Paralelka Agata Ładykowska (ZS 2023/24): Befriending yourself

The aim of this course is two-fold. On the one hand, the course intends to raise awareness of the various options for conducting qualitative research and of the implications those options have for subsequent analysis and writing. On the other, it will probe these options directly in the field.

Students are expected to conduct their own research (individually or in couples), exploring a case study of their choice. The thematic scope of the course is decidedly wide, in order to allow an uncomplicated access to the field. The eponymous “yourself” refers to the renewed sense of self in the late modernity and points to various social scientific notions of “individual”. Late modernity, that values personal autonomy and the ability to transform oneself (and the material world) in hope to live a better life, informs cultural understandings of the self and shapes new forms of subjectivity and senses of community. We will be exploring social practices aiming at attaining “happiness”/”better life”, especially those that point to mind-body connection: programs of self- development, coaching, yoga, holotropic breathing, modalities of psychotherapy based on the body (e.g. Lowen’s method) etc.

The seminar will guide students through the jungle of methodological literature and prepare them for making informed and sensible decisions in choosing, applying, and adjusting methods and techniques when conducting fieldwork. We will start with participant observation and interviewing, paying particular attention to HOW participant observation can be used to arrive at systematically accrued knowledge, or HOW interview and other research material may serve to perform different modes of analysis.

During the seminar we will review different methods: various interview techniques, (participant) observation, elicitation techniques, and document collection. Moreover, we will discuss various difficulties of ethnographic research, including selection of cases and informants, self-presentation, establishing rapport, dealing with boredom, stress, and negative reactions. We will also pay attention to the interface between data-collection, data-analysis, and anthropological knowledge. This is particularly important because ethnographic research can be seen as a process of “structured serendipity” which means that the researcher cannot simply carry out a pre-designed project but instead needs to adjust, reformulate, and develop the project while conducting fieldwork. Proper preparation for this task will define, to an important degree, your success as ananthropologist.

Paralelka Barbora Spalová (ZS 2023/24):

Paralelka Ivana Cukera (ZS 2022/23): Environmentální vzdělávání (středa, 17:00-18:20).

Seminář je zaměřený na rozvoj schopnosti moderování skupinových diskuzí. Jeho účastníci mají za úkol domluvit a realizovat skupinovou diskuzi, následně pořízený záznam analyzovat a sepsat závěrečnou zprávu z výzkumu. Skupinové diskuze budou realizovány na základních a středních školách s žáky či studenty, kteří se zajímiají o životní prostředí, nebo se přinejmenším zúčastnili environmentálně vzdělávacích programů. Tímto výzkumem bychom měli přispět k hledání odpovědi na ozáku, jaké formy subjektivity EV vytváří.

Paralelka Alessandra Testy (ZS 2021/22):

Qualitative Research Methods

Alessandro Testa, Ph.D.

Charles University, Prague

alessandro.testa@fsv.cuni.cz

https://cuni.academia.edu/AlessandroTesta

Offline course (Lessons will be held physically in Pekařská building)

Description

The course aims to highlight several key concepts and theories of qualitative research methods in order to practice them in the field. Special attention will be given to ethnographic methods (participant observation, interviews, questionnaires), and, secondarily, to discourse analysis. The course will focus on the training of the students through practice.

Students will carry out research training in small teams or individually, in the classroom as well as outside. A written exercise in the form of an ethnographic research paper based on a topic negotiated between each student and the teacher will be requested during the course and will also be used for the final assessment.

The objective of the course is to guide students through the whole qualitative research process and to allow them to develop their own investigative skills by putting theories into practice on the basis of empirical evidence. In order to achieve this, the teams will be embedded in the teacher’s ongoing research project “The Re-Enchantment of Central-Eastern Europe” and fieldwork undertaken about the recent reconstruction of the “Mariánský Sloup” in Prague. Indeed, towards the end of the course, an ethnographic excursion will be organised in Staroměstské Náměstí in Prague, during which the students will be encouraged, individually or in small groups, to apply the ethnographic techniques discussed in the classroom.

The students will be openly asked to actively participate in the teaching and learning processes. They will be encouraged to ask questions and contribute during the lessons and will also be given the opportunity to express their opinions voluntarily about the readings that will be handed out and read in itinere. Groups of students will be formed and asked to present and discusssome articles chosen from the course literature.

Two practical surveys (the research paper exercise and the final ethnographic excursion) will be undertaken in Prague in order to exemplify some of the most important features of ethnographic fieldwork. During such surveys, the students will be given the possibility to practice the acquired theories and methods. Participation in the surveys is mandatory.

Attendance

Attendance and participation in the classroom and in the field will also be taken into consideration in the evaluation process. The attendance for this course is mandatory, unless differently agreed between the teacher and students who for demonstrable and serious reasons cannot attend to the lessons in person. In this case, the student will immediately inform the teacher and a solution will be found together. Only one not justified absence will be tolerated.

Assessment

Assessment will be undertaken through the evaluation of the student’s participation and involvement, of the research paper, of the results of the ethnographic excursion as well as of a final oral exam. No plagiarism will be tolerated. The purpose of the final oral exam will be to ascertain the students’ knowledge of the course contents, his/her capacity to practice qualitative methods, and his/her capability to acquire and autonomously use critical thinking.

Evaluation:

- Attendance and participation in the classroom and in the field: 10%

- Oral presentation of one or more articles in the classroom: 10%

- Research paper: 10%

- Results of the ethnographic excursion: 10%

- Oral exam: 60%

LITERATURE

Compulsory readings (over the duration of the course all students will have to read the following texts)

· Uwe Flick, Chapter Qualitative Research: why and How to Do It, in An Introduction to Qualitative Research (Fourth Edition), SAGE, London 2009, pp. 11-16

· Fetterman D. M. 2010: Ethnography: Step-by-Step, Sage, Los Angeles-London (3^rd ed.): pages will be provided by the teacher

· Wolcott H. F. 2008: Ethnography: A Way of Seeing, Altamira, New York-Toronto: pages will be provided by the teacher

· Martyn Hammersley, “Ethnography: problems and prospects”, in Ethnography and Education, n. 1 (1), 2006, pp. 3-14

Additional readings

(every group of students will have to choose, study at home, and present in the classroom, one or two of the following texts)

· Carole McGranahan, “Ethnography Beyond Method: The Importance of Ethnographic Sensibility”, in Sites: new series,n. 15 (1), 2018, pp. 1-10

· G. Coleman, “Ethnographic Approaches to Digital Media”, in Annual Review of Anthropology, n. 39, 2010, pp. 487-505

· Leesa Costello, Marie-Louise McDermott, and Ruth Wallace, “Netnography: Range of Practices, Misperceptions