‘Qualitative Research Methods in Education’ (QRME) will deal with some of the approaches within the ‘qualitative’ tradition of research in education. While the use of the phrase ‘qualitative research’ is not unproblematic, we use it here to capture the broad approaches which fall under the interpretivist/ critical paradigms of research. The course will build on the basic exposure that participants would have had in the Research Methods course (RM-1). Please revisit your learning in that course before QRME begins. Some of the topics we will assume you are familiar with include: introduction to design, basic approaches to interviews and focus groups and observational methods, ethical issues, quality and validation issues in qualitative research, and the background to the broad paradigms informing qualitative research traditions. We will not be specifically focussing on these topics. The course will have as its context the intersection between education and management; hence, most of the examples will be from education and the broader field of management and organization studies. |