Introduction to

Qualitative Research
in Psychology

Willig (2001, 2008)

ofreneo
Epistemology

how and what can we know

 branch of philosophy concerned with the

theory of knowledge
 thinking about the nature of knowledge; the
scope, validity, and reliability of claims to
knowledge
Positivism

correspondence theory of truth

 straightforward relationship between the

world (objects, events, phenomena) and
our perception and understanding
 world = perception
 objective reality = subjective reality
 thing = representation
Positivism

 now generally accepted that the above is

not true (perception is partial at best)
 the question is the extent to which our
understanding can “approach” objective
knowledge or truth
 range of responses to this question – from
naive realism to extreme relativism (with
critical realism and versions of social
constructionism in the middle)
Hypothetico-Deductivism

testing theories using data

 Karl Popper’s falsification theory wherein

theories are tested by deriving hypotheses
which can be tested by observation or data
Social Constructionism

“truth” is socially constructed;

hence, “multiple truths”

 Human experience, including perception, is

mediated historically, culturally, and
linguistically
 knowledge is socially constructed; hence,
knowledges (different ways of perceiving
and understanding the same phenomenon)
Social Constructionism

 “Research from a social constructionist

perspective is concerned with identifying
the various ways of constructing social
reality that are available in a culture, to
explore the conditions of their use and to
trace their implications for human
experience and social practice” (Willig,
2001, p.7).
Epistemology & Methodology

 methodology = a general approach to

studying research topics

 method = a specific research technique

(can refer to method of data collection or
method of data analysis)

 a methodology is directly informed by the

researcher’s epistemological position
Qualitative Methodologies

the focus on meaning-making

 diverse qualitative research methods with

different epistemological positions
 shared concern in meaning or how people
make sense of the world and how they
experience events
 interested with the quality and texture of
experience (rather than the identification of
cause-effect relationships)
Qualitative Methodologies

the turn to interpretation

 interested in the meanings attributed to

events by participants (and researchers)

 interested in the interpretation of these

meanings by participants (and researchers)

 often wishes to describe and explain

phenomena but never to predict
Qualitative Methodologies

theory-generation

 Qualitative methodologies are open-ended,

inductive research concerned with theory
generation and the exploration of meanings
Qualitative Epistemologies

interpretation using a theory or lens

 theory determines interpretation of data

(what you see depends on your lens)

 the interpretation of data depends upon the

theoretical framework informed by our
epistemological stance (e.g. empiricist vs.
social constructionist)
From Recipes to Adventures

Willig (2001, 2008)

ofreneo