John Girdwood

SOC 985 (f)

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Microsoft Word version of final paper [here]

As a precursor to viewing this study history, please read my Philosophy of the Syllabus Post [here]

Final Paper is [here]

Outline

CLASS: SOCIOLOGY 985, Section 1
TITLE: QUALITATIVE FIELD METHODS
SEMESTER: Fall 2010
TIME FRAME: Tuesday 12:40-3:30
LOCATION: 218B Berkey Hall
INSTRUCTOR: Steven Gold© PLEASE NOTE that the syllabus structure and content is property of and created by the instructor. I am NOT posting as if this were my own material. I am simply posting what I studied, when, and where. Please read my Philosophy of the Syllabus Post [here]
- Office Hours Tues. & Thurs. 10:30-11:30 and by appointment
- 517-353-6352
- e-mail: gold@msu.edu
COURSE PHILOSOPHY: “Methods courses generally focus on the specifics of data collection and analysis. This course takes a more holistic approach. In it, we will work to integrate our theoretical orientation, relationships to respondents, ethics, and techniques of data collection and analysis into an approach that suits our purposes, fieldwork setting and goals” (Gold, 2010)

“Soc 985 covers the techniques, theoretical underpinnings, epistemology and aesthetics of qualitative approaches to field research. It will review established methods such as in-depth interviewing, participant observation, content analysis and visual sociology. We will also discuss practical matters such as developing a fieldwork role, recording, coding and analyzing data, and writing ethnographic reports. Finally, the class will address current debates in the field including the politics and ethics of fieldwork, reflexive ethnography, and the role of the researcher as “cultural intermediary,” “conduit for excluded voices,” social critic and “unbiased recorder.” During the semester, each student will review exemplary qualitative studies and work on his or her own field research project” (Gold, 2010)

Readings:

John W Creswell, Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design, Second Edition, Sage, 2007
Robert M. Emerson, Rachel I. Fretz and Linda L. Shaw, Writing Ethnographic Field Notes, University of Chicago, 1995
Monica McDermott, Working-Class White, University of California, 2006
Howard S. Becker and Michal M. McCall (eds.), Symbolic Interaction and Cultural Studies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press., 1990
Xeroxed readings available from library reserve room and SBS
COURSE PACK

Assignments:

*Note that I use the first person because this is what “I am doing” as a student*

Field work project
- The topic of this study must be chosen by the second week of class.
- Each week, I will engage in field research and produce field notes. These will be distributed prior to class via e-mail or ANGEL so that they can be peer reviewed for quality, detail and analytical richness by the instructor and other students.
- I must select a practical and easily accessible field site (rather than one that may be more dramatic but less available).
Reading assignments, presentations and class discussions. Part of each weekly discussion will be devoted to the assigned readings. I will be responsible for briefly and succinctly presenting some materials each week.
10/5/10 Research proposal
- describes my own project’s topic and setting and
- summarizes the techniques for data collection and analysis. (Due Oct 5th)
  - field notes
    - field notes 1
    - field notes 2: what i can tweet to athletes
    - progress note: why i am changing my research plan
    - another outline describing my IRB revisions
    - email to the IRB describing my revisions
    - progress report on research as presented to class 11/02/2010
  - data
    - list of players in my study [view] [edit]
    - list of teams [ncaa male hoops]
11/9/10 Research manifesto: justifies the approach and style of rapport to be used in my own project in terms of social theories. (Due Nov 9th).
11/16/10 Book review of a qualitative study. I will write a review of a book on a topic related to my own substantive or methodological interest. (Due Nov 16th).
Oral presentation. The last two class sessions are set aside for students (me) to present their (my) research. These presentations will be organized in a manner like that of a profession meeting. As such time limits must be followed.
12/14/10 Research Paper
- I will prepare a paper based upon the fieldwork that I have conducted throughout the term.
- The paper should demonstrate both substantive and methodological quality.
- The paper should be written as if it were being submitted to an academic journal. (Rough draft due Nov 30^th, Final draft due Dec. 14).
I have received IRB approval. [Human Subjects Review] If I wish to use data that I collect in Soc 985 for a conference paper, journal article or to fulfill an MSU requirement (second year paper, dissertation, etc.) I am required to have approval for my project from the MSU IRB. It takes about a month to get this approval and once you apply for it, you cannot collect any data. Hence, it is not possible to apply once the course has started. If I collect data for course use only, you don’t need IRB approval. www.humanresearch.msu.edu/

