematic way of coding and is commonly referred to in the literature. However, discourse analysis doesn't have to be so technical.
- Foucalt: genealogy
- Derrida: deconstruction
- Laclau and Mouffe
An Example of Discourse Analysis: The History of Sexuality by Foucalt
- In this text, Foucalt uses genealogy to question the seemingly 'natural' assumptions of the social world.
- In doing so, Foucalt identifies contingencies or things that could have gone differently / choices that were made.
- He also analyzes specific historical relations of power.
- Foucalt also asks how the discourse constitutes it's objects. As well as what are the modes of objectification, what are the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion; and what are the discursive strategies?
Conclusions / General Observations about Discourses
- Regimes of power overlap.
- Discourses strive for cohesion. In other words, people want their stories to make sense.
- Most good stories 'cover up' all of the discursive strategies in play.
Practical Steps in Discourse Analysis
1. Choose your text(s) and delimit them.
> This is related to your research question and your theoretical underpinnings.
2. Map the representations.
> What are the dominant representations?
> What are the limits of the representations?
> What representations are repeated?
> What picture is being drawn?
> What are the lines of distinction?
3. Analyze the construction of the discourse.
> What is uniting/ differentiating?
> What are the dominant, normal understandings?
> What are the underlying assumptions?
> What signs are so normalized that it is difficult to recognize them?
> How are signs given meaning in relation to other signs?
> How are subject positions allotted/ defined/ delineated?
> What is excluded/ silenced?
> How are myths employed?
> What are the nodal points or main themes that organize the discourse?
> What are the master signifiers?
> What happens when and if you take a nodal point out and replace it?
Deconstruction, Derrida
- Deridda suggests that one should first conduct a double reading.
> Opposition relies on illusion.
> Seeks to reveal the process of construction.
> This has to do with hierarchies in language which are written through violence.
- A double reading consists of brings out the assumptions of the main story and reinstating the binary with a reversal.
> This helps determine the condition of possibility. In other words, when you speak about a man, the conditions of possibility are everything else.
> The 'other' is defined as not 'us' and vice versa.
- Derrida also suggests that one look for the points of condensation or where arguments and values are brought together.
> One should also look for 'ghosts' or silences.
How can you validate a discourse analysis?
- By asking if it makes sense.
- Above all, a discourse analysis must be systematic and explicit.
GS2321: Report for Excerise in Participant Observation and Interviews
The following directions are posted on GUL (https://gul.gu.se/public/courseId/41279/lang-sv/publicShowMessage.do?id=476530):
Part 1. What is meant by ”insider’s perspective”?
Each student should read and reflect on four texts from the course literature: Clifford,
Geertz, Abu-Lughod and Wikan. Be prepared to discuss the following issues:
1. Give each one in the group the opportunity to argue, using the texts you have
read, for or against the idea that ethnographic fieldwork can capture the insiders
perspective.
2. Have a discussion about how you would define “insiders’ perspective”. (terms
and concepts that might be debated: partial truths, understanding – translating,
resonance, individual experience – collective representations, ethnographic
present, Western conceptions, social position – identity, halfie, meaning, practice,
norms)
3. Can you find any common traits in each different author’s arguments?
4. What seems to be the main issue they are arguing against (that is not necessarily
explicit in all articles)?
Part 2. Constructing an interview guide
Each student should prepare an interview guide for a semi-structured interview that is
supposed to last for about 45 minutes. Take as a point of departure that you are going to
interview one of your fellow students about their thoughts (and experiences, worries,
expectations, preparations etc) on climate change due to global warming. Imagine that the
interview is part of a research project that aims to grasp the ways young people
understand and try to influence their future in an uncertain world.
Part 1. What is meant by ”insider’s perspective”?
Each student should read and reflect on four texts from the course literature: Clifford,
Geertz, Abu-Lughod and Wikan. Be prepared to discuss the following issues:
1. Give each one in the group the opportunity to argue, using the texts you have
read, for or against the idea that ethnographic fieldwork can capture the insiders
perspective.
2. Have a discussion about how you would define “insiders’ perspective”. (terms
and concepts that might be debated: partial truths, understanding – translating,
resonance, individual experience – collective representations, ethnographic
present, Western conceptions, social position – identity, halfie, meaning, practice,
norms)
3. Can you find any common traits in each different author’s arguments?
4. What seems to be the main issue they are arguing against (that is not necessarily
explicit in all articles)?
