Nord University, Norway
Qualitative research has won terrain in recent decades, much due to a social world that is increasingly thought to be complex and multi-dimensional. Hence, today, most social science study programs offer courses in qualitative, as well as quantitative method, both at bachelor and master’s level. Nevertheless, there is a tendency to perceive qualitative method as less systematic and rigorous – less methodical – than quantitative method.
What distinguishes qualitative and quantitative research is first and foremost that they are designed to answer different types of questions. The requirements for thoroughness are equally strict in qualitative as in quantitative methods, but the procedures are different and more open to adaptation to the field and phenomenon under study.
The course provides an advanced and critical introduction to different designs and methodologies in qualitative research, as well as to the justifications and degrees of leeway of different designs. Focusing on interviews, documents and field observation as sources for generating empirical data (and their possible combinations), the course pays particular attention to the specific properties of such data, and its implications for analyses.
The course is organized into two workshops, in which the first (in December) is largely based on thematic lectures and seminar discussions, while the second (in January) is devoted to the presentation and discussion of student papers.
Course dates: 3 – 5 December 2025 and 26 – 27 January 2026
Application deadline: 6 November