Aims

To enable students to engage themselves in choosing and carrying out the qualitative approaches that they think are the most appropriate in their research or professional activities, and to achieve this by placing more emphasis on the spirit of these approaches than on techniques.

Main themes

This will be a brief overview that will need to be boosted by reading and the exchange of any experiences, and the main approaches to observation and special processing associated with data (mainly participation, non-directive interviews, life narratives, and "focus groups").
Learning a particular approach by exploiting documentation on associated methodology and research, and through its substantive, albeit limited, use in the field.

Content and teaching methods

A professorial course, seminar work and experiences in the field.
Sessions will combine presentations of content and discussions based on reading to be done at home. Outside "experts" may be invited to take part, if available.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Assessment: This will be based on personal and group work.
Two components will be taken into consideration: active participation in sessions (which will demonstrate that aspects of the reading portfolio have been understood) and the quality of individual written work, together with a presentation and oral defence. This work will involve the presentation of a research project in population science that gives a high profile to the qualitative approach.
In addition to the presentation of the project, the written work will develop the arguments that justify this, rather than the quantitative, approach, and the collection and processing tools that will be used during the project and the practical ways they are used. Students will have to ensure that they can justify their choices by referring to elements of the course.

Other credits in programs