Part 2. Constructing an interview guide
Each student should prepare an interview guide for a semi-structured interview that is
supposed to last for about 45 minutes. Take as a point of departure that you are going to
interview one of your fellow students about their thoughts (and experiences, worries,
expectations, preparations etc) on climate change due to global warming. Imagine that the
interview is part of a research project that aims to grasp the ways young people
understand and try to influence their future in an uncertain world.
GS2321: PM Seminar #1
The following instructions are posted on GUL (https://gul.gu.se/public/courseId/41279/lang-sv/publicShowMessage.do?id=480580):
Purpose of the PM seminars:
During the three PM seminars, students discuss methodological and design problems and questions in relation to their individual research design task. Each student shall work continuously on their PM during the course. The idea behind these seminars is for the students to have the opportunity to think and work through their research design in relation to the course content on methodology and methods throughout the course in preparation for the writing of their master thesis.
Individual preparation for the seminar:
The students shall think about their research interests (and passions!) and formulate the basic idea of their proposed research project for their Master's thesis. They should come prepared to the seminar with at least an A4 page in which they formulate their research area (preferably based on a limited, preliminary literature review), research problem (preferably based on a limited, preliminary literature review) and some possible research question(s) (feel free to formulate more than one!).
During the seminar, each student should be prepared to give a short (maximum 5 minutes) presentation of her or his proposed research area, research problem and possible research questions, and to comment/give feedback on the presentations made by the other students in the seminar group (see GUL for information on seminar groups).
Furthermore, during the seminar each student is expected to be able to discuss how her or his research problem and/or research questions could be approached through participant observation, ethnographic analysis, in-depth interviews and/or semi-structured interviews.
Organization of the seminar:
There will be 8 seminar groups of which 1, 2, 4 and 6 meet 08 – 10 and group 3, 5, 7 and 8 meet 10 – 12 (please refer to GUL to see which seminar group you should participate in and which group room you should be in). The discussions in each seminar group will be lead by a seminar leader (a PhD-student or a lecturer).
GOOD LUCK!
Purpose of the PM seminars:
During the three PM seminars, students discuss methodological and design problems and questions in relation to their individual research design task. Each student shall work continuously on their PM during the course. The idea behind these seminars is for the students to have the opportunity to think and work through their research design in relation to the course content on methodology and methods throughout the course in preparation for the writing of their master thesis.
Individual preparation for the seminar:
The students shall think about their research interests (and passions!) and formulate the basic idea of their proposed research project for their Master's thesis. They should come prepared to the seminar with at least an A4 page in which they formulate their research area (preferably based on a limited, preliminary literature review), research problem (preferably based on a limited, preliminary literature review) and some possible research question(s) (feel free to formulate more than one!).
During the seminar, each student should be prepared to give a short (maximum 5 minutes) presentation of her or his proposed research area, research problem and possible research questions, and to comment/give feedback on the presentations made by the other students in the seminar group (see GUL for information on seminar groups).
Furthermore, during the seminar each student is expected to be able to discuss how her or his research problem and/or research questions could be approached through participant observation, ethnographic analysis, in-depth interviews and/or semi-structured interviews.
Organization of the seminar:
There will be 8 seminar groups of which 1, 2, 4 and 6 meet 08 – 10 and group 3, 5, 7 and 8 meet 10 – 12 (please refer to GUL to see which seminar group you should participate in and which group room you should be in). The discussions in each seminar group will be lead by a seminar leader (a PhD-student or a lecturer).
GOOD LUCK!
GS2321: In depth/ Unstructured Interviews
Nina Gren, School of Global Studies
Introductory Film
"Growing Pains," a film about an Angolan migrant in Portugal
Literature
- Bryman (2008), Chapter 18
- Creswell, pg. 87-92
Traits of an Effective Interviewer
- Social
- Friendly
- Flexible
- Trustworthy
An unstructured interview in practice: An informal interview in a Palestinian refugee camp
- Nina interviewed a former prisoner about his prison experiences and how he felt after he was set free.
- The interviewee was male, a father, and in his mid- 50s.
- The interviewee had lived abroad and spoke English well. He also had a university degree.
- The interviewee was held in an Israeli prison for fifteen years.
- He was also involved in political resistance and had experience being interviewed by scholars and journalists.
