With a new semester, many of us are revising our courses, and looking for new teaching ideas. Published by Routledge, The Handbook of Teaching Qualitative and Mixed Research Methods: A Step-by-Step Guide for Instructors, edited by Alissa Ruth, Amber Wutich, and H. Russell Bernard provides a rich array of resources for instructors of research methods. Ruth et al. (2024) encompass both qualitative and mixed research methods in their new handbook. This edited volume is organized into 11 sections, each with practical lesson plans.
Section 1. Research Ethics (2 lessons)
Section 2. Sampling in Qualitative Research (4 lessons)
Section 3. Interviewing as Data Collection (8 lessons)
Section 4. Observations as Data Collection (11 lessons)
Section 5. Indigenous and Decolonizing Methods (9 lessons)
Section 6. Visual and Participatory Methods (6 lessons)
Section 7. Building Blocks and Basis of Analysis (10 lessons)
Section 8. Grounded Theory, Phenomenology and Narrative Analysis (5 lessons)
Section 9. Linguistic Analysis (6 lessons)
Section 10. Network Analysis and Cultural Domain Analysis (4 lessons)
Section 11. Modeling and Comparative Analysis (6 lessons).
Many of the authors are well-known for their publications on the topics they discuss. For example, Monique Hennink writes on teaching sampling, David Morgan on focus groups, Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy on crucial Indigenous methods, and Johnny Saldaña on developing a codebook. A large number of authors are anthropologists, reflecting the disciplinary interests of the three editors, Alissa Ruth, Amber Wutich and H. Russell Bernard.
Lessons are organized similarly. After a brief introduction to the method, authors include a list of references for further reading, estimated time for teacher preparation and duration of the lesson, a list of materials needed, expected learning outcomes, lesson instructions, homework suggestions, suggestions for reflection and class discussion, and modifications for online teaching.
With a total of 71 lessons, this book is an excellent contribution to the literature on teaching research methods offering numerous ideas to try out in your classroom.
Kathy Roulston
Full disclosure: I was honored to be invited to contribute a lesson on teaching interviewing to this volume.
Reference
Ruth, A., Wutich, A., & Bernard, H. R. (Eds.). (2024). The handbook of teaching qualitative and mixed research methods. Routledge.
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