Qualitative Research In Psychology Research Articles

In spirit and in truth: (re)searching Christianity and racial liberation in education

In spirit and in truth: (re)searching Christianity and racial liberation in education

Sociocultural Responsive Frameworks to Increase Engagement in Service Systems Through a Peer-to-Peer Model.

Service engagement is critical when working with children and families experiencing chronic adversities because of their socially marginalized status. Further, sociodemographic disparities exist in service engagement within service systems including Community-Based Behavioral Health; likely in part, a result of structural issues driving unresponsive service systems. Despite this knowledge, a large proportion of the family engagement literature continues to be approached through a deficit-based and family-centric lens leaving out important systemic considerations and furthering health inequities. Drawing from a Socio-Ecological Framework (Stokols, 1996), this study focuses on exploring the value of peer support providers (PSPs) to understand how sociocultural responsiveness functions under this service model. Individual interviews and focus group data were collected from both families and PSPs. Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke in Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101, 2006) was utilized to code and synthetize the data collected. Findings highlight the importance of capitalizing on meaningful and trusting relationships to foster family engagement in services. These findings solidify the understanding that family engagement is a function of crucial relationships between family, provider, and systems. This work also illustrates how PSPs organic embodiment of sociocultural responsiveness through cultural humility is an avenue through which family engagement can be sustained.

Critical Qualitative Inquiry: One Attempt to Actualize a Reconceptualization of Research

Critical qualitative scholar-activists’ work toward greater justice is always situated within the neo-liberal structures of the academy and society: even as we strive to reconceptualize research, we exist within its current conