An introductory course in qualitative research methods, intended to provide a general overview of the ways sociologists collect qualitative information about social phenomena, focusing on how to collect and anaylyze data that are reliable and applicable to our research questions. We will begin by constructing a research question that will drive our work for the entire semester. You will learn three of the main ways that qualitative data are used in sociological research: analysis of written material, participant observation, and open ended semi-structured interviews.