Qualitative research has historically played a secondary role to quantitative research in the study of social science phenomena. However, over the past few decades it has gained recognition as researchers have sought a deeper understanding of complex human experiences. Their goal has been to understand how individuals describe their experience of life events from the inside out.  The views of the interviewees are important as their life experiences have made them experts on the particular problem or situation under study.  Qualitative research seeks to explore the continuum of the human experience as it relates to a particular problem, to explore the problem in context, and to explore it as experienced by the individual. The primary task of the research is to explain the ways that people in particular settings come to understand, account for, take action, and otherwise manage their day-to-day situations.

The course will include understanding different forms of qualitative research especially grounded methodology, interpretative phenomenological analysis, and secondary research.  It will also include information about the Institutional Review Board process for human subjects research at Gratz, interviewing techniques, and how to analyze qualitative data. The course will center around developing a research design for a dissertation using the qualitative research data from the Transcending Trauma archive which will be part of the online content offered on Gratz’s website.