- Advantages of this method in this case: Nina collected a beautiful story in which the informant expressed his ideas and experiences in a very academic way.
- Disadvantages: He was more a less a professional informant delivering a polished narrative.
- In retrospect, Nina wondered if she was a bit too awestruck/ impressed with this particular informant.
What should you do with your field material?
- Transcribe
- Search for themes/ key words
- Index subjects
- Write a preliminary summary of your findings.
Eastmond on Life Stories
- Narratives are subjective/ inter-subjective truth.
> Life as lived.
> Life as experienced.
> Life as told/ narrated as a story.
> Life as text.
> Life as understood by the reader.
- Narratives need context!
- Interviewees often reconstitute themselves in a certain way, for example as a moral person or hero.
Transgressions of Ethical Principles
- Try not to harm the participants.
- Make sure to obtain informed consent. This can be done through verbal or written agreement. This should be viewed as an ongoing negotiation which is revisited throughout the research process.
- Protect your informants privacy by, for example, changing their names in your transcripts.
- Protect your data.
- Anticipate problems such as what you will do when and if people tell you secrets or sensitive information.
Important Questions
- Can a researcher ever be ethical?
- Should a researcher ever hide what he or she knows?
- Can research be used in unintended and/or harmful ways?
Introductory Film
"Growing Pains," a film about an Angolan migrant in Portugal
Literature
- Bryman (2008), Chapter 18
- Creswell, pg. 87-92
Traits of an Effective Interviewer
- Social
- Friendly
- Flexible
- Trustworthy
An unstructured interview in practice: An informal interview in a Palestinian refugee camp
- Nina interviewed a former prisoner about his prison experiences and how he felt after he was set free.
- The interviewee was male, a father, and in his mid- 50s.
- The interviewee had lived abroad and spoke English well. He also had a university degree.
- The interviewee was held in an Israeli prison for fifteen years.
- He was also involved in political resistance and had experience being interviewed by scholars and journalists.
- Advantages of this method in this case: Nina collected a beautiful story in which the informant expressed his ideas and experiences in a very academic way.
- Disadvantages: He was more a less a professional informant delivering a polished narrative.
- In retrospect, Nina wondered if she was a bit too awestruck/ impressed with this particular informant.
What should you do with your field material?
- Transcribe
- Search for themes/ key words
- Index subjects
- Write a preliminary summary of your findings.
Eastmond on Life Stories
- Narratives are subjective/ inter-subjective truth.
> Life as lived.
> Life as experienced.
> Life as told/ narrated as a story.
> Life as text.
> Life as understood by the reader.
- Narratives need context!
- Interviewees often reconstitute themselves in a certain way, for example as a moral person or hero.
Transgressions of Ethical Principles
- Try not to harm the participants.
- Make sure to obtain informed consent. This can be done through verbal or written agreement. This should be viewed as an ongoing negotiation which is revisited throughout the research process.
- Protect your informants privacy by, for example, changing their names in your transcripts.
- Protect your data.
- Anticipate problems such as what you will do when and if people tell you secrets or sensitive information.
Important Questions
- Can a researcher ever be ethical?
- Should a researcher ever hide what he or she knows?
- Can research be used in unintended and/or harmful ways?
GS2321: Semi-Structured Interviews
Nina Gren, School of Global Studies
Literature
- Bryman (2008), Chapters 18 and 19
- Wikan (1992)
Important Points about Qualitative Interviewing
- This method can yield rich, detailed answers to important and interesting questions.
- It both demands and provides flexibility.
- The researcher is not in full control over the interview or the interview answers.
- Power relations exist in an interview.
- It is advisable to allow the researcher/ interviewee to go off an tangents because this provides opportunities for the discussion of context, values, and what the interviewee sees as important.
- The same person can be interviewed multiple times.
*** The interviewee and his or her knowledge should always be in focus.***
- The interviewee should speak most of the time.
> A researcher must be aware of the above at all times.
> The interviewee should produce the knowledge.
Semi-Structure vs. Unstructured Interviews
- A researcher may conduct semi-structured interviews because time is limited or because he or she must work with and/ or rely on an interpreter.
- It is easier to compare information generated/ constructed in semi-structured interviews than unstructured interviews in the context of multi-case studies.
