Course in the Methodological Week within the Module "Socio-legal Research and Thesis Seminar III (1,5 ECTS)"
Welcome to Qualitative Approaches to Research, a graduate-level course designed to deepen your understanding of methodological reasoning in the sociology of law and socio-legal studies, while equipping you with the conceptual and practical tools to conduct meaningful qualitative research.
Building on the foundations laid in my previous course, Quantitative Approaches to Research, where we examined the core elements of research design, this course shifts the focus to the craft, ethics, and politics of qualitative inquiry. Together, we will ask:
- What makes a research question “qualitative”?
- How can we translate theoretical concerns into concrete fieldwork strategies?
- What does it mean to enter the field—to listen, to observe, and to interpret?
- How do our positionalities—our histories, values, and identities—shape our research practices and findings?
- How can we navigate the ethical challenges of fieldwork, including questions of consent, representation, and responsibility?
We will explore a range of qualitative methods—including in-depth interviews, participant observation, ethnography, focus groups, and document analysis—while paying special attention to how these methods are used in socio-legal research. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the situated, interpretive, and reflexive nature of qualitative research, and on developing your capacity to design ethically sound, context-sensitive, and analytically robust studies.
This course is meant not only to teach qualitative techniques, but to cultivate qualitative sensibilities—that is, a way of seeing and engaging with the world that recognizes complexity, multiplicity, and power in the production of knowledge. Throughout the course, you will have multiple opportunities to apply what you learn to your own research projects, and to reflect on the epistemological, ethical, and practical challenges you may encounter as you move toward your Master’s thesis.
