Charles University

COLLEGE OF SOCIAL WORK

Viewing the World: Visual Qualitative Inquiry in International Settings

Jean Correll Munn, Ph.D., M.S.W.

jmunn@fsu.edu

Spring 2016

Except for changes that substantially affect implementation of the evaluation (grading) statement, this syllabus is a guide for the course and is subject to change with advanced notice.

Course Description

This special topics course will provide an opportunity to develop knowledge of and skills in qualitative inquiry with an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of this approach. Specifically, students will identify the usefulness of qualitative inquiry in developing a base of knowledge, the depth and detailed orientation of the field techniques, and the usefulness in understanding sensitive topics that are often the focus of social work research. Content on planning and preparing for qualitative inquiry gives students an opportunity to understand relevant philosophies of science, methods of observation, use of theory, and the relationship of qualitative inquiry to other types of research culminating in the design of a project to be completed during the course. The course will focus on the use of photography/videography as a qualitative inquiry tool to capture and evaluate prevailing social problems and overlapping criminal justice issues in Central and Eastern Europe. Using visual data and narrative data concurrently, the students will learn to collect, to manage, and to analyze these data. The course will include a context of social work values and social justice while providing students with an opportunity to demonstrate the various skills developed throughout the course.

The setting in which the course is conducted lends itself to utilization of local cultural experience. Therefore, site visits will provide opportunities to visually record and interpret data from program related visits to social programs in the Czech Republic.

While there are no pre-requisites for the course, it is helpful if students have taken one research methods course prior to enrollment. Those students who have not taken a basic research course may contact the instructor for a list of readings prior to arriving in Prague.

Course Objectives

Students completing the course should:

Objective	Measure
Planning and preparing for qualitative research Upon successful completion of this course, a student will
1. demonstrate familiarity with concepts, applications and implications of various philosophies of science as relevant to qualitative inquiry.	Class assignments and site visits
2. demonstrate familiarity with methods of visual observation.	Class assignments and site visits
3. demonstrate familiarity with the identification of strengths and limitations of observation-based strategies,	Class assignments and site visits
4. demonstrate familiarity with the process of identifying and applying observation-based strategies to specific research questions by using visual data as it relates to social problems.	Class assignments and site visits
5. Apply ethical standards when photographing human subjects for research purposes	Class assignments and site visits
Producing and Analyzing Qualitative Data Upon successful completion of this course, a student will
8. demonstrate familiarity with qualitative software as a tool for qualitative data analysis.	Class assignments and site visits
9. develop visual images appropriate to research questions	Class assignments and site visits
10. generate an interpretation of visual data as related to research questions	Class assignments and site visits
11. demonstrate ability to use choose and integrate narrative analyses, content analyses, and grounded theory techniques to contextual visual data.	Class assignments and site visits
Interpreting and Reporting Qualitative Data Upon successful completion of this course, a student will
12. demonstrate the ability to analyze visual qualitative data with rigor and integrity;	Class assignments and site visits
13. demonstrate ability to present visual qualitative data and findings.	Class assignments and site vistis
14. demonstrate ability to report strengths and limitations of data and design.	Class assignments and site visits

Course Texts:

Emmison, M. & Smith, P. (2004). Researching the visual. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Padgett, D.K. (2008). Qualitative methods in social work research. Thousand Oaks: Sage.