Rocking Qualitative Social Science
In this talk, Ashley Rubin discusses her new book, Rocking Qualitative Social Science (Stanford University Press, 2021), focusing on her motivations for writing it and what she see as its main contributions. Rubin will emphasize the importance of matching the research process to the goals of the research project. In that spirit, Rubin will contrast the common emphasis on the one “right way” of doing qualitative research to what she calls the “dirtbagging” approach to research, which is a more inclusive and flexible approach that still follows the scientific method, but rearranges the steps in ways that we are often told not to do. Finally, Rubin will offer some highlights from the book focused on countering some conventional wisdom.
About the speaker:
Ashley Rubin is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She holds a PhD in Jurisprudence and Social Policy from UC Berkeley. Rubin’s research examines the dynamics of penal change throughout US history. She is the author of The Deviant Prison (Cambridge University Press, 2021) and Rocking Qualitative Social Science (Stanford University Press, 2021).
Critical Development Studies Seminar Series:
The series is organized by faculty and Ph.D. students in the Department of Global Development and the Graduate Field of Development Studies. You are encouraged to take part in these invigorating discussions in-person in Warren Hall B73 or via Zoom.
