Qualitative Methods

Data Collection Methods

Data and Data Collection

Cultural Studies

Cultural studies refers to the qualitative study of material and nonmaterial social artifacts and representations that surround us. These may be interdisciplinary (including the humanities as well as the social sciences) studies of any aspect of culture, from magazine advertisements, television shows or commercials, computers, etc. Such studies may focus on how these cultural artifacts are created, how they are consumed or used, the messages they promote, how they reflect or drive social interactions, and how the messages change over time. Qualitative researchers who engage in cultural studies analyze social artifacts much the same way as other qualitative sociologists observe social groups or interview respondents.

Though cultural objects of many kinds can be used for qualitative research, we will primarily discuss two kinds: contemporary media and historical documents.