The Institute for Social Research presents its 2023 Spring Seminar Series with courses on research design and qualitative research methods, from May 5th through May 16th, 2023.
This Seminar Series starts with a one-and-a-half-day workshop discussing the wide range of applications of narrative analysis. One particular and very popular method of textual interpretation in qualitative research, discourse analysis, is fully discussed in the second session of this series. These more qualitative research courses are followed by two courses that rely to a greater extent on computer applications.
These courses provide a hands-on approach to help researchers develop practical skills. They attract an interesting mix of graduate students, researchers from government and NGOs, faculty, and university staff. In our teaching we strive to provide a successful introduction to each topic, while offering new insights for more experienced researchers.
Pre-registration and payment of fees is required for all Short Courses (Closing: May 9, 2023)
Registration is now closed for all 2023 Spring Seminar Series courses.
2023 Spring Seminar Series: Short Courses
Narrative Analysis Strategies
Sorry, this course is full. Registration is now closed for this course.
Instructor: Professor Katherine Bischoping
Dates: Friday May 5 and Monday May 8, 2023 (one-and-a-half-day)
Time: 1:00-3:30pm (Afternoon, Friday Day 1); 9:30am-Noon & 1:00-3:30pm (Full Day, Monday Day 2)
Location: Course will be delivered via Zoom: details to be announced
Enrolment Limit: 15
Enrolment Minimum: At least five (5) registrants are required in order to hold the course.
Course Description: The first afternoon seminar will begin by introducing how ‘narrative’ can be defined and why narratives and narrative analysis (NA) matter to social scientists. We will then explore broad research questions that NA is typically used to answer -- such as: What does the past mean in the present? or What do narratives do for ourselves? -- and connect them to realist or constructionist research paradigms. The morning seminar on the second day will introduce NA strategies applicable to the finer details (e.g., pronoun choices, metaphors) of any kind of text, regardless of whether it actually contains a narrative. The second afternoon seminar will open with identifying the NA strategies most pertinent to each participant’s research plans and conclude by examining insights that NA offers for being reflexive, i.e., for thinking through how we, as researchers, are implicated in the knowledge we produce.
These seminars blend together conceptual work with hands-on practice using data ranging from a murderer’s confession to research accounts, from news articles to interview excerpts, from famous speeches to participants’ stories of their own experiences.
About the Instructor
Katherine Bischoping (B.Math. [Waterloo]; M.Sc., Ph.D. [Michigan]) is an Associate Professor of Sociology at York University. Her fascination with research methods has led her from statistics to applied survey research, and then to qualitative approaches in sociology and beyond, including playwriting. With Amber Gazso (York University), she co-authored Analyzing Talk in the Social Sciences: Narrative, Conversation and Discourse Strategies (Sage, 2016), and with Yumi Ishii (University of Tokyo) she co-edited a 2017 Special Issue of Oral History Forum d'histoire orale on Generations and Memory: Continuity and Change. She has given a series of over 50 workshops on Hands-On Qualitative Interviewing through York's Resource Centre for Public Sociology and organized that Centre's 2023 symposium on Qualitative Interviewing Practices and Practising.
Discourse Analysis
Sorry, this course is full. Registration is now closed for this course.
Instructor: Professor Amber Gazso
Dates:Tuesday and Wednesday, May 9 – 10, 2023 (one-and-a-half-day)
Times: 9:30am-Noon; 1:00-3:30pm (Tuesday Day 1); 9:30am-Noon (Wednesday Day 2)
Location: This course will be held remotely via Zoom; meeting access TBA
Enrolment Limit: 15
Enrolment Minimum: At least five (5) registrants are required in order to hold the course.
Course Description: This course will offer an introduction to discourse analysis from a sociological perspective.
In the first meeting of this course, we will discuss the definition and meaning of “discourse.” We will also explore examples of discourse in diverse text(s): such as art and other visual imagery; children’s literature; policy documents; in-depth interview data, etc. In our second meeting, we will then devote time to understanding key differences and similarities among Critical Discourse Analysis as a social movement, Foucauldian discourse analysis, and ‘critical discourse’ studies writ large. We will specifically learn strategies of analysis for each perspective and apply them to one or more research and popular culture examples, in the third meeting of this course.
Amber Gazso is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at York University, joining the Department in 2006. She completed her PhD in Sociology at the University of Alberta and her MA in Sociology (specializing in Program and Policy Evaluation) at Western University. Her training in quantitative methods then changed into a fascination with qualitative research, most often used in her research about low-income families and their relationships with social policies of the welfare state, and published in journals such as Journal of Poverty, Social Problems, Critical Social Policy, etc. With Katherine Bischoping, she co-authored Analyzing Talk in the Social Sciences: Narrative, Conversation and Discourse Strategies (Sage, 2016).
Using Computers in Qualitative Analysis: An NVivo R1 for Windows Workshop
Instructor: Biftu Yousuf, MA & MSc
Course Dates: May 11, 12 and 15, 2023
Times: 10:00am-Noon; 1:00-3:00pm on each day (Thursday, Friday, and Monday)
Course Location: This course will be held remotely via Zoom; meeting access TBA
Enrolment Limit: 20
Enrolment Minimum: At least five (5) registrants are required in order to hold the course.
