Qualitative Research: Participatory Inqu

We have to remember that what we observe is not nature herself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.

- Werner Heisenberg, Physicist

As Heisenberg reminds us, science does not grant unmediated access to reality, but rather, to reality as shaped by our methods of questioning. In psychology, quantitative experiments powerfully allow us to ask particular kinds of questions with precision and control, but they can sometimes bracket out the complexities of lived worlds, reducing what is messy and ambiguous into variables that may miss or even mischaracterize the very phenomena we wish to understand. Qualitative methods open up different vantage points, enabling us to explore meaning, context, and experience in ways numbers alone cannot capture.

This class takes seriously the idea that all methods both reveal and conceal, and that our task as researchers is to choose, and sometimes combine, approaches that best illuminate the questions we seek to answer. We will begin by considering the ontological and epistemological assumptions underlying different research methodologies—that is, assumptions about the nature of reality and how it can be studied. Next, we will learn and practice a range of qualitative approaches used by psychologists including thematic analysis, grounded theory, phenomenological analysis, portraiture, discourse analysis, narrative psychological methods, case studies, and non-linguistic methods. Attention will be given to evaluating what counts as “good” qualitative research, including the benefits of using mixed methods and pluralistic approaches (i.e., combining multiple methods). Throughout the semester, we will look at published examples of qualitative research in a variety of subdisciplines of psychology as well as in how these methods can be used in action research (i.e., in application to real-world problems).

The centerpoint of the course will be an independent project, devised around student research interests, through which students will gain hands-on experience in participatory inquiry, developing not only methodological skill but also a critical perspective on how knowledge is produced. The course is designed both for students who wish to conduct basic or applied qualitative research