Menu
Menu
Install this application on your home screen for quick and easy access when you’re on the go.
Just tap then “Add to Home Screen”
Level
Level: Introductory
Member rate £572.50
Non-Member rate £1,145.00
Early bird discount available until 14 December 2026.
Save £45.00 Loyalty discount applied automatically*
Save 5% on each additional course booked
* If you attended a qualifying previous Methods School in 2026, you qualify for £45.00 off your course fee.
Date: Monday 22 – Friday 26 February 2027
Time: 09:30 – 12:30 CET
This interactive course uses advanced pedagogical tools and is designed for master's-level students and above. It runs as three-hour live sessions on Zoom over five days, with course materials and pre-course readings available on our Learning Management System at least two weeks before the start. Office hours are also available for one-to-one consultations on your own project.
The course is limited to 18 participants, ensuring that the teaching team can address the individual needs of each participant.
This course gives you a robust understanding of discourse analysis both as an analytic perspective on the world and as an applied social science method. Each day covers one aspect of discourse analytic theory and one practical aspect which you will work on through a common exercise. For example, you will learn how to translate abstract discourse analytic concepts into operational tools for empirical analysis. The course is largely anchored in poststructuralist discourse analysis but can easily be adapted to related approaches such as critical or post-Marxist discourse analysis.
By the end of the course, you will be able to decide whether discourse analysis is useful for your own project and, if so, how to go about your analysis. If you already work with discourse analysis, you will be able to consolidate your approach.
3 ECTS credits awarded for engaging fully in class activities.
1 additional ECTS credit awarded for completing a post-course assignment.
Lea Sgier is a part-time Senior Lecturer in Qualitative Methodology in the Department of Political Science at the University of Geneva and teaches regularly for the Swiss CUSO Doctoral Programmes.
She also works as a consultant on research ethics and methodology at the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER). She has taught workshops and summer schools at institutions around the world, including in the UK, France, the US, Canada, Hong Kong, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. Her research has covered gender and politics (women’s quotas, citizenship) and social policy (old age and dementia policy, social work), and she is currently working on a pilot project on sexual violence. She has previously worked at Central European University and for a private evaluation company.
This course centres on the analysis of textual data – such as interview and focus group transcripts, policy documents, archival data, and media and social media data – from a discourse analytic perspective. It is for you if you are interested in discourse analysis but feel insufficiently prepared for its concrete methodological implementation: the ‘how to’ aspects.
The course introduces core aspects of discourse analytic theory, such as the logic of interpretivism, semantics, sociolinguistics and poststructuralism. It links them to practical aspects of data analysis, such as how to translate abstract discourse analytic concepts into operational tools applicable to data, how to think about ‘coding’ in an interpretive universe, and how to capture silences or latent argumentative structures in data.
It is largely anchored in poststructuralist discourse analysis but can easily be adapted to related approaches such as critical or post-Marxist discourse analysis, which differ in some core premises but not in the actual analytic and methodological steps.
The course mixes lectures, practical exercises on common data (with some group work) and short presentations by participants, also in groups.
For the additional ECTS credit, you will submit a short essay on discourse analytic theory (maximum four pages) and an analysis of your own data (maximum six pages).
A general familiarity with qualitative research and qualitative data analysis is helpful. Some understanding of discourse analysis is also useful but not required.
The course is designed for you if:
Read the following warm-up texts before the course (about five hours):
If you have little or no background in qualitative data analysis, you are also advised to read a few general texts on qualitative data analysis and do a short coding exercise on data of your choice (8–10 hours).
Recommended:The course includes three hours of live teaching each day for five days, alongside readings and other learning activities.
Once you have registered and paid, you will receive access to our Learning Management System (LMS) approximately two weeks before the course start date. Course materials, including pre-course readings, will be available here. Allow approximately 20 hours per week before the course to review the materials and complete readings and any pre-course tasks.
During the course week, you should allow approximately two to three hours per day for preparation and assignments, in addition to the live teaching sessions.
The course offers the opportunity to earn three ECTS credits. To earn a fourth credit, you will need to complete a post-course assignment involving approximately 25 hours of work.
This course description may be subject to subsequent adaptations (e.g. taking into account new developments in the field, participant demands, group size, etc.). Registered participants will be informed at the time of change.
By registering for this course, you confirm that you possess the knowledge required to follow it. The instructor will not teach prerequisite items. If in doubt, please contact us before registering.