- The researcher may opt for semi-structured interviews in order to maintain a clear focus or because more than one person will carry out fieldwork in the same study.
Semi-Structured Interviews in Practice: Nina's Fieldwork in Palestine
- Initially, Nina conducted semi-structured interviews according to themes.
- Later, she conducted more informal, unstructured interviews.
- Nina's second set of semi-structured interviews were more focused and pertained to the Occupation.
> This raised the issue of sensitivity. More specifically, Nina had to think about the sensitive nature of this topic and the fact that some of her informants may be related to martyrs.
- Nina's third set of semi-structured interviews were conducted to fill gaps in her previous research. As a result, she primarily interviewed men about gender-related issues.
- Finally, Nina conducted focus-group interviews on provocative, political issues.
> In doing so, Nina had to think about how to form groups to example according to age, gender, vocation, etc.
> Nina found that people were more talkative in focus groups. She believes this was because the situation was less intimidating than one-one-one interviews.
Interview Checklist
- Kind of information
>What do you want to know? Is this information accessible?
- Kind of interviews
> Time? Level of control? Resources?
- Interviewees
> Who? How will you find them?
- Relationships
> What kinds of relationships can you create or already have with the interviewees?
- Adjustments
> How can you improve your relationship / inter-personal skills?
- Setting
> Where and how will you hold the interviews?
- Equipment
> What kinds of equipment will you use? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using this equipment?
- Themes
> What types/ kinds of information do you want to gather?
> What are your main ideas/ topics of inquiry?
- Do No Harm
> What precautions can you take to safeguard yourself and your informants?
Preparing for the Interview
- Know your subject.
- Prepare your questions/ interview guide/ themes.
- Learn your questions by heart.
- Test your interview guide on someone else and refine your questions as needed.
- Contact the people you would like to interview.
Before the Interview
- Explain yourself and the purpose of your research clearly and succinctly.
- Tell the interviewee how he or she was selected.
- Ask the interviewee if you can take notes and/ or record the interview.
- Explain how the information generated during the interview will be used and how the data will be handled and stored.
- Explain why the interviewee and his or her knowledge is important.
Interview Guides
- An interview guide typically consists of a list of topics and questions as well as alternate or follow-up questions.
- An interview guide can result from a mind map of the key themes that the researcher would like to explore.
- It is important that the interview guide contains clear, comprehensible language.
- It is important to be aware of leading questions which are sometimes okay.
- Typically, open-ended questions are best.
- Remember to collect biographical data so that information generated during the interview can be contextualized.
Example Interview Guide
- Please see PowerPoint presentation posted on GUL.
- The example interview guide contained eight topics and approximately 3 questions for each topic.
Kinds of Questions, Bryman p. 445-446
- introducing
- follow-up
- probing
- indirect
- structuring
- specifying
- direct
- leading
- silence
- interpreting--- These questions are typically asked at the end of the interview.
Important
- Always take notes! Take notes even if you are recording the interview, your recording device may not work properly.
After the Interview
- Transcribe your interview notes as soon as possible.
- Make notes about the interview setting and your impressions as well as how the interviewee acted.
- Take your time! (Be relaxed and focused. It takes a lot of time to transcribe.)
Sampling
- Be honest/ transparent.
- Consider how many people you will interview and how those people were selected.
- Will you use key informants, snowballing, or random sampling?
Focus Group Interviews
- These interviews must be recorded.
- A focus group typically consists of three or four participants with the researcher acting as the moderator.
- It is important to think about when to intervene when a participant monopolizes the conversation.
- Cases/ provocations/ stimuli are always ways to get people talking.
- It is important to keep in mind that groups often negotiate and create consensus and this can yield misleading results.
- Problems associated with focus group interviews can be addressed through individual follow-up interviews.
Literature
- Bryman (2008), Chapters 18 and 19
- Wikan (1992)
Important Points about Qualitative Interviewing
- This method can yield rich, detailed answers to important and interesting questions.
- It both demands and provides flexibility.
- The researcher is not in full control over the interview or the interview answers.
- Power relations exist in an interview.
- It is advisable to allow the researcher/ interviewee to go off an tangents because this provides opportunities for the discussion of context, values, and what the interviewee sees as important.
- The same person can be interviewed multiple times.
*** The interviewee and his or her knowledge should always be in focus.***
- The interviewee should speak most of the time.
> A researcher must be aware of the above at all times.
