This short and focussed course enables early-career researchers to use qualitative research methods to explore key questions on the Urban. Delivered by an expert in the subject, this course will include case studies, discussions and activities that will enable participants to understand various stages in the qualitative research process, exploring the following high-level questions:

Who this is for:

• Young researchers working in academia or in the social sector
• PhD scholars and Master’s students who want to develop a deep understanding of qualitative research and pursue a research career
• Practitioners employed in the government, NGOs or private sector, working broadly in the areas of urbanisation, sustainable development or public policy

This course will enable participants to:

• Understand the importance of qualitative research in exploring key urban questions
• Identify appropriate qualitative research methods for different research questions
• Use different data collection techniques in qualitative research
• Find practical solutions to various challenges in data collection in qualitative research
• Interpret qualitative data to extract meaningful interpretations and insights

Divya Ravindranath

Divya’s research interests include informal work, social protection, gender and urban health. Drawing from her experience of using a wide range of qualitative methods in research, Divya has been teaching qualitative methods both as a foundation-level course and as an advanced course in the IIHS Urban Fellows Programme. She has also taught qualitative methods as visiting faculty to master’s and doctoral students at Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT), and was part of the IIHS faculty team that conducted a methods training workshop for participants at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy (AIGGPA), Bhopal. Divya is a PhD in Social Work from Washington University, St. Louis, and has a master’s in Social Work from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

Programme Structure

• Delivered through a combination of online lectures and discussions, case studies, activities and masterclasses
• High degree of application orientation and peer learning

Key Differentiators

• Extensive use of real research cases and experiences
• Concepts, discussions, examples and methods rooted in the urban Indian context
• Activities to enable immediate application
• Ongoing resource bank 

Week 1

Week 2