The purpose of the course is a complete introduction to the theoretical background and practice of qualitative research along with analysis of qualitative data. The course covers the following areas: introduction to qualitative methods, differences between qualitative and quantitative methods, qualitative research design, theoretical background of qualitative research: positivism and its critique, critical theories, grounded theory, phenomenology, symbolic interactionism, social constructionism, critical realism. Methods and strategies: participant observation, qualitative interviewing, focus groups, content analysis, discourse analysis, conversation analysis, biographical research, historical-comparative analysis,case study, archival research. Multi-method approaches. Qualitative data analysis: theory and practice, QDA software and their logics, coding, categorization of data and theory development.