Grading:

40% Final Paper
10% Field Notes
10% Oral Presentation
10% Attendance and Participation
10% Research Proposal
10% Research Manifesto
10% Book Review

Course Outline:

INTRODUCTION
- Class 1, Special Meeting Time Weds Sept 1, 6 pm 106A Berkey Hall.
  - Discussion of Course
  - Readings: Should be completed prior to the class meeting when they are listed.
- Class 2, Tues Sept 14. No class
BEGINNING FIELDWORK
- Class 3, Tues Sept 21. Framing Qualitative Field Methods
  - Readings: Geertz “The Balinese Cockfight”; Stinchcombe “The Origins of Sociology as a Discipline;” (xerox reader); Cresswell, Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design, Ch 1-3
- Class 4, Tues Sept 28.
  - Readings: Cresswell, Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design, Ch 4-7
    - Recommended: Becker, Sociological Work; Burawoy et al. Ethnography Unbounded; Lamphere, Structuring Diversity: Ethnographic Perspectives on the New Immigration; Spradley, Participant Observation.
- Class 5, Tues Oct 5.
  - Readings: Cresswell, Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design, Ch 8-11.
RESEARCH PROPOSAL DUE
EXEMPLARY ETHNOGRAPHY: Monica McDermott, Working-Class White
- Class 6, Tues Oct 12. White perspectives on race
  - Readings: Monica McDermott, Working-Class White
Writing Field Notes
- Class 7, Tues Oct 19. Field Notes
  - Reading: Robert M. Emerson, Rachel I. Fretz and Linda L. Shaw, Writing Ethnographic Field Notes ch. 1-4
- Class 8, Tues Oct 26. Coding Qualitative data, Writing Qualitative Research
  - Reading: Robert M. Emerson, Rachel I. Fretz and Linda L. Shaw, Writing Ethnographic Field Notes ch. 5-8; “The Extended Case Method” Burawoy, from Ethnography Unbound (xerox);
Theory in Qualitative Research
- Class 9, Tues Nov 2. Theory in fieldwork
  - Readings: Becker and McCall, Symbolic Interactionism and Cultural Studies, Chapters 1-5
- Class 10, Tues Nov 9. Case studies
  - Reading: Becker and McCall, Symbolic Interactionism and Cultural Studies, Chapter 6-9
Research Manifesto Due
Book Review
- Class 11 Tues Nov 16. Oral Book Reviews
BOOK REVIEW DUE
VISUAL SOCIOLOGY
- Class 12, Tues Nov 23. Visual Sociology
  - Reading:
    - Becker, “Photography and Sociology;”
    - Gold, “Ethics and Visual Fieldwork;”
    - Gold “Ethnic Boundaries and Ethnic Entrepreneurship;
    - Gold “Using Photography in Studies of Immigrant Communities: Reflecting Across Projects and Populations” pp. 141-166 in Gregory C. Stanczak (ed.) Visual Research Methods: Image, Society and Representation. Los Angeles: Sage, 2007;
    - Suchar “Grounding Visual Sociology Research in Shooting Scripts”(all in xerox reader)
  - Recommended: Collier and Collier, Visual Anthropology; Harper, Good Company; Working Knowledge; Goffman, Gender Advertisements; Kelley and Friedlander, Irangeles; Su Braden, Committing Photography; Chaplin, Sociology and Visual Representation, Vergara, New American Ghetto; Harper, Changing Works.
REPORTS
- Class 13, Nov 30. Reports I
FIRST DRAFT OF FINAL PAPER DUE
- Class 14, Dec 7. Reports II. Last Day of Class
Draft Returned
REVISED FINAL PAPER DUE December 14

SOME Classic Ethnographies:

