Aspects épistémologiques des méthodes qualitatives en psychologie clinique

Abstract

ObjectiveQualitative methods are associated with the field of human sciences, to which psychology belongs. However, their use is sometimes denounced as less scientific than other approaches. On the contrary, we wish to show that qualitative methods meet all the necessary scientific criteria. MethodBased on an analysis of reference documents, we recall the epistemological fundamentals of the qualitative approach, then the links between this approach and the clinical approach. ResultsOur analysis leads us to present the mixed approach, which is a different way of thinking about the methodological approach, here by combining the qualitative and the quantitative, and which constitutes an approach distinct from the first two. DiscussionAt the end of this analysis, we present the mixed approach, which is fruitful for revealing the clinical complexity that research in the human sciences must account for. ConclusionsWe take the field of complementary practices in full development as an example of the relevance of this methodology. But other practices are obviously concerned. The publication of works using the qualitative or mixed approach is a crucial issue in clinical psychology.