This midday talk will take place online, please join our mailing list for the link. This will be sent out the week before and again on the day of the talk.
How do discourses travel? Exploring macro, meso and micro through ethnography and interviews
Presentation summary from Jo Law:
This presentation shares the methodological design of my PhD, which explores working-class motherhood. It will explain why I chose a multi-level discourse framework, how I conceptualised each level and how I am working across micro, meso, and macro levels in my analysis. Focusing particularly on the meso level, I will draw on staff interviews alongside ethnographic observations in a community centre to explore how working-class motherhood is talked about and lived in everyday interactions. Furthermore, I will demonstrate how different methods of data collection can produce different insights. This session intends to reflect on my ongoing strategy for integrating macro, meso and micro analytic levels and the methodological and practical challenges this presents.
About the presenter
I am a qualitative researcher with a strong commitment to ethical and reflexive research practice, and a passion for using qualitative methodologies to better understand and support marginalised and disadvantaged communities. I am currently a member of the qualitative research team on the EDEN project, which explores the use of ketamine as a treatment for individuals experiencing both anorexia nervosa and depression.
I am also a PhD candidate researching the intersection of motherhood and social class. I am interested in how working-class mothers navigate discursive landscapes to construct their identities, negotiate their self-worth and make sense of their roles, responsibilities, opportunities, and constraints.
I value qualitative research as a space for in-depth, ethical and collaborative knowledge production, and I hope my work contributes to ongoing methodological conversations and to meaningful social change.