Promoting the Value of Discursive Psychology for the Field of Human Resource Development: A Pedagogical Guide for Qualitative Researchers

Abstract

To date, the study of how health and wellbeing are actualized in organizations and how an organization’s interactional practices shape an environment that is potentially harmful to health is understudied. Much of the research around this topic has centered on personality and individual differences, as well as health and safety or ergonomics. Little understanding exists of how interactional practices might serve to prioritize health and wellbeing. In this paper, we introduce discursive psychology (DP) – a qualitative approach to studying talk and text that focuses on examining what is accomplished through people’s interactional practices. We provide an overview of DP and discuss its underlying assumptions, analytic process, and quality measures. To illustrate the application of DP to HRD, we include data extracts that highlight the impact of question design. To conclude, we point to how DP might afford HRD scholars opportunities to generate new theoretical understandings about organizational practices.