Interpretive Research Methods

Key topics covered

The course covers different interpretive methods. You will learn to ‘read’ texts while becoming familiar with contemporary thinking about interpretation, narrative, and discourse. During the course we will focus on narrative method, hermeneutics, phenomenology, discourse analysis, deconstruction method and genealogy. The course is organised with the following six objectives in mind:

1. To examine the scientific criteria of interpretive research and to give you basic training in how to formulate an interpretive research question
2. To expose you to issues of conceptualisation, theory, research design, and strategies of framing questions and selecting cases
3. To help you organise and process material through interpretive coding strategies
4. To teach you how to choose the best strategy of interpretation for your research question
5. To explain how to condense and present interpretations
6. To draw conclusions from interpretive analyses.

Day 1

Introducing interpretive methods

1. Welcome
2. Interpretation of what? Asking the ‘right’ question to the ‘right’ material
3. Selecting and collecting data suited for Interpretation
4. Introduction of written student assignment.
5. Group exercise.

Day 2

Interpretive strategies, positions and methods I
Hands-on strategies for interpretation and analysis 

1. Narrative methods
2. What’s your unit of analysis? Organising your data?
3. What’s in your data? Reading your data
4. Group exercise on narrative, interpretive research strategies

Day 3

Interpretive strategies, positions and methods II
Hands-on strategies for interpretation and analysis

1. Narrative methods
2. What’s your unit of analysis? Organising your data?
3. What’s in your data? Reading your data
4. Group exercise on narrative, interpretive research strategies

Day 4

Interpretive strategies, positions and methods III
Hands-on strategies for interpretation and analysis

1. Discourse analysis
2. How to make sense of it?
3. Sorting your data using Interpretive research strategies
4. Group exercise on contextualised, interpretive research strategies

Day 5

Condensing and presenting interpretations
Drawing conclusions from interpretive analyses

1. Presentation of interpretive analyses
2. You only know what you (can) show – citations and displays
3. Scientific criteria
4. Documentation
5. Publication
6. Group exercise on conclusion drawing and presentation of interpretive analysis

How the course will work online

The course will include a combination of pre-class activities, post-class activities and live, online interaction. Pre-class activities include readings of course material, watching of pre-recorded lectures and formulation of topic-related questions to be sent in advance to the Instructor. Material and lectures will be available on Moodle.

Online interactions include small lectures, classroom feedback, and group exercises in breakout rooms. We will use Zoom to facilitate all our online interaction.

Post-class activities include preparation of project presentations in breakout rooms followed by personal Instructor feedback on projects.

None required.

Each course includes pre-course assignments, including readings and pre-recorded videos, as well as daily live lectures totalling at least three hours. The instructor will conduct live Q&A sessions and offer designated office hours for one-to-one consultations.

Please check your course format before registering.

Online courses

Live classes will be held daily for three hours on a video meeting platform, allowing you to interact with both the instructor and other participants in real-time. To avoid online fatigue, the course employs a pedagogy that includes small-group work, short and focused tasks, as well as troubleshooting exercises that utilise a variety of online applications to facilitate collaboration and engagement with the course content.

In-person courses

In-person courses will consist of daily three-hour classroom sessions, featuring a range of interactive in-class activities including short lectures, peer feedback, group exercises, and presentations.

Disclaimer

This course description may be subject to subsequent adaptations (e.g. taking into account new developments in the field, participant demands, group size, etc.). Registered participants will be informed at the time of change.

By registering for this course, you confirm that you possess the knowledge required to follow it. The instructor will not teach these prerequisite items. If in doubt, please contact us before registering.