Qualitative researching and critical inquiry - On generating, analyzing and critically assessing qualitative data
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
These are the following learning outcomes expected upon completion of the course.
Knowledge
After completing the course, students should have gained advanced knowledge about:
- The legacy of qualitative research methods
- The theoretical justification of qualitative research
- The properties of qualitative data
- Applicable methods to analyze different qualitative material
Skills
After completing the course, students should have advanced their ability:
- To design qualitative inquiries suitable to answer different qualitative questions
- To justify the methodological choices made in qualitative designs
- To generate and arrange different types of qualitative data material
- To analyze different types of qualitative data in ways that fit the purpose of the study
General competence
After completing the course, students should have advanced their ability:
- To plan, perform and explain qualitative research
- To participate in and contribute to academic discussions in qualitative research
- To review and critically assess the quality of qualitative inquiries
Content
- This course will address the following areas:
- The evolvement of qualitative research
- The methodological basis for qualitative research
- The types and character of qualitative data
- The critical elements of qualitative designs
- The performance of qualitative analysis
- Critically scrutinizing and evaluating qualitative data
- The quality assessment of qualitative inquiries
Lectures and seminars.
Students are expected to attend at least 80% of the course's lectures and seminars and participate actively in them.
Students present a paper draft for the paper seminar and get feedback on their draft. Final paper for the course is due six weeks after the paper seminar.
Requirements and grading:
Compulsory participation (OD): Minimum 80% presence is required.
Written assignment (OP): Participants are required to submit a final paper (min. 10 pages). The final paper should state a methodological research question, or a methodological puzzle, that is explored and discussed critically in the paper. Assessment format: passed/failed.
Final paper for the course is due six weeks after the paper seminar.
Lectures and paper seminar are held at the Bodø campus, Nord university.
Overlap refers to a similarity between courses with the same content. Therefore, you will receive the following reduction in credits if you have taken the courses listed below:
SOS9002 - Qualitative Researching and Critical Inquiry - 5 credits