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MODEL SYLLABUS
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN COMMUNICATION STUDIES:
THE INTERVIEW

CLASS FORMAT AND SCHEDULING:
Lecture and discussion, with 2 - 2 hour sessions per week.

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION:
The theory and practice of qualitative interviewing approaches as used in communication studies: philosophic roots, the interview as communication, and theoretically-guided application and implementation.

CREDIT HOURS:
5 credits

COURSE OBJECTIVES:
To provide students with an intensive exposure to issues relating to the theory and practice of qualitative interviewing approaches as used in communication studies; to provide students with a context for experimenting with alternative approaches to the interview as well as practice in evaluating the alternatives using theoretically derived standards. While the primary emphasis of the class is on the use of qualitative interviews in research situations, class discussions will necessarily incorporate attention to the interview as a communication practice in other contexts such as organizational administration, professional relationships with clients (patrons, patients, customers, etc.), and media procedures.

DEVELOPED IN 1996 BY:
Brenda Dervin, Ph.D., Professor (Communication), 3016 Derby Hall, 154 N. Oval Mall, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA dervin.1@osu.edu. Note: This syllabus was developed for curriculum committee review purposes and as a model for alternative instructors. The readings come solely or primarily from authors writing in the various communication fields. Actual presentations of the class will vary and most versions will rely 30-50% on works from sources in other fields.

ATTENDANCE POLICY:
While attendance is not a formal course requirement, there are four ways in which missing class can hurt you. One is in your participation grade for which attendance is a necessary pre-requisite. The second will be in the resources you will be able to bring to bear on the take-home exams because class lectures and discussions will necessarily impact the selection of the exam questions. The third will be in the resources you will be able to bring to bear on your class paper because class sessions will be in part orient toward assisting students with their selected class projects. If you miss a class you must acquire the missing notes from another student and not from the instructor.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
For undergraduate and graduate students, class grades will be calculated based on:

Class participation & discussion	20%
Two take-home exams	40% (20% each)
Class paper	40%

The two take-home exams with each consist of four sets of three questions from which students are to choose one question per set to be answered in no more than one double-spaced typed page.

The class paper requires each student to conduct at least four qualitative interviews which utilize two different approaches. All four interviews must focus on the same phenomena which the student may choose according to individual interests. Significant class time will be devoted to selecting phenomena and interviewing approaches as well as designing specific interviewing practices. The transcribed interviews are to form the appendix of the student's term paper. The paper itself is, in a minimum of ten pages, to comment on the experience drawing on the class readings. The dimensions of attention for the covering essay will be a major focus in class sessions. It is recommended that students hand in draft versions of portions of their final paper to obtain feedback. These drafts may be handed in at any time and will be handed back with comments within one week.

Graduate students will be expected to do graduate level work including covering the additional readings assigned to them as well as preparing a class paper which forms a significant start on the development of a paper suitable for submission for convention or journal referee. This necessarily means the graduate student must bring substantive literatures to bear on the choice of their phenomena of interest.

CLASS READINGS
There are two texts and a list of readings on reserve at the library. The two texts are:

Kvale, Steiner, InterViews: An introduction to qualitative research interviewing.Thousand Oaks, Ca.: Sage, 1996.

Rubin, Herbert J. & Rubin, Irene S., Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data. Thousand Oaks, Ca.: Sage, 1995.

Full citations for all the readings are included in Master Bibliography for Model Syllabi Focusing on Qualitative Research in Communication Studies. In the schedule below, readings are identified by last name of senior author and an abbreviated document title. Items are marked as follows:
+ items are required readings for both undergraduate and graduate students
* items are required for graduate students
- items are available for those who wish to pursue issues in more depth.

The reserve reading list also includes a number of additional qualitative interviewing texts which are not incorporated specifically in the schedule below but which may be useful to students.

COURSE SCHEDULE:
Below is the class schedule. It is recommended that reading assignments be completed by the first class session each week. Due-dates for exams and the paper are marked with a ***.

Wk	FOCUS, READINGS, ASSIGNMENTS
1	INTRODUCTION
2	INTRODUCTION & PHILOSOPHIC ROOTS Class texts: +Kvale 1, Interviewing as research +Kvale 4, Qualitative research in science and in practice +Rubin 2, Foundations of qualitative interviewing Reserve list: *McGregor, Listening outside the participation framework...
3	ISSUES OF VOICE AND REPRESENTATION Class texts: +Kvale 3, Postmodern thought, hermeneutics, phenomenology... +Rubin 8, Hearing about culture Reserve list: +Borden, Empathic listening: the interviewer's betrayal *Clark, Reconstructing history: the epitomizing image *Finch, It's great to have someone to talk to... - Futrell, Intersubjectivity and interviewing - Hansen, A riot of voices *Thomas, Learning what people learn from the media: some prob....
4	THE INTERVIEW AS COMMUNICATION Class texts: +Kvale 2, The interview as a conversation +Rubin 1, Listening, hearing, and sharing social experiences Reserve list: *Anderson, Hearing you in my voice.... +Campbell, In silence we offend *Mason, Communication processes in the field research setting... - Pellowe, Hearer's intentions - Weaver, Listening styles and empathy
***	TAKE-HOME EXAM #1 DUE AT BEGINNING OF FIRST CLASS SESSION THIS WEEK
5	INTERVIEW DESIGN Class texts: +Kvale 5, Designing an interview study +Rubin 3, Keeping on target while hanging loose: designing... *Rubin 7, Assembling the parts: structuring...
6	INTERVIEW EXECUTION Class texts: *Kvale 6, Ethical issues of interviews +Kvale 7, The interview situation
7	INTERVIEW EXECUTION (CONTINUED) Class texts: +Kvale 8, Quality of the interview +Rubin 5, Building conversational partnerships *Rubin 6, Interviews as guided conversations
8	THE SENSE-MAKING INTERVIEW Reserve list: +Dervin, Audience as listener and learner, teacher and... *Dervin, Verbing communication... +Shields & Dervin, Sense-making in feminist social science...
9	FOCUS GROUPS AS INTERVIEWS Reserve list: *Herndon, Using focus group interviews for preliminary investi... +Kreps, Using focus group discussions to promote organizational... +Lunt, Rethinking the focus group in media and comm research...
***	TAKE-HOME EXAM #2 DUE AT BEGINNING OF FIRST CLASS SESSION THIS WEEK
10	SOME EXEMPLAR POLICY APPLICATIONS Reserve list: - Bormann, Using symbolic convergence theory & focus group... *Cragan, Using SCT-based focus group interviews to... +Dervin, From the mind's eye of the user... +Peterson, Using informant directed interviews to... *Van Dijk, Delphi questionnaires versus individual and group...
EX	SCHEDULE EXAM WEEK PERIOD
***	FINAL CLASS PAPER DUE AT THE END OF REGULARLY SCHEDULED EXAM PERIOD FOR THIS CLASS

This syllabus is available in alternative formats upon request. Students with disabilities are responsible for making their needs known to the instructor and for seeking available assistance in a timely manner.

Page last updated 2/25/98