RLMgB609 Qualitative analysis in the Study of Religions: a practical course

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2024

The course is not taught in Autumn 2024

Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Milan Fujda, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Milan Fujda, Ph.D.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Kristýna Čižmářová
Supplier department: Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/30, only registered: 0/30, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course aims to introduce students to the analytical practice of qualitative research. The course consists of a theoretical and a practical part in a ratio of 2:5. The theoretical part aims to clarify the central principles of exploratory qualitative analysis and the basic issues related to the politics and ethics of research and the researcher's position in it (including issues of field relationships and their relevance to theory). The practical part focuses on qualitative data analysis. Through shared material from qualitative research or parts of students' thesis documents, students of the course try out and master qualitative analytical procedures for generating theoretically sound knowledge. This is done through the sequence of progressive complex assignments in Atlas.ti. These assignments guide the students progressively through the analytical process from the blank hermeneutic unit to the elaborated research paper plan.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
  • formulate a research problem adequately to the rich possibilities of qualitative research;
  • understand the different nature, procedures and possibilities of qualitative and quantitative research and use the potential of qualitative research to construct comprehensive theoretical knowledge;
  • understand the complex nature of research ethics arising from the situatedness of the researcher and the complexity of relationships relevant to research;
  • understand the ethical issues of qualitative research beyond the formal proceduralism of ethical bureaucracy and in the context of the quality of the theory produced and the implications of scientifically produced knowledge;
  • use the practices of data annotation and multi-level data coding;
  • seek connections in data by clarifying relationships between excerpts and tracing intertextual references;
  • deepen their theoretical sensitivity to the subtle nuances present in rich qualitative data;
  • consider the processual nature of qualitatively studied phenomena in formulating theory;
  • use the practices of cyclical formulation, reformulation, verification, and falsification of sequentially constructed hypotheses and concepts in building qualitatively based theory.
    • Syllabus
    • Introduction to the course and overview of the functionalities and logic of Atlas.ti
    • Explorativeness and respect for complexity in qualitative research (seminar with discussion + home reading)
    • The researcher in the field: relationships and ethics: beyond formal proceduralism (seminar with discussion + home reading)
    • Analysis 1: Annotating and discovering relevant research problems (seminar + homework)
    • Analysis 2: Coding and enhancing theoretical sensitivity (seminar + homework)
    • Analysis 3: Finding first analytical connections in data (seminar + homework)
    • Analysis 4: Creating a narrative, laying out the text (seminar + homework)
    Literature
      required literature
    • Bent Flyvbjerg, "Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research," Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 12, no. 2, April 2006, pp. 219-245.
    • Zdeněk Konopásek, “Making Thinking Visible with Atlas.ti: Computer Assisted Qualitative Analysis as Textual Practices”, FQS 9/2, 2008, Art.12, http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/420/910.
    • Roschanack Shaery-Eisenlohr, „Fixing and Negotiating Identities in the Field: The Case of Lebanese Shiites“, in: Antonius C. G. M. Robben – Jeffrey A. Sluka (eds.), Ethnographic Fieldwork: An Anthropological Reader: Second Edition, Malden – Oxford – Chic
    • Anselm Strauss & Juliet Corbinová, Základy kvalitativního výzkumu, Brno - Boskovice: Podané ruce a Albert 1999.
    • Robert M. Emerson – Melvin Pollner, „Difference and Dialogue: Members' Readings of Ethnographic Texts“, in: D. Weinberg (ed.), Qualitative Research Methods, Oxford: Blackwell 2002, 154-170. David Silverman, "Interview Data", in: Interpreting Qualitative
      not specified
    • Zdeněk Konopásek, "Text a textualita v sociálních vědách (Část druhá: Metodologické motivace)", Biograf 8, 1996, 31. odst. .
    • Eleonóra Hamar, “Podoby narativ židovských identit”, In: táž. Vyprávěná židovství: O narativní konstrukci druhogeneračních židovských identit, Praha: SLON 2008, 166-215.
    • Clifford Geertz, 2000, "Zhuštěný poopis: K interpretativní teorii kultury," s. 13-42, in: týž, Interpretace kultur, Praha: SLON.
    • Catherine Kohler Riessman, Narrative Analysis, Newbury Park: Sage 1993, 1-53.
    • Bruno Latour. 2005. "Fifth Source of Uncertainty: Writing Down Risky Accounts," pp. 121-140, in. id. Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    • Virginia Dickson-Swift, Erica L. James, Sandra Kippen and Pranee Liamputtong, "Doing sensitive research: what challenges do qualitative researchers face?" Qualitative Research 2007; 7; 327-353. SEALE, C. (2002): Kvalita kvalitativního výzkumu. Biograf, 2
    • Markéta Vaňková, „Výzkumník lapený: Úvahy k (a)symetrii vztahů mezi výzkumníkem a zkoumaným“, Biograf 52-53, 2010, 46 odst.
    • Robert Emerson - Rachel Fretz - Linda Shaw, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes, Chicago - London: The University of Chicago Press 1995.
    • Martyn Hammersley – Paul Atkinson, “Ethics”, In: tíž, Ethnography: Principles in Practice (3rd ed.), London – New York: Routledge 2007, 209-229.
    • Bruno Latour, „Když věci vracejí úder: Co mohou sociálním vědám přinést 'vědní studia'," Biograf 29 (2002): 41 odst. .
    Teaching methods
    Lectures and seminar discussions on assigned readings and assignments, lectures, practical research assignments, and a final paper.
    Assessment methods
    Attendance and activity at seminars, evaluation of the final paper, and colloquial defence of the final paper.
    Language of instruction
    Czech
    Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
    The course is taught once in two years.
    The course is taught: every other week.
    Information on course enrolment limitations: Zápis mimo religionistiku je podmíněn souhlasem vyučujících.
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