Course Description: This interactive virtual Workshop will provide both a basic and advanced introduction to NVivo R1 for Windows. As this Workshop will focus on how to move forward into data analysis, participants are required to have had some prior experience and/or exposure to qualitative assumptions, theories and methods before attending this Workshop. The overall objective of this three-day (note: both morning and afternoon) course is to provide participants with the tools to ensure that the theory and methods guiding their projects remain central as they move into NVivo.
On Day One participants will create a project and learn how to import and work with a wide range of qualitative data formats (e.g., interview transcripts, focus group transcripts, survey spreadsheets, web content, etc.). On Day Two participants will learn how to organize and explore data using basic queries and identify relationships between datums. On Day Three participants will learn how to use advanced queries, models, and charts to show patterns in data, and how to create reports. The break in-between the Workshops is designed to allow participants to practice on their own data using the principles learned on the preceding days. Time will be provided during the Workshop for participants to work with their own data, and the instructor will respond to questions related to participants specific projects.
Please note this course is designed for NVivo R1 for Windows users (and not NVivo for Mac users). NVivo for Mac has different features and cross platform limitations. For participants who do not have access to an NVivo license for the short course, they can opt to download the 14-day trial license at that time.
Because this material is presented sequentially and builds upon the basics presented at the beginning of each class, course participants need to arrive on time and attend the entire session.
About the Instructor
Biftu Yousuf is a PhD candidate in Geography at York University. Previously, she obtained her MA in Criminology and MSc in Health Sciences - which she completed simultaneously. Biftu’s early interest in digital technologies and qualitative research precipitated a decade-long study of the data analysis software NVivo. Beyond using NVivo in her own work, she has trained graduate students, faculty, and affiliated researchers on how to use NVivo for qualitative data analysis. In her role as an NVivo consultant, Biftu has contributed her knowledge and skills to research projects of varying scales and designs. She is a certified NVivo expert and remains intrigued by its potential.
Social and Health Survey Data Sources and Emerging Data Collection Methods
Instructor: Hugh McCague, PhD
Date: Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Time: 9:00am – 12:30pm
Location: This course will be held remotely via Zoom only.
Enrolment Limit: 20
Enrolment Minimum: At least five (5) registrants are required in order to hold the course.
Course description: This Short Course provides participants with an overview of some of the major social and health survey data sources and emerging data collection methods such as Statistics Canada and Research Data Centres, government and administrative data, respondent-driven sampling, Google search data through Google Trends, web scraping, Wiki surveys, social media data, wearables, and apps. The integration of different data sources to obtain a more informative context is also highlighted. An in-depth “how to” is not given on any individual data source area, but resources are provided on how to take the next steps. Part of the value of the Short Course is raising awareness of the major changes that survey research is undergoing, strengths and issues with different data sources, and new opportunities for research. In-class exercises provide practice in accessing some of the data sources.
About the Instructor
Hugh McCague is a statistician at the Institute for Social Research and Statistical Consulting Service at York University. His work and research concentrate on applications of statistics in health and environmental studies, including the use of data at the Statistics Canada Research Data Centre at York University, as well as the on-going public health surveys of the Institute.
Course Fees
All fees include HST.
York students, the fees per course are: Narrative Analysis Strategies ... $90.40Discourse Analysis ... $90.40
An NVivo R1 for Windows Workshop ... $135.60
Social and Health Survey Data Sources and Emerging Data Collection Methods ... $45.20
York faculty and staff, the fees per course are: Narrative Analysis Strategies ... $203.40Discourse Analysis ... $203.40
An NVivo R1 for Windows Workshop ... $271.20
Social and Health Survey Data Sources and Emerging Data Collection Methods ... $90.40
Full-time students at other post-secondary institutions, the fees per course are:Narrative Analysis Strategies ... $169.50Discourse Analysis ... $169.50
An NVivo R1 for Windows Workshop ... $237.30
Social and Health Survey Data Sources and Emerging Data Collection Methods ... $79.10
External participants, the fees per course are:Narrative Analysis Strategies ... $214.70Discourse Analysis ... $214.70
An NVivo R1 for Windows Workshop ... $305.10
Social and Health Survey Data Sources and Emerging Data Collection Methods ... $101.70
Certificate of Completion
Available on request, full attendance is required.
A $5.65 administrative fee applies, for each certificate requested.
ISR's refund policy follows general guidelines that have been established by York University.
Refunds are available if notice of cancellation is received at least three business days prior to the course start date.
Refunds for members of the York community and full-time students at other universities are subject to an administrative fee of $10 per course; the administrative fee to process refunds for external registrants is $25 per course.
Refunds are not provided when notice of cancellation is received less than three business days prior to the course start date.
Fees paid for courses in a specific session (e.g., fall, winter or spring courses) cannot be transferred to courses in future sessions.
Registration and Payment (by May 9, 2023)
You can register for courses by contacting our Administrative Assistant, Betty Tai.
Registration is now closed for all courses.
by email: btai@yorku.ca or isrcours@yorku.ca
or by telephone: 416-736-5061 Ext. 33024 or 416-456-1232 (working remotely from home)
Additional information regarding registration, contact Institute for Social Research (ISR) by telephone at 416-736-5061 (Ext. 33024) or isrcours@yorku.ca.