96439 - Research Methods in Cultural Studies (1)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course the student: is provided with a toolbox (made of concepts, methods and techniques) related to cultural studies; has developed basic skills for designing, conducting, and evaluating empirical researches in the field of cultural studies, with special reference to arts, music, and entertainment.

Course contents

This course introduces the logic and practice of empirical research within the interdisciplinary field of cultural studies, adopting both a historical and a critical perspective. It begins with an epistemological reflection on the various paradigms of social and cultural research, a comparison with the method most common in the humanities (so-called "close reading"), and a close—albeit highly selective—reading of exemplary studies. These include works such as Sigmund Freud’s *The Interpretation of Dreams* (1900), Max Weber’s *The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism* (1905), W.I. Thomas and F. Znaniecki’s *The Polish Peasant in Europe and America* (1918–20), Bronisław Malinowski’s *Argonauts of the Western Pacific* (1922), Siegfried Kracauer’s *From Caligari to Hitler* (1947), W.F. Whyte’s *Street Corner Society* (1955), Roland Barthes’s *Mythologies* (1957), Howard S. Becker’s *Outsiders* (1963), Clifford Geertz’s "Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight" (1972), Stuart Hall and Tony Jefferson’s *Resistance Through Rituals* (1975), Pierre Bourdieu’s *Distinction* (1979), and Erving Goffman’s *Gender Advertisements* (1979)...

We will selectively analyze these and other now-classic (though not necessarily "canonical") texts by examining the methods employed, reflecting on their epistemological assumptions, and critically reading the evidence base mobilized or produced to support their theoretical arguments. We will observe qualitative, quantitative, "mixed," and critical approaches in action. We will compare methods (experimental, ethnographic, narrative, etc.) and techniques for data collection (interviews, questionnaires, varying degrees of participant observation, personal and institutional documents, etc.) and data analysis. We will examine how this body of research introduced and experimented with—among other approaches—"arts-based" methods and techniques. We will also explore how these methods can be used today—decades after their initial publication—to study cultural practices and objects in the age of digital media, AI and platforms. In doing so, we will look at how studies that became models for future research were constructed, while also analyzing and evaluating texts that have become essential reference points for anyone studying culture today.

Our focus will be on "culture" understood in both the humanistic sense (the interpretation and classification of cultural works; the creation and "consumption" of art objects, philosophical ideas, etc.) and the socio-anthropological sense (ordinary, everyday, and popular culture—encompassing common practices such as grocery shopping, cooking and eating, going out with friends, playing games, browsing the web, reading a book, watching a TV series or movie, listening to and writing songs, conversing, storytelling, communicating via social media, etc.).

Students with specific learning disorders (SLD) or temporary/permanent disabilities should contact the appropriate University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) immediately and agree with the teacher the most effective strategies for attending the lectures and preparing for the exam.

 

Readings/Bibliography

REFERENCES TEXTS

M. Santoro, Cosa è cultura, Bologna, Il Mulino 2023.

M. Santoro e B. Gruning, Cultura e società. Concetti modelli questioni, Roma, Carocci 2024.

P. Corbetta, La ricerca sociale, vol. 1. I paradigmi di riferimento, Bologna, il Mulino 2003.

P. Montesperelli e F. Parziale, Ricerca sociale e processi culturali, Roma, Carocci 2023.

C. Ginzburg, Spie. Radici di un paradigma indiziario, in Id., Miti emblemi spie, Torino, Einaudi.

L. Russo e A. Della Corte, La bottega dello scienziato. Introduzione al metodo scientifico, Bologna, Il Mulino 2016.

B. Latour, La scienza in azione, Milano, Comunità 1993.

Ch. Bazerman, Le origini della scrittura scientifica, Ancona, Transeuropa 1991.

J. Madge, Lo sviluppo dei metodi di ricerca empirica in sociologia, Bologna, Il Mulino 2003.

P. Corbetta, La ricerca sociale, vol. 3. Le tecniche qualitative, Bologna, Il Mulino 2003.

H.S. Becker, Trucchi del mestiere.Come fare ricerca sociale, Bologna, Il Mulino 2007.

