Interaktivní osnova

Fall 2023 | Monday 10.00-11.50

5 ECTS

Room: PC25 (https://is.muni.cz/auth/kontakty/mistnost?lang=en;setlang=en;id=8363)

Teachers:

Martina Novotná (mnovotna@fss.muni.cz)

Lukáš Slavík

Karolína Bieliková

In the case of any questions, do not hesitate to contact Martina Novotná.

Course description

The project-oriented course seeks to lead the students through the whole qualitative research process through letting them pursue their own research mini-project. We aim to teach the students how to design a qualitative study, pose research questions and articulate research aims, deal with ethical issues, and tell a story about their qualitative research findings. Above all, the aim of the course is to introduce and to practice the technique of qualitative interviewing and data analysis through conducting and analyzing semi-structured interviews. The mini-projects will always revolve around a theme of a recent research project at the department (e.g., trust in media).

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, the students will be able to design a study based on qualitative interviewing; prepare and conduct semi-structured interviews; assess limits and strengths of semi-structured interviewing; analyze interview data; deal with basic research ethics issues; present their research findings.

Assignments

During the course, you will form teams of 2 or more members to research a specific topic related to international student mobility. You will be responsible for selecting the research topic, formulating research goals and questions, and creating questions for the topic guide that you will use for conducting semi-structured, in-depth interviews.

After completing tasks during the semester, you will submit the final assignment (with your team) – a research project for which you will use your gained knowledge during the course. The main aim is to demonstrate an understanding of all phases of qualitative interview-based research.

The word limit is a minimum of 1,000 and a maximum of 1,500 words (without references). Using a recognized academic style, such as APA or Chicago, is essential for proper citation and referencing. Consistency in style usage is necessary.

The projects are going to be submitted to the IS in the folder Research Projects (inside Homework Vaults). The deadline for submitting the project is 7. 1. 2024.

Include the following parts in your research project:

• Clearly state the research problem, aim, and question, emphasizing the topic's significance. Describe the qualitative research strategy and justify its selection with supporting arguments.
• Support your aim and questions with existing (relevant) theories, concepts, and empirical studies related to the chosen topic in a comprehensive literature review.
• Outline the methodology, data collection technique (type of interviews) and approach to data sampling (including ethical considerations). Also, attach an interview guide that won’t be part of the word-counting.
• Briefly describe suggested steps involved in the data analysis. 
• Conclusion and limits.
• Reference list including relevant sources used within the research project.

During the course, you will collect two interviews. The first interview will be a practice interview with your peers within the course. By 5. 11, you will submit a record of your interview to IS in the folder Practiced interview 1 (record) that you will find inside Homework Vaults. You will receive detailed feedback from a teacher, allowing you to revise your topic guide if necessary and incorporate the received comments into the conduct of the second interview. The second interview will be conducted with international students. Your task will be to find participants, approach them, conduct interviews and transcript this interview. By 3.12, you will submit a transcript of this interview to the IS folder named Interview 2 (transcript of record).

During the second round of interviews, you will receive feedback from a colleague in the course and provide feedback to them. Providing feedback is also part of the course assignments and will be submitted to IS by 10.12 to a folder named Feedback on interview 2. 

The presentation of the research project will provide you with an opportunity to present the research project before submitting the final written version. Each student group will be required to deliver an engaging and well-structured presentation in front of the class. The presentations will be held during the last lecture of the course (18.12)

Each presentation should last around 10-15 minutes. A short Q&A with other students and the teacher will follow each presentation.

Presentations must include the following parts: research aim & research questions and justification, theory, methodology, suggested data analysis, and conclusion. Please prepare PowerPoint slides (or similar software) for your presentation.

Please upload the presentation to the Information System of the Masaryk University (IS MUNI) in the Study materials to the section Homework Vaults, subsection with the title Students' presentations by 8 am 18.12.

Terms for assignments

Grading scale