{"id":120,"date":"2024-08-27T02:52:10","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T02:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cimsmethods.wordsinspace.net\/2024\/?post_type=portfolio&p=120"},"modified":"2024-10-02T23:34:16","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T23:34:16","slug":"october-2-qualitative-empirical-methods","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/cimsmethods.wordsinspace.net\/2024\/portfolio\/october-2-qualitative-empirical-methods\/","title":{"rendered":"October 2: Qualitative Empirical Methods\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Ryan Carl, Circle Study 07 (2020); via Socks Studio<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Historically, much research in our field has emphasized humanistic textual analysis. We\u2019ll address such methods in the following weeks. Yet media studies\u2019 genealogy can be traced back through the arts and the social sciences, too. From the latter we\u2019ve inherited empirical methods through which we can generate our own \u201cdata.\u201d Some researchers gather and analyze that data through quantitative methods; you can find quantitative methods classes in Annenberg and the School of Social Policy and Practice (you might also be interested in the GIS classes in the Weitzman School of Design). Yet CIMS\u2019s humanistic orientation predisposes us to look more toward qualitative <\/em>methods \u2014 interviews, oral histories, focus groups, ethnography, and so forth \u2014 which we\u2019ll explore today. We\u2019ll also talk a bit about sampling, which applies to any research project: how many and which people, non-human subjects, events, actions, sites, processes, or texts we choose to focus on, and how that assemblage is complementary and representative of the key variables in our study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m hoping we can also approach our own class as a \u201cfield site\u201d for participant observation \u2014 where we can reflect on the practices through which methods are theorized and theories are operationalized \u2014 and that we can regard our periodic guests as interview interlocutors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LOCAL FIELD TRIP, 3:30-4:30pm: <\/mark><\/strong>We\u2019ll visit Van Pelt to meet with Charles Cobine<\/a>, our Cinema and Media Studies subject librarian; Lynda Kellam, Director of Research Data & Digital Scholarship<\/a>; and Jaj Karajgikar, Applied Data Science Librarian. We\u2019ll meet in the RDDSx space on the first floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a link to our librarian colleagues’ slide deck! <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TO PREPARE FOR TODAY: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n