The Powerful Potential of Qualitative Research for Community Psychology

Abstract

This special issue of the American Journal of Community Psychology, focused on qualitative research, is the result of several converging factors. Most immediately, the idea for the special issue was born in the wake of a symposium on Qualitative Research in Community Psychology held during the 1995 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Community Research and Action, in Chicago. Despite an early-morning time slot on the final day of the conference, the response to the symposium was tremendous. The room was filled to overflow, and the enthusiasm of those in attendance was evident in the lively discussion that followed the formal presentations. Several themes emerged during the symposium, including (a) an interest in elaborating the nature of qualitative research (i.e., a set of research techniques vs. a paradigmatically distinct way of thinking about, doing, and making use of research), (b) a general sense of agreement that qualitative research methodologies remain greatly underutilized within the field of community psychology, and (c) a shared experience of marginalization among psychologists and graduate students in community psychology who have chosen to employ qualitative rather than, or in addition to, quantitative research strategies in their research. Unfortunately, the discussion of these issues was cut short by the constraints of the time allotted for the