The Post Graduate Department of Sociology organised an extension lecture on ‘Issues in Qualitative Research Methodology’ on 29th February, 2024. Prof. Kulwinder Kaur from Jamia, Millia, Islamia University, New Delhi was the guest speaker, professor in the Department of Sociology and Honorary Director, Centre for Comparative Religions and Civilisations at Jamia, Millia, Islamia University. Prof. Kulwinder is an eminent sociologist with a multi-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary orientation. Her expertise is urban sociology, media studies, gender and religion. She has an illustrious academic career with decades of working experience at prestigious universities in India and abroad. She was a visiting fellow at Harvard University and the SOAS University of London.
Dr. Manoj Kumar formally introduced Prof. Kulwinder Kaur and Prof. Renu Trikha, Head of the Department of Sociology welcomed her.
In her lecture, Prof. Kulwinder deliberated on the foundations of qualitative research methodology. She discussed the epistemological and ontological stance of sociology, the relationship between method and theory, and several theoretical perspectives that are relevant to the qualitative research methodology. She provided examples from her own research projects to simplify complex concepts. She also discussed how commonsense knowledge sometimes overlaps the sociological research and how can a researcher deal with it. She inspired the students to choose the research topics, they are passionate about, learn all the research techniques, and use the research methods that best address their research questions.
This was an interdisciplinary event, comprising students and faculty members from different departments of the college. A total of 136 undergraduate, postgraduate students and research scholars from the disciplines of Sociology, English, Economics and Public Administration participated in the event. They all eagerly participated and engaged in the discourse with Prof. Kulwinder.
