KGLM 2050 - Qualitative Methods for Urban Studies

This is a hands-on course where you will learn by doing. Students are therefore expected to read all assigned readings, regularly attend class, actively take part in the seminar discussions, and most importantly, commit to working in small “inquiry groups" to conduct field research in Paris.

Your work in the class will be assessed on the following:

In-class participation 20%

Graded on the basis of regular participation, references to reading materials, questioning, group work, and capacity for self-reflection.

Urban research field project (80% of which ~ 40% is GROUP WORK):

This semester-long-field project will help you design and conduct a field-research study on a specific urban challenge, exploring it in Paris and potentially in another city.

The goal of this project is not necessarily to produce a comprehensive and structured research study (indeed, this will be impossible to achieve in the short space of 12 weeks) but rather for you to practice the various qualitative methods that might be used in studying urban challenges and to think about how context matters in research and practice.

This project will have both individual and group components as described below.

You will work in groups of 3-4 (inquiry groups). You will work with your instructors to identify an urban challenge that you would like to explore for your fieldwork. Here are some guidelines to help you think this through:

By an “urban challenge” we are referring here to a specific governance challenge that cities and their authorities are often faced with, that might have immediate impacts on the daily lives of urban residents and/or urban environments, and that is a domain of public policy and planning interventions.

Your next goal is to find a specific area/neighborhood in Paris where you can explore this urban challenge via participant observation. We recommend looking for an area where urban challenge is currently being addressed through some type of planning, consultation or community process. This area will be your home base for your field observations.

Next, you will explore how this type of urban challenge is being perceived and tackled by planners, policymakers and community members through a qualitative interview. Each student will be encouraged to choose a city that they are interested in and have strong familiarity with (including the language skills needed to do interviews in that city), including Paris.

The ultimate goal of this qualitative project will be to gather insights from diverse stakeholders using a range of methods, analyze the data to identify themes and patterns, interpret findings through the theories you are learning in your other classes, and synthesize your analysis to assess the challenge. As this is a pilot project, you will not have definitive “answers”, rather, you will seek to develop insights that can guide future research and practice.

Your teaching team will help you choose your case studies and we will be in dialogue throughout the project!

We will finalize groups and your topic by WEEK 1. Once you have chosen your urban challenge and the specific area/neighborhood in Paris, as well any potential comparison city, where you will investigate it, you will carry out the following assignments:

Research memos (10%): INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP WORK, THROUGHOUT THE SEMESTER

These short 300 word assignments will not require you to write much but they will require you to think critically about how you plan to structure your research work.

For specifics of what is expected of you for each memo, see the descriptions after each week’s listing of reading assignments.

Some of these memos will be in-class writing exercises. These will be graded on a Pass/Fall basis, i.e. full credit if you show up to class and complete the work.

Participant observation and informal interviews with diverse stakeholders (residents, business owners, workers, others) in Paris neighborhood (30%): INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP WORK, DUE OCTOBER 20th.

Prepare field observation guide and observation plan, receive feedback and revise (group- 5%)

Interview with stakeholder (30%): INDIVIDUAL WORK, DUE NOVEMBER 27th

Prepare the interview guide, submit for review and receive feedback (individual or group 10%)

Conduct the interview(s) and transcribe the interview

Code the interview using themes developed inductively and deductively

Produce an analytical memo based on your coding (individual 20%

Final presentation (10%): GROUP WORK, DUE DECEMBER 20th

Each group of 4 students will present the research portfolio of their group in a slide-deck of about 20-30 slides (bibliography excluded).

Your research findings should take the following structure

Present the research topic that your group worked on; how you arrived at your topic, and how each of you connect to it (positionality and interest statement)

Provide an overview of the “case/cases” you choose for your research: which cities, what projects/initiatives, why?

Explain the different methods (participant observation, interviews) you mobilized and how to answer your research question. Include any photos as well as snippets of your data analysis.

Present your main findings: what did you learn about your urban issue through these different methods and case studies? Based on this grounded theory project, what is the central concept that is emerging from your observations and interviews? What is it an empirical generalization of?

Critical reflection: what challenges did you face in the research process? How did you reconcile your individual interests and capacities to work as a group? How do you view your work now that you have done it?

Conclusion: how can your research inform planning practice? What further research is needed?

Choose 1 of the following books below to read during summer

Gopakumar, G. (2020). Installing automobility: Emerging politics of mobility and streets in Indian cities. MIT Press. available open access

Fredericks, R. (2018). Garbage citizenship: Vital infrastructures of labor in Dakar, Senegal. Duke University Press.

Miraftab, F. (2016). Global heartland: Displaced labor, transnational lives, and local placemaking. Indiana University Press.

Elyachar, J. (2020). Markets of dispossession: NGOs, economic development, and the state in Cairo. Duke University Press.

Millar, K. M. (2018). Reclaiming the discarded: Life and labor on Rio's garbage dump. Duke University Press.

Levenson, Z. (2022). Delivery as dispossession: land occupation and eviction in the postapartheid city. Oxford University Press.

