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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Qualitative Research Methods by University of Amsterdam

4.6
stars
1,264 ratings

About the Course

In this course you will be introduced to the basic ideas behind the qualitative research in social science. You will learn about data collection, description, analysis and interpretation in qualitative research. Qualitative research often involves an iterative process. We will focus on the ingredients required for this process: data collection and analysis. You won't learn how to use qualitative methods by just watching video's, so we put much stress on collecting data through observation and interviewing and on analysing and interpreting the collected data in other assignments. Obviously, the most important concepts in qualitative research will be discussed, just as we will discuss quality criteria, good practices, ethics, writing some methods of analysis, and mixing methods. We hope to take away some prejudice, and enthuse many students for qualitative research....

Top reviews

DR

Oct 8, 2016

The teacher is really passionate, everything's very clear and easy to understand. It's full of all the basic knowledge one needs to know about qualitative research methods to begin working with them.

KF

Dec 20, 2018

I found this a very useful way of getting a basic introduction to qualitative research methods, without just sitting down with some text books. The content was engaging and at the right level for me.

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1 - 25 of 424 Reviews for Qualitative Research Methods

By Yasar M

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Dec 3, 2018

It was very difficult for me to grasp the concepts explained in the course. One of the main reasons is that Professor explained the concepts in an abstract way without giving concrete examples. I have also taken the previous course Quantitative Methods. I would rate quantitative methods 5 out of 5 because the Professor used very simple examples (cat examples) and it helped to grasp the concept a lot. Unfortunately this was not the case in this course. I hope the Professor will do the needful to improve the course.

By Anne

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Apr 10, 2018

Very interesting professor, but uses too much of the time for tangents. Very hard to understand assignments. really enjoyed the writing assignments as a creative project but I don't feel I was able to fully grasp the concepts despite getting good marks.

By Rebecca T

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Nov 19, 2018

There was some very useful information and explanations in the course, such as the appropriate way to interpret and generalize qualitative data (something a lot of people often get wrong) and how to mindfully structure qualitative interviews. The lectures themselves were a bit fast and disorganized, and I often had difficulty knowing which information to pay close attention to and take notes on. The exams took me several attempts each because some of the material tested on was glossed over in the lectures, and I was unsure of the correct answer. The course is worth taking overall, there's some good stuff in here, but as it is now it can be a bit difficult and time-consuming.

By Tomislav S

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Jan 8, 2020

I am very pleased that I have finished "Qualitative Research Methods" as part of the Research Methods Specialization. I have enjoyed listening to his video lectures a lot.

A prospective course participant should know that Goerben Moerman is a very different lecturer. (Despite being all over the screen as he mastered jumping and leaning forwards :-)) As a 'Lecturer of the Year 2011' at the Uni. of Amsterdam, one can assume he is a good story-teller and a passionate actor.

However, there are some minor drawbacks in his approach. His teaching approach is a bit less systematic, compared to Annemarie Zand Scholten's one from the Course 1 in the specialization. There were too many video cuts (I believe due to his digressions), so I felt that sometimes patchworks lack coherence. For instance, he used a term 'denaturalist', obviously explained in the cut scenes, so the unexplained term suddenly appeared making a content not fully comprehensible. Moreover, his explanation in the video 2.6 was not well done - I had to carefully examine what he had wanted to say in one occasion.

He goes slowly through the material, which many would appreciate.

I liked a lot his (longer) video on Abduction (Week 3). This is a must to see, even if you are not interested in Qualitative Research Methods.

All audio recordings have been made in a room with a rather bad acoustics. For instance, Annemarie's audio recordings were perfect from the technical perspective.

The lecturer does not patronize or ex cathedra, which is the best. He has been using frequently the adverbs 'perhaps' or 'maybe' letting ourselves to make a judgement.

The worst part of the Qualitative Research Methods is the Week 5 assignment, which was too boring, time consuming, and not quite understandable.

Despite few drawbacks that I have mentioned, I have learnt a lot from this course and I strongly recommend it to everyone.

By Shahadat H

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Aug 14, 2018

It was awesome experience indeed. I have learned lot of things about Qualitative Research Methods. These lessons will help me a lot to do my personal research. Enjoyed that course much.

By Anna W

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Aug 31, 2019

Really enjoyed this course. The lectures were engaging, the assignments applicable. I really enjoyed being able to review other classmates' assignments from around the world. Very cool concept.

By Bianca V

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Mar 31, 2018

The content could have been more concise and more structured. Some assessments were also not clear, as one interpretation of the assessment would not always lead to scoring maximum points.

