MES Research Course
MES Research Course
In February 2008, Yuva Janaagraha launched a pilot qualitative research course in partnership with MES College. A cohort of 40 students from various courses at MES College has enrolled in the course, entitled “Introduction to Social Science Qualitative Research Methods: Applications in Democracy.” This 8-week, intensive hands-on course guides students through the process of designing and carrying out a qualitative research project and then gives them free reign to apply this process to a topic of mutual interest. Lectures are discussion-based and questioning is highly encouraged. Students will work in teams to produce a research paper that will provide Janaagraha with valuable insight into how and why individuals make decisions about participation in government. In going through this process, students will gain valuable analytical research skills, experience in conducting interviews in the field, as well as a greater understanding of urban issues related to governance.
The first three weeks of the course is a learning component, consisting of lecture-based discussions. In the following weeks, students will pick their topics, do background research, design their projects, carry them out in the field, and then work to create a coherent document and presentation to share their work with their peers. For more information about the structure and requirements of the course see the course syllabusand assignment detailing document
For more information, please contact the instructor: Beth Gingold, beth@janaagraha.org
About Instructor
Beth graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2007 with a Bachelor in Economics and a Master of Environmental Studies. She is a fan of mixed methods research—using both qualitative and quantitative methods to fully understand a problem. Her quantitative research background includes research on the genetics of cacao for the United States Department of Agriculture and her thesis on hydrologic ecosystem services in Puerto Rico. She gained on-the-ground experience in qualitative research methods by designing and implementing economic focus groups for the Bome-Ngyenmbo Water Supply Project in Cameroon. Through this course she hopes her students will gain an enthusiasm for open-mindedly exploring multiple viewpoints through qualitative research and skepticism of all things that are not backed up by facts and logic!
For weekly updates on the course, see
Week 1: Lecture: Introduction to the Course: Urban Issues, Local Government, and Research
Week 2 Lecture: Big Picture Introduction to Social Science Research
Week 3: Lecture: Big Picture Introduction to Social Science Research
Week 4: The Action Component Begins
Week 5: Midterm Quiz, Guest Lecture and Team Presentations
Week 6: Project Planning: Meeting with Teams and Preliminary Fieldwork
Week 7: Data Analysis and Really Getting Into the Field
Week 8: Sharing Fieldwork Experiences
Week 9: The Final Symposium
Week 10: Wrapping Up
Week 1 Lecture: Introduction to the Course: Urban Issues, Local Government, and Research
The first lecture was held on Saturday, February 9, 2008 and consisted of an introduction to Janaagraha and urban issues, and a discussion of how individual decisions can have an impact on government. Students were introduced to the motivation for conducting qualitative research to greater understand how and why people make decisions regarding their interaction with government. The syllabus for the course was distributed and discussed.
Mock City Council Finals
On Saturday, February 17, the class attended Yuva Janaagraha’s Mock City Council Finals. The purpose of this requirement was to allow students to improve their understanding of how local government works, and to generate some ideas as to issues that could be addressed by their research projects.
Week 2 Lecture: Big Picture Introduction to Social Science Research
The second lecture was held on Monday, February 25. This began to zoom in on how to develop an appropriate qualitative research project, from choosing a topic to choosing an appropriate sample. Throughout the lecture ethical issues were discussed. Emphasis was on critical thinking—how to evaluate whether a source is reliable in the course of doing a literature review, to how to think about and justify assumptions. Discussion revolved around an example topic choice related to youth voting. The question posed in the example project is “Why do college students decide not to vote?”
Click here for templete PDF document
Week 3: Lecture Qualitative Research Methods Cont’d
The lecture on Saturday, March 1, "Qualitative Research Methods Continued," picked up where last week's left off in guiding the students through the process of designing an appropriate qualitative research project. Continuing with the example of “why do college students decide not to vote?” the students walked through the process of designing an appropriate interview, from brainstorming possible explanations to asking good questions that are relevant, clear, and unbiased. Subsequent topics included the need to have a defined methodology and to follow it in the field, some issues to consider in doing fieldwork, and coding as a tool to analyze qualitative data. Ethical issues such as the need to obtain informed consent and protect confidentiality and anonymity of subjects were emphasized.
At the end of class students chose topics, ranging from traffic to solid waste management and proposed specific questions such as "why don't college students follow traffic rules?" and "why don't industries dispose of waste properly?"
The homework assignmentdistributed in class marked the beginning of the “Action component” of the course where the students begin designing their own projects. The students were instructed to answer several questions defending their choice of topic/question and to identify and evaluate at least three sources to be used in their literature. They were also given an example report plan, which follows the template that they will be asked to follow when they plan their own projects in Week 4.
Week 4: The Action Component!
On Saturday, March 8, the "action component" of the course began in earnest. Over the week, students worked on their homework assignment to prepare for the day’s assignment of preparing their plan of action. Several teams showed their enthusiasm by submitting their homework early, and received extensive feedback. This class consisted of a review of common issues in the homework and upcoming assignments followed by time for teams to work together to come up with their plans. Three volunteers helped answer the students’ questions. The word of the day was “SPECIFIC” as students learned to go from a general topic of interest to a specific research question.
