| CODE | CRI1032 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Qualitative Research Methods for Criminology | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Criminology | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Research in criminology takes different forms and adopts a wide variety of methodological approaches. One broad methodological approach is that of qualitative research. This study-units introduces students to the research process more generally: reviewing the literature, setting research questions, designing data collection and data analysis procedure, and reporting one's findings. Moreover, this study-unit focuses squarely on qualitative research methods and data analytical procedures in Criminology. The aims are: (a) teaching students how to employ specific qualitative methods in their research work, (b) preparing students to write qualitative research proposals, and (c) teaching students how to conduct qualitative data analysis. The study-unit introduces both theoretical/desk-based and empirical/field approaches to research within the qualitative domain. Thus, key concepts in qualitative research (both self-report and documentary research) are presented, highlighting a range of research methodologies and methods that are applicable to criminology as a discipline. This study-unit delves into the theoretical underpinnings, epistemological stances and practical guidance needed for sound research design, for crafting research questions, and for engaging in meaningful data collection and analysis. Theoretical foundations (e.g., conceptual or critical research), and empirical qualitative research approaches (e.g., interviewing, focus groups, thematic analysis, argumentation analysis, etc.) are presented. Across these modalities, three stances are identified: (a) traditional vs. critical approaches, (b) desk-based vs. field approaches, and (c) data involving documents vs. data involving human participants. Study-Unit Aims: - Introduce students to diverse methodological approaches that can be adopted in the study of Criminology, which fall within the qualitative domain; - Sensitize students to the research process as a whole (from conceptualisation to reporting findings); - Contextualise methods and analytical procedures within and across different traditions of qualitative research; - Present the different theoretical underpinnings & epistemologies involved in research (e.g., post-positivism, social constructionism, etc.); - Provide practical guidance on collecting and analysing different forms of data, ranging from documents to the input of human participants. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Explain the different epistemological stances in research; - Utilize different methods falling within the qualitative domain; - Utilize different qualitative analytical protocols in criminological research; - Describe what makes a coherent research study (the research process): where epistemology flows into a research design where research questions, methodology, and methods of data collection and analysis align; - Explain the different stages of research writing in terms of research design, research epistemology, methodology, method, research questions, data collection and analysis (knowing the role of each, particularly for qualitative research). 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Apply knowledge on research epistemologies and methodologies to their eventual dissertation topic; - Identify an area of research and apply a relevant qualitative research method and analytical procedure to it; - Examine the strengths & weaknesses of the methods adopted in their study; - Write a research report, delineating the research design, methodology adopted and key research questions (framing research questions in ways applicable to qualitative research in criminology); - Conduct specific studies, in particular those involving thematic analysis or argumentation analysis. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Tartaro, C. (2021). Research methods for criminal justice and criminology: a text and reader. Routledge. - Matthews, B., & Ross, L. (2010). Research Methods: A Practical Guide For The Social Sciences, Pearson education. Supplementary Readings: - Attride-Stirling, J., 2001. Thematic networks: an analytic tool for qualitative research. Qualitative research, 1(3), pp.385-405. - Barbour, R. and Kitzinger, J. eds., 1998. Developing focus group research: politics, theory and practice. Sage. - Braun,Virginia & Victoria Clarke, Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide (SAGE, 2021). - Brinkmann, S., 2007. Could interviews be epistemic? An alternative to qualitative opinion polling. Qualitative inquiry, 13(8), pp.1116-1138. - Brinkmann, S., 2014. Unstructured and semi-structured interviewing. The Oxford handbook of qualitative research, 2, pp.277-299. - Buhagiar, L.J. and Sammut, G., 2023. The Minimal Model of Argumentation: Qualitative data analysis for epistemic speech, text and policy. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour. - Copes, H., Tewksbury, R., & Sandberg, S. (2016). Publishing qualitative research in criminology and criminal justice journals. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 27(1), 121-139. - Della Porta, Donatella & Michael Keating, Approaches and Methodologies in the Social Sciences: A Pluralist Perspective (Cambridge UP, 2008). - Flick,Uwe (ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Analysis (SAGE, 2014). - Tewksbury, R., Dabney, D. A., & Copes, H. (2014). The prominence of qualitative research in criminology and criminal justice scholarship. In Advancing qualitative methods in criminology and criminal justice (pp. 4-24). Routledge. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Luke Buhagiar (Co-ord.) Janice Formosa Pace |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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