P. Bourdieu, La logica della ricerca sociale, Milano, Mimesis 2019.

P. Bourdieu, Sulla riflessività, Milano, Meltemi 2024.

M. Santoro, Bourdieu in pratica. Guida all'uso di un'opera sociologica, Bologna, Il Mulino 2025.

G. Semi, L'osservazione partecipante. Una guida pratica, Bologna, Il Mulino 2010.

L.Wacquant, Miseria della etnografia della miseria, Pisa, ETS 2026.

A. Frisina, Focus group. Una guida pratica, Bologna, il Mulino 2010.

A. Frisina (a cura di) Metodi visuali nella ricerca sociale, Bologna, il Mulino 2017.

D. Lupton, Sociologia digitale, Milano, Pearson 2018.

M.J. Salganik, Bit By Bit. La ricerca sociale nell’era digitale Bologna, il Mulino, 2020

A. Caliandro e A. Gandini, I metodi digitali nella ricerca sociale, Roma, Carocci 2019.

A. Giorgi, M. Pizzolati, E. Vacchelli, Metodi creativi per la ricerca sociale. Contesto, pratiche, strumenti, Bologna, il Mulino 2020.

F. Moretti, Falso movimento. La svolta quantitativa nello studio della letteratura, Milano, Nottetempo 2022.

D. Huff, Mentire con le statistiche, Monti & Ambrosini 2009

A. Cairo, Come i grafici mentono. Capire meglio le informazioni visive, Milano, Raffaello Cortina 2020.

TEXTS IN ENGLISH

R. Coleman, K. Jungnickel e N. Puwar, eds. How to do Social Research With ... London: Goldsmiths Press https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/34693/1/HTDSRW_FINAL%20BOOK.pdf

M. Lehtonen, The Cultural Analysis of Texts. London, SAGE, 2005.

J.D. Guillory, On Close Reading, Chicago, University of Chicago Press 2025.

Reading into Cultural Studies, a cura di M. Barker e A. Beezer, London, Routledge 1992.

Canonic Texts in Media Research: Are There Any? Should There Be? How About These? a cura di Elihu Katz et al. Cambridge, Polity Press, 2003.

M. Pickering, ed. Research Methods in Cultural Studies, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press 2008.

L.T. Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples, London, Bloomsbury Publishing 2021 (3rd ed.)

S. Reinharz, Feminist Methods in Social Research, New York, Oxford University Press 1992.

S.N. Hesse-Biber, ed. Feminist Research Practice. A Primer, Thousand Oaks, Sage 2013

Teaching methods

Lectures with in-class research simulations and seminar discussion sessions. One of the objectives of the course is indeed to share knowledge, reflections, and research paths in the critical and participatory pedagogical spirit characteristic of both British Cultural Studies and Pierre Bourdieu's sociological practice.

Assessment methods

The exam is a written assignment consisting of a paper (at least 30,000 characters in length) on a topic agreed upon with the instructor; the paper should explore, develop, or supplement the course syllabus.

The paper must report on a research exercise that applies at least one of the techniques introduced during the course: interviews (in any of their various forms), participant observation, secondary analysis of statistical or textual data, visual methods (photographs and images), or other more specific techniques.


The paper must be structured around five points:

1. research question (the problem);

2. brief review of existing literature;

3. research method(s) adopted;

4. case study or studies;

5. discussion of key findings and any issues encountered.


Assessment is based on the following criteria:

- quality of writing

- depth of argumentation

- appropriateness of the method used

- critical insight in describing and interpreting results (reflexivity).

Papers that do not explicitly employ concepts specific to the vocabulary of cultural studies and research methodology will not be considered relevant to the exam and will therefore receive a negative assessment.

The use of AI as an AID is permitted, provided the prompts used are included in the paper; these prompts will also be subject to evaluation.

Students with specific learning disorders (SLD) or temporary/permanent disabilities should contact the appropriate University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) in advance. The office will be responsible for proposing adaptations to interested students. Such adaptations must be submitted to the teacher for approval at least 15 days before the exam session. The teacher will also evaluate the adaptations regarding the training objectives of teaching.

Teaching tools

• Auxiliary material in PDF format: This will be uploaded to the course's online platform.

• Supporting videos.

• Course slides: These will be made available at the conclusion of the lectures.

Office hours

See the website of Marco Santoro