MD 622 - Participatory Design Methods

Credits: 4 credits
(Fall)

This core course is required in the fall semester and explores the methods that inform media design and participatory research and practice. The course uses action research as our frame of inquiry and specifically looks at participatory research methodologies and qualitative methods, including focus groups, ethnography, observation, narrative inquiry, systems analysis, cultural artifacts, in-depth interviews, and more. Students learn how to design a qualitative research study (including process and outcomes evaluations), how to write funding proposals, and how to build participatory research processes into an intervention. Students investigate participatory media research case studies and examine how to best understand their value and impact. Students complete a series of assignments and write a final paper on qualitative research, including understanding how to pick the appropriate methods for the thesis evaluation.