I particularly liked the constant connection with philosophical schools of thought, as this helped me practically pin down concepts which I found difficult to grasp in the past.

By N_ens

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Aug 10, 2017

While the lecturer obviously has enthusiasm for the subject he is hard to follow during the lectures. It is not always clear where the concepts fit and the slides don't help as their graphic format is hard to read and annoying. There is a lot of screaming and excitement during the lectures and a lack of summarising and condensing. While this might work in a classroom it makes it difficult in an online environment. Additionally I do not think it is clear what the intended level for this course is. It seems to imply that it is introductory but then glosses over things without explaining the foundations implying a higher level, however then is quite simplistic for that level. All in all I think the course could be improved by focusing more on the core messages and reducing the noise.

By HASKAR B U

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Aug 9, 2020

Best course on Qualitative Research.Improved knowledge about the concepts and its application in different steps of research.Thanks to Dr.Gerben Moerman for his matchless delivering of concepts.

By Kelly O

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May 28, 2017

Great course with a solid introduction to qualitative research methods. Loved the enthusiasm in the videos and the assignments were practical and great practice to use the methods taught.

By David M

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Jan 2, 2019

The course covers a lot of content and is a good introduction to the different aspects of qualitative research. However, i was a bit dissapointed with the content on coding, analysis and interpretation. I expected practical examples on the concepts taught rather than just theory. At the end, i didnt feel that i had understood the practical aspects that is so required.

By David C

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Feb 19, 2021

This the equivalent of a 101 Qual research course, but it has too much theory vs very little practice or real life examples. I found it hard to finish because it was too theorical and hardly learned anything new that is applicable. I have more or less self-learned QUAL research and have been doing research for 15+ years and this was one of the worst courses I've taken. The only high note is the charisma and articulation of the instructor and on a slightly positive level too some of the homework.

By Mauricio O

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Sep 30, 2020

I am very pleased with the things I have learned here. I really liked the assignments, and the enthusiasm of the professor was a plus. However, something that can be improved is the coding week, because I consider is one of the most important ones, but unfortunately harder to understand. I think that providing examples on how to do it would help a lot.

By Sumedha R C

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Jan 10, 2019

It was a great learning experience. Being a sociology student I had some idea of the basics but the kind of knowledge that has broadened for me is unimaginable and each and every lecture of Prof. Gerben is extremely interesting, ethusiactic and loaded with information. Looking forward to attend his classes in person someday soon.

By Anindo B

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Apr 14, 2019

The best course on Qualitative Methods. A must for any one conducting serious research using qualitative methods.

I express my gratitude for explaining the nuances and subtleties of elder care. This is not just introduction. It answers the many un-answered questions in Qualitative Methods

By VUB

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Apr 8, 2019

Very very good course, I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. Congratulations to the course designer, to our so adorable professor Gerben Moergen and all the staff. One suggestion: change the assignment in week 5: is impossible, time consuming and at the end boring.

By Ankit C

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Dec 29, 2018

Awesome course. But some portions of the course is not clear or properly structured from a new learners perspective. Assessment is quite rigorous, which I think is quite good only. Few assignment or things are difficult for a beginner to understand or follow.

By Irene P

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Jan 2, 2019

Outstanding lecturer - very engaging and clearly passionate about the subject. I also really enjoyed the practical aspect of some of the assignments - although it does mean you can't leave them to the night before the deadline!

By Kelda F

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Dec 21, 2018

I found this a very useful way of getting a basic introduction to qualitative research methods, without just sitting down with some text books. The content was engaging and at the right level for me.

By Diego M R

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Oct 9, 2016

The teacher is really passionate, everything's very clear and easy to understand. It's full of all the basic knowledge one needs to know about qualitative research methods to begin working with them.

By Susmita S

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Jun 27, 2020

The course enriched me a lot! Thank you Moerman SIr for giving a direction to carry on the qual analaysis. It's really great course for me. I have learnt a lot from the course. Thank you Sir.

By Miguel C

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May 5, 2020

A special shout-out to the professor, Gerben Moerman, to his passion, his enthusiasm and his teaching methodology. It made the course ever more enjoyable and the topics easily learnable!

By Naomi K

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Mar 5, 2019

I really enjoyed this course. The professor is full of energy which made learning the material fun.

By Madhulika S

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Mar 4, 2019

I love the course, enjoyed the lectures and the assignments. It's worth doing this MOOC course.

By Nalini R

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Mar 18, 2019

Thank you for the course. The reading you have recommended for the course was really helpful!