I really love this class with Professor Armenta! She was very knowledgeable about qualitative research from her background as a qualitative researcher and makes the concepts very simplified. Assignments are a hefty portion of the grade so I would say hand in your assignments on time. I would also recommend a later discussion time if you want more time with your assignments as the earlier your discussion is, the quicker you have to finish the assignment. Final was very straightforward and fairly easy. I would focus particularly on the readings as it will be discussed often. My TA was outstanding, her grading is fair and fairly lenient so long as you follow directions. Definitely would recommend this class if you are interested in research, even if you are not a Public Affairs minor or major!

The professor is one of the best professor in the department that is deeply passionate about qualitative research and also her research. Explained every concept well. What I found about others within the class that they would not do the readings and do assignments last minute. In order to get a really good grade and not worry about participation, assignments, and the exam, you have to do the readings, look at the lecture, and participate in the discussion section. The only hard part about the class was the interview and the coding/poster project which took a lot of time. The exam was cumulative but its easier to study for it if you know the readings and all the concepts.

i loved this class so much!! professor armenta was such a fun and sweet instructor and made each lecture super engaging. i personally found all the assignments to be pretty easy/enjoyable. there were a few reading responses and some bigger assignments (field notes, interview, qualitative coding, and final research poster). the field notes required going to a location and writing observation notes which turned out to be pretty fun and straightforward. i really liked the interview assignment as daunting as it seemed! i struggled more with coding even though it was a pretty easy assignment overall but i still got full credit on that assignment and the others. the poster combined elements from the interview and coding assignment and required that you used data from three other classmates, as well as wrote an appendix for the poster. i didn't study for the final exam at all and i found it slightly difficult but fair and got an 82. section attendance was mandatory but i found it helpful for understanding the readings and doing assignments. overall, it was a very manageable class and great experience!! my favorite pub aff class so far

Armenta really cares about her students and takes the time to get to know them and even learn their names, all 130 of them. The weekly assignments are clear and attainable and help you better understand lecture. Both the Professors and TAs are highly responsive to student feedback and I had a great experience.

Professor Armenta was great. She was a really good lecturer, even when the material could be a tad bit boring (most of the time it was actually pretty interesting though). Didn't hate it, didn't love it, but it's required for public affairs and I liked it well enough. I definitely learned a lot about qualitative reasoning, which isn't something most people have ever used before since quantitative methods are always seen as more "scientific." Also shoutout to my TA John for being so awesome.

I really loved this class! Professor Armenta is knowledgable, non intimidating, and helpful. I saw her a couple of times for office hours and she helped me out with my final project. She also didn't grade harshly at all, and discussions were well spent and engaging. I really enjoyed the interview project and how we built on it for transcribing and coding. I did not know what interview coding was before this class, but now I feel confident in it. Note that you do have small almost weekly assignments but they were usually very easy. Professor Armenta also likes to know her students and would memorize things about them that they wrote on notecards on the first day of class. Classes weren't recorded, but she posted the slides and last year's recording on the website.

I loved this class! I don't think lectures were mandatory (I didn't attend), and even if they were I wouldn't mind because Professor Armenta is an engaging lecturer and the class content is interesting.

Shoutout to my TA Arjun for making the class 1000x more interesting. Definitely take it with him if you can!

Professor Armenta makes a compelling case for why we need qualitative literacy to be taught to people as much as quantitative methods is. I really enjoyed this class. I think the work, activities, and topics were very unique and interesting. I would definitely recommend this class to people who aren't public affairs majors.

Professor Armenta is a great lecturer. This class only met once a week and she thoroughly explained any upcoming assignments and I always left class comfortable that I could accurately complete them. The TAs were also very helpful in clearing up any misunderstandings. There is no midterm, the final is a portfolio composed of questions answered through concepts taught throughout the quarter. Her assigned readings are actually very interesting, she goes over them in class but it helps to read them ahead of time. Attendance is taken in section. The only stressful assignment during the quarter was one in which we had to conduct an hour-long interview and then transcribe it word for word. Overall a great upper-division course.

Great class with a great professor! The topics covered in the class are very relevant to what's going on right now. the readings are genuinely interesting. It is a writing intensive class so you are graded toughly on the writing portions, but work ahead and it's fine. if a STEM dum-dum like me can do it, you can do it too