> The interviewee should produce the knowledge.
Semi-Structure vs. Unstructured Interviews
- A researcher may conduct semi-structured interviews because time is limited or because he or she must work with and/ or rely on an interpreter.
- It is easier to compare information generated/ constructed in semi-structured interviews than unstructured interviews in the context of multi-case studies.
- The researcher may opt for semi-structured interviews in order to maintain a clear focus or because more than one person will carry out fieldwork in the same study.
Semi-Structured Interviews in Practice: Nina's Fieldwork in Palestine
- Initially, Nina conducted semi-structured interviews according to themes.
- Later, she conducted more informal, unstructured interviews.
- Nina's second set of semi-structured interviews were more focused and pertained to the Occupation.
> This raised the issue of sensitivity. More specifically, Nina had to think about the sensitive nature of this topic and the fact that some of her informants may be related to martyrs.
- Nina's third set of semi-structured interviews were conducted to fill gaps in her previous research. As a result, she primarily interviewed men about gender-related issues.
- Finally, Nina conducted focus-group interviews on provocative, political issues.
> In doing so, Nina had to think about how to form groups to example according to age, gender, vocation, etc.
> Nina found that people were more talkative in focus groups. She believes this was because the situation was less intimidating than one-one-one interviews.
Interview Checklist
- Kind of information
>What do you want to know? Is this information accessible?
- Kind of interviews
> Time? Level of control? Resources?
- Interviewees
> Who? How will you find them?
- Relationships
> What kinds of relationships can you create or already have with the interviewees?
- Adjustments
> How can you improve your relationship / inter-personal skills?
- Setting
> Where and how will you hold the interviews?
- Equipment
> What kinds of equipment will you use? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using this equipment?
- Themes
> What types/ kinds of information do you want to gather?
> What are your main ideas/ topics of inquiry?
- Do No Harm
> What precautions can you take to safeguard yourself and your informants?
Preparing for the Interview
- Know your subject.
- Prepare your questions/ interview guide/ themes.
- Learn your questions by heart.
- Test your interview guide on someone else and refine your questions as needed.
- Contact the people you would like to interview.
Before the Interview
- Explain yourself and the purpose of your research clearly and succinctly.
- Tell the interviewee how he or she was selected.
- Ask the interviewee if you can take notes and/ or record the interview.
- Explain how the information generated during the interview will be used and how the data will be handled and stored.
- Explain why the interviewee and his or her knowledge is important.
Interview Guides
- An interview guide typically consists of a list of topics and questions as well as alternate or follow-up questions.
- An interview guide can result from a mind map of the key themes that the researcher would like to explore.
- It is important that the interview guide contains clear, comprehensible language.
- It is important to be aware of leading questions which are sometimes okay.
- Typically, open-ended questions are best.
- Remember to collect biographical data so that information generated during the interview can be contextualized.
Example Interview Guide
- Please see PowerPoint presentation posted on GUL.
- The example interview guide contained eight topics and approximately 3 questions for each topic.
Kinds of Questions, Bryman p. 445-446
- introducing
- follow-up
- probing
- indirect
- structuring
- specifying
- direct
- leading
- silence
- interpreting--- These questions are typically asked at the end of the interview.
Important
- Always take notes! Take notes even if you are recording the interview, your recording device may not work properly.
After the Interview
- Transcribe your interview notes as soon as possible.
- Make notes about the interview setting and your impressions as well as how the interviewee acted.
- Take your time! (Be relaxed and focused. It takes a lot of time to transcribe.)
Sampling
- Be honest/ transparent.
- Consider how many people you will interview and how those people were selected.
- Will you use key informants, snowballing, or random sampling?
Focus Group Interviews
- These interviews must be recorded.
- A focus group typically consists of three or four participants with the researcher acting as the moderator.
- It is important to think about when to intervene when a participant monopolizes the conversation.
- Cases/ provocations/ stimuli are always ways to get people talking.
- It is important to keep in mind that groups often negotiate and create consensus and this can yield misleading results.
- Problems associated with focus group interviews can be addressed through individual follow-up interviews.
Thesis Writing in Global Studies
During this lecture, Jorgen introduced the thesis writing course and answered related questions. In addition, several professors associated with the School of Global Studies presented on-going research projects and made suggestions about ways in which a masters student could become involved by writing a related thesis.
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