ALL CREDIT OF THIS LIST TO DR. STEVE GOLD, MSU

Harvey, Adia’ Doing Business with Beauty: Black Women, Hair Salons, and the Racial Enclave Economy, Hondagneu-Sotelo, Pierrette, Doméstica : immigrant workers cleaning and caring in the shadows of affluence.
Valentine, Bettylou, 1978 Hustling and Other Hard Work.
Venkatesh, Sudhir Alladi, Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor
Zhou, Min, and Carl Bankston, III, Growing Up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States.
Zlolniski, Christian, Janitors, Street Vendors, and Activists: The Lives of Mexican Immigrants in Silicon Valley.
Wilson, William Julius and Richard P. Taub, There Goes the Neighborhood
Katz, Jack, Seductions of Crime.
David Snow and Leon Anderson — Down on their Luck — Homelessness
John Ogbu — The Next Generation — Race and Mobility
Diego Vigil — Barrio Gangs
William F. Whyte — Street Corner Society — Ethnic Community
Ilsoo Kim — New Urban Immigrants: Koreans in New York
Drake and Cayton — Black Metropolis — Black Chicago
William Kornblum — Blue Collar Community
Elliot Liebow — Tally’s Corner — Black Men
Durnier — Slim’s Table — Black Men
Kibria — Family Tightrope — Vietnamese Refugee Families
Howard Becker et al. — Boys in White — Medical School
Howard Becker — Outsiders — Deviance
Micaela DeLeonardo — Varieties of the Ethnic Experience –Italian American Women
Moshe Shokeid — Children of Circumstances — Israelis In New York
Fran Markowitz — Community in Spite of Itself — Soviet Jews in New York
Lillian Rubin — Worlds of Pain — Working class families
Marcia Millman — The Unkindest Cut — Medical Mistakes
Charles Bosk — Forgive and Remember — Surgical Training
Gold — Refugee Communities — Soviet Jewish and Vietnamese Refugees
Hondagneu-Sotelo — Gendered Transitions– Mexican Immigration
Stember — Black Gods of the Metropolis — Black Churches
Grasmuck and Pessar — Between Two Islands — Dominican Immigration
Hochschild — Unexpected Community — Aging
Wiseman — Stations of the Lost — Skid Row
Harper — Good Company — Railroad Tramps
Harper — Working Knowledge — A Rural Repair Shop
Freeman — Hearts of Sorrow — Vietnamese Refugees
Stacey — Brave New Families — Women in Silicon Valley
Foster — Tzintzuntzan — A Mexican Community
Abner Cohen — Custom and Politics in Urban Africa — Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship in Nigeria
Humphreys — Tearoom Trade — Impersonal Sex in Public Places
Suttles — Streetcorner Society — Working class Life in Chicago
Eli Anderson — A Place on the Corner — Race and Community
Gans — Urban Villagers — Italian American Community
Lynd & Lynd — Middletown — Small Town Life (pre-depression)
Bellah et al. — Habits of the Heart — Commitment and Community in American Life
Patricia Adler — Wheeling and Dealing — Drug Culture
Reider, Jonathan — Canarsie — Urban White Ideologies
Carol Stack — All Our Kin — Poverty and community
Kasinitz — Carribbean New York – Ethnic Community and Politics
Fordham — Blacked Out — Race and Education
Willis — Learning to Labor — Class Reproduction
Yoon — On My Own — Korean Businesses
Min — Caught in the Middle — Korean Businesses
Oxfeld — Blood, Sweat and Mahjong — Transnational Chinese
Lamont — Money, Morals and Manners — French & US Middle Class
Waters – Black Identities – Race and Migration
Hondagneu-Sotelo — Domestica — Latina nannies in LA
Levitt — Transnational Villagers — Dominican Migration
Lamont — The Dignity of Working Men — Race, Class, Gender and Identity in the US and France
Rangaswamy — Namasté America — Indian Immigrants in Chicago
Yang — Chinese Christians in America
Waquant – Body and Soul, Boxing, the Body and Race
Gold – Israeli Diaspora
Lareau, Annette. Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life
Lee, Jennifer Civility in the City: Blacks, Jews, and Koreans in Urban America
Louie, Andrea Chineseness Across Borders: Renegotiating Chinese Identities in China and in the U.S.
Chin, Margaret M., Sewing Women, Columbia UP, 2005. – Chinese, Koreans and Latino/as in NY Garment Industry
George, Sheba, When Women Come First, U California P, 2005. – Indian Nurses and their Families in the US
Purkayastha, Bandana. Negotiating Ethnicity: Second Generation South Asian Americans Traverses a Transnational World, Rutgers, 2005
Sayad, Abdelmalek, The Suffering of the Immigrant, Polity, 2004. – N. Africans in France
Smith, Robert C., Mexican New York, U California P, 2006.