Anantharaman, M (2024). Recycling class: the contradictions of inclusion in urban sustainability. MIT Press. Available open access.

This is a hands-on course where you will learn by doing. Students are therefore expected to read all assigned readings, regularly attend class, actively take part in the seminar discussions, and most importantly, commit to working in small “inquiry groups" to conduct field research in Paris.

Your work in the class will be assessed on the following:

In-class participation 20%

Graded on the basis of regular participation, references to reading materials, questioning, group work, and capacity for self-reflection.

Urban research field project (80% of which ~ 40% is GROUP WORK):

This semester-long-field project will help you design and conduct a field-research study on a specific urban challenge, exploring it in Paris and potentially in another city.

The goal of this project is not necessarily to produce a comprehensive and structured research study (indeed, this will be impossible to achieve in the short space of 12 weeks) but rather for you to practice the various qualitative methods that might be used in studying urban challenges and to think about how context matters in research and practice.

This project will have both individual and group components as described below.

You will work in groups of 3-4 (inquiry groups). You will work with your instructors to identify an urban challenge that you would like to explore for your fieldwork. Here are some guidelines to help you think this through:

By an “urban challenge” we are referring here to a specific governance challenge that cities and their authorities are often faced with, that might have immediate impacts on the daily lives of urban residents and/or urban environments, and that is a domain of public policy and planning interventions.

Your next goal is to find a specific area/neighborhood in Paris where you can explore this urban challenge via participant observation. We recommend looking for an area where urban challenge is currently being addressed through some type of planning, consultation or community process. This area will be your home base for your field observations.

Next, you will explore how this type of urban challenge is being perceived and tackled by planners, policymakers and community members through a qualitative interview. Each student will be encouraged to choose a city that they are interested in and have strong familiarity with (including the language skills needed to do interviews in that city), including Paris.

The ultimate goal of this qualitative project will be to gather insights from diverse stakeholders using a range of methods, analyze the data to identify themes and patterns, interpret findings through the theories you are learning in your other classes, and synthesize your analysis to assess the challenge. As this is a pilot project, you will not have definitive “answers”, rather, you will seek to develop insights that can guide future research and practice.

Your teaching team will help you choose your case studies and we will be in dialogue throughout the project!

We will finalize groups and your topic by WEEK 1. Once you have chosen your urban challenge and the specific area/neighborhood in Paris, as well any potential comparison city, where you will investigate it, you will carry out the following assignments:

Research memos (10%): INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP WORK, THROUGHOUT THE SEMESTER

These short 300 word assignments will not require you to write much but they will require you to think critically about how you plan to structure your research work.

For specifics of what is expected of you for each memo, see the descriptions after each week’s listing of reading assignments.

Some of these memos will be in-class writing exercises. These will be graded on a Pass/Fall basis, i.e. full credit if you show up to class and complete the work.

Participant observation and informal interviews with diverse stakeholders (residents, business owners, workers, others) in Paris neighborhood (30%): INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP WORK, DUE OCTOBER 20th.

Prepare field observation guide and observation plan, receive feedback and revise (group- 5%)

Interview with stakeholder (30%): INDIVIDUAL WORK, DUE NOVEMBER 27th

Prepare the interview guide, submit for review and receive feedback (individual or group 10%)

Conduct the interview(s) and transcribe the interview

Code the interview using themes developed inductively and deductively

Produce an analytical memo based on your coding (individual 20%

Final presentation (10%): GROUP WORK, DUE DECEMBER 20th

Each group of 4 students will present the research portfolio of their group in a slide-deck of about 20-30 slides (bibliography excluded).

Your research findings should take the following structure

Present the research topic that your group worked on; how you arrived at your topic, and how each of you connect to it (positionality and interest statement)

Provide an overview of the “case/cases” you choose for your research: which cities, what projects/initiatives, why?

Explain the different methods (participant observation, interviews) you mobilized and how to answer your research question. Include any photos as well as snippets of your data analysis.

Present your main findings: what did you learn about your urban issue through these different methods and case studies? Based on this grounded theory project, what is the central concept that is emerging from your observations and interviews? What is it an empirical generalization of?

Critical reflection: what challenges did you face in the research process? How did you reconcile your individual interests and capacities to work as a group? How do you view your work now that you have done it?

Conclusion: how can your research inform planning practice? What further research is needed?

Where can I find the assigned readings?

All assigned readings can be accessed via the Sciences Po library collection. If you cannot find something, please email me and I will locate it for you.

Where are the instructions for assignment preparation?

This syllabus contains all the information you will need. Detailed worksheets and assignment instructions will be provided over the course of the semester.

How should I submit my work?

Each student will be asked to create a Google Drive folder and share it with me at manisha.anantharaman@sciencespo.fr and with zoe.jan@sciencespo.fr. Please title this Google Drive folder with your last name and with GLM as follows: [last name][first name]_QualitativeMethods.You will submit all your assignments to me via this Google Drive folder. We will provide my feedback and comments on your work here. For group assignments, one member of the group should create the collaborative document that everyone contributes to. However, please place a shortcut to this document on each individual student’s drive.