Week 5: Midterm Quiz, Guest Lecture and Team Presentations
This class on Saturday, March 15 began with a short midterm quiz designed to assess how much the students have understood the material covered in class. Several days prior to class the students received a list of about 40 questions and were told the quiz would be a subset of those questions. The questions were designed to test basic understanding—the answers can not be memorized because they do not exist on any of the handouts!
The class continued with a guest lecture by B.M. Krishna Manda, an IIT graduate who is currently pursuing a Master of Environmental Policy at Lund University in Sweden. He gave a talk on his Master thesis—a qualitative research project that investigates the viewpoints of multiple stakeholders who are relevant to policy-making decisions regarding e-waste in India. He engaged the students by emphasizing the steps in designing he took to design his project which are relevant to the students’ own projects.
Finally, the three teams that were picked randomly last week each gave short informal presentations about their project proposals, and the floor was opened for questions. The students were quick to jump into lively debates about each of the topics!
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Week 6: Project Planning: Meeting with Teams and Preliminary Fieldwork
Initial project proposals were submitted by all teams for review. Each team must gain approval for their plans before beginning their fieldwork. The process of planning is the most important part of any research project! Therefore this is a very time-intensive part of the course.
The students are very eager to get going with their fieldwork! During the week, teams arranged meetings at the Janaagraha office to get additional feedback on their plans. The class time was spent discussing the results on the midterm and some common concerns, and giving teams individual feedback on their revisions.
Over the next week teams are expected to gain approval for their projects. Several teams have gained approval to do some preliminary fieldwork, including in-depth interviews with government officials and observational data collection. They will begin this fieldwork this week!
To ensure that the students have appropriate time to complete their fieldwork, the course has been extended with permission from their instructor at M.E.S., according to this updated schedule.
Week 7: Data Analysis and Really Getting Into the Field
This week’s lecture focused on data analysis and presentation. Now that many of the teams have gotten approval for their plans and have begun to venture out in the field, they will soon have lots of information to analyze! The lecture was interactive and based on a set of hypothetical data that could have been collected using the example plan about why college students don’t vote.
The students were given the hypothetical set of questions asked, a set of codes, and a data table. Together the class went through the process of summarizing the characteristics of the sample, summarizing the qualitative responses using coding, and analyzing data by looking for patterns. The class also discussed whether the hypothetical sample was representative of their class, and how to present the data using tables and graphs when writing a report.
All of the teams are going out into the field during the week and will come to class prepared to report on their experiences!
Week 8: Sharing Fieldwork Experiences
This week the students did most of the talking! Each team who had done some fieldwork gave a short informal presentation about their experience. The teams came in with wide-ranging experiences, each providing significant insight into the issues that they were investigating.
Some of the students learned first-hand what it is like to try to participate in local government—they experienced 3-hour waits when trying to speak to government officials, or were given the run-around in other ways. One team encountered an extremely helpful and interested ward corporator, and learned that not all government officials are the same. Another team who had failed to get the information they wanted from the government was able to get what they needed by interviewing a surprise source—a bus conductor who was willing to spend over an hour giving them information about how the public transportation system works! All of the teams had something interesting to say, and when asked if they enjoyed their fieldwork, they responded with a resounding “YES!”
This was practice for the big day next week—the Grand Finale! Next Saturday, Aril 12, 1:30-4:00 , they will present their projects to their peers and faculty. This week will be a frenzy of completing fieldwork, writing up results, and pulling everything together into coherent presentations. We'll see how well they rise to the challenge!
Week 9: The Final Symposium
On April 12th the Course Symposium was held in the M.E.S College auditorium. The students took the lead by organizing and running the event, which was well-attended by faculty and students of the college as well as interested Janaagraha staff.
Through their presentations the students got a chance to show off their knowledge and hard work. For some of the students this was their first chance to give a presentation in front of such a large audience!
Many of the teams had gone above and beyond the requirements of the project by doing extensive fieldwork. Teams made interactive and creative presentations—some even included audio clips and discussion questions. The best part was the enthusiasm the students showed for their projects and how confidently they were able to answer questions from the audience. They simply disproved a common belief that college youth can only be motivated by grades and are uninterested in local urban issues.
Congratulations to all students on a job well done! Three teams received awards for their exceptional presentations, determined democratically through audience vote.
The event was a great success, very much thanks to the involvement of the students and the support from the faculty and administration of M.E.S College.
To learn more about the students and their presentations click here
Week 10: Wrapping Up
The final session of the course was held April 21st. Following a discussion of the symposium, students were encouraged to sign up to volunteer with Janaagraha. Several Janaagraha staff members came to speak about their research-related projects, and we got several highly qualified volunteers! We collected extensive feedback from the students in order to improve the course for next time. At the end of class, the students finally received their hard-earned certificates!
To the students: We hope you will keep in touch and that you will apply all the enthusiasm you showed toward the projects in this course to solving our local problems!