Carrying out High-Quality Qualitative Research: The Importance of Hard Choices - Methods in Social Policy and Intervention Research
This is a hybrid event
Annette Lareau discusses the tensions in how researchers approach the design for qualitative data. Emphasizing the need for depth and richness in the data, as well as a systematic discussion of conceptual issues, Lareau calls for limiting variability in data collection by making very hard choices. By focusing on specific class, race, or gender groups, and limiting the number of these groups, researchers have a greater possibility of creating very high-quality data. Through these difficult choices, researchers have the opportunity to make strong, conceptually-based claims about specific groups, which can then deepen our knowledge of social mechanisms. Lareau illustrates the discussion with examples of the methodological choices she made in her research for “Unequal Childhoods” as well as for her current research project on high-net-worth families.

Annette Lareau is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2024, she is a Leverhulme Professorial Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology at London School of Economics. She is the author of the award-winning books Unequal Childhoods, Home Advantage, and Listening to People. With Blair Sackett, she authored We Thought It Would be Heaven: Refugees in an Unequal America (University of California Press). She is currently doing a study of the blessings and challenges of wealth for families. Annette Lareau is Past President of the American Sociological Association.

Booking is required for people outside of the Department of Social Policy and Intervention (DSPI). The registration form will be available soon. DSPI members do not need to register
Date: 25 April 2024, 16:00 (Thursday, 1st week, Trinity 2024)
Venue: 32-42 Wellington Square (Barnett House), 32-42 Wellington Square OX1 2ER
Venue Details: In-person and online
Speaker: Professor Annette Lareau (University of Pennsylvania)
Organising department: Department of Social Policy and Intervention
Organiser contact email address: communications@spi.ox.ac.uk
Host: Department of Social Policy and Intervention
Part of: DSPI Trinity Term 2024 Seminar Series
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://forms.office.com/e/V3ie84GqxN?origin=lprLink
Booking email: communications@spi.ox.ac.uk
Cost: Free
Audience: Public
Editors: Ngwarirai Mandrup, Faith Inch