Proposal for a Certificate Program in Interpretive and Qualitative Research
March 31, 2003
Proposal Task Force:
Members of the Center for Interpretive and Qualitative Research, or CIQR (pronounced "seeker"): Profs. Fred Evans (Philosophy Dept. -- CIQR Coordinator), Linda Kinahan (Chair of Dept. of English), Lisa Lopez Levers (School of Education), and Martha Peterson (Rangos School of Health Sciences), Russ Walsh (Chair of Psychology Dept.).
Description of CIQR: CIQR is an interdisciplinary center housed in the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts but with a membership that encompasses most of Schools at Duquesne University. For a fuller description of the Center, please see the attached brochure and visit the webpage cited in the brochure.
Certificate in Interpretive and Qualitative Research
1) Duquesne and the Prominence of Interpretive and Qualitative Research:
In the past fifteen to twenty years, interpretive and qualitative research has dramatically increased in importance within the social and behavioral sciences and the helping professions. There has been a proliferation of journals and websites devoted to this type of research. Universities are hiring more faculty familiar with interpretive and qualitative methods, and turning out more graduates knowledgeable of these methods. Besides its humanities departments, which traditionally engage in interpretive and qualitative research, Duquesne outdoes most other universities in the percentage of its faculty in the social and behavioral sciences and the helping professions who use these approaches. The enthusiasm of Duquesne's faculty and graduate students for advancing interpretive and qualitative research has also been indicated by the number of faculty from diverse disciplines participating in CIQR activities. The times and the location (Duquesne) are therefore propitious for complimenting the University's offerings with a certificate in interpretive and qualitative research that could be overseen by the already established CIQR.
2) Purpose:
a) To provide a professional certificate for graduate students, advanced undergraduate students, and post-doctoral students.
b) To strengthen and to take advantage of what is already a unique resource at Duquesne: interpretive and qualitative research.
c) To increase interdisciplinary ties at Duquesne and the links between Duquesne faculty/graduate students and faculty/graduate students in other institutions that have programs or a strong interest in interpretive and qualitative research.
3) Advantages for Certificate Holders:
a) The certificate would provide graduate students in standard disciplines with advanced training in interpretive and qualitative research. The certificate would therefore be an extra reason (beyond their specialties) for other universities or employers to hire these graduates as faculty or as employees. Post-doctoral students would be advantaged by the certificate in a similar manner.
b) The certificate would provide advanced undergraduate students in standard disciplines with advanced training in interpretive and qualitative research. The certificate would be an extra reason (beyond their specialties) for graduate programs to accept them as students.
4) Format:
a) Require four (4) three-credit courses related to interpretive and qualitative research.
b) Three (3) of these should be selected from courses already offered by various depts/schools at Duquesne and possibly by other universities in the area; these courses could be cross-listed with CIQR.
c) One (1) of these should be a "proseminar": A team-taught course by 2-3 Duquesne CIQR members, covering several interpretive/qualitative methods.
1) Course or "independent study" format, depending on the number of students.
2) Required final paper; the best of these each year could be presented to the CIQR membership and the public at a special CIQR session.
3) The final paper by graduate students would be longer and more rigorous than that required for undergraduate students.
d) Students would be expected to attend CIQR's monthly meetings/presentations, panels, and talks on interpretive and qualitative research by visiting speakers.
e) The prerequisites for the certificate courses would be those already required for the courses by the departments offering them. The prerequisites for the proseminar would be at least two of the other three required courses. No more than two of the courses should be taken within the students own department.
f) Non-Duquesne students could receive the certificate if they took the required courses at Duquesne or their equivalents elsewhere, the Duquesne proseminar, and attended the CIQR activities listed in d).
g) The certificate would be noted on the grade transcript of students who have earned it at Duquesne and could be transferable to the transcripts of other universities for non-Duquesne students. A record of all the students who have earned the certificate would be maintained in the Registrar's office and at CIQR.
h) Outreach, e.g., advertisement of the certificate, would be achieved through the CIQR webpage and a single brochure that would replace CIQR's current brochure and include a description and other relevant information concerning the certificate.
5) Responsibility for the Certificate Program and Admission Policy:
a) CIQR would be responsible for administrating the program and reporting to the Dean of the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts.
1) Within CIQR, a special certificate committee would be appointed or elected to oversee the program.
2) The CIQR Coordinator would be a member of this committee and would be responsible for reporting to the Dean. Other members would include some of the professors teaching the courses in the certificate curriculum.
3) The CIQR certificate committee would require that candidates for the certificate write an essay specifying their reasons for seeking the certificate and the types or aspects of interpretive and qualitative methods that interest them -- in short, what skills, information, and ideas do they wish to obtain from the courses they will take. This will help the committee select students for the program, carry out its advisory role in relation to the students, and adapt the certificate curriculum to fit student needs.
4) Candidates for the program would have a GPA in the range of 3.00-4.00 and at least one letter of recommendation from a professor in their major or doing work related to interpretive and qualitative research. In special cases, a student could enter the certificate program on the basis of a successful interview with the certificate committee.
b) Beyond these responsible parties, the certificate program would ultimately be under the University's jurisdiction and administration.
6) Budget Allotments and Certificate Program Needs
a) Some release time and/or augmented salary for at least one CIQR member (the one most directly involved in the day-to-day running of the program) and a graduate assistant.
b) Some release time and/or augmented salary for those team-teaching the proseminar; or simply allowing the course to count as one of the professor's normal load.
c) Office space (this could be the office already occupied by the CIQR Coordinator),
special CIQR/Certificate Program stationary, and the standard administrative
inputs allotted to a program of this size.
Some Candidate Courses for the Certificate Program
McAnulty Graduate School and College of Liberal Arts [Informants: Fred Evans (Philosophy), Jing Li (History), Lanei Rodemeyer (Philosophy), Matt Schneirov (Sociology), Russ Walsh (Psychology), Daniel Watkins (English)]
Dept. of English
ENGLISH 693: Contemporary Literary Theory (Instructor: Dr. Daniel Watkins)
ENGLISH 373: 20th Century African American Literature and Culture (Instructor:
Dr. Daniel Watkins)
Dept. of History
HISTY 3xx East Asian History in Film (Dr. Jing Li)
Dept. of Philosophy
PHIL 577/477 Merleau-Ponty and the Phenomenology of Perception (Instructor:
Dr. Fred Evans)
PHIL 546-01: Husserl’s Ideas (Instructor: Dr. Lanei Rodemeyer)
PHIL 572-01: Heidegger’s Being and Time (Instructor: Dr. Lanei Rodemeyer)
Dept. of Psychology
PSYCH 513: Introduction to Qualitative Research
PSYCH 595 Contemporary Psychology Minicourse
Dept. of Sociology/Graduate Program of Social and Public Policy
Qualitative Methods (course no. to be assigned: Social and Public Policy) (Instructor: Dr. Matt Schneirov)
School of Education (Informants: Drs. Rodney Hopson, Mary Lopez Levers, and Gary Shank)
EDFDN 502: Action Research (Instructor: Dr. Gary Shank)
GREV 514: Qualitative Research Methods I
GREV 614: Practicum in Qualitative Methods (Graduate Evaluation’s version
of Advanced Qualitative Research Methods or Qualitative Research Methods II)
GREV 721: Qualitative Research Methods I (Doctoral Level; Current Instructors:
Drs. Rodney Hopson and Mary Lopez Levers)
GFDED 721: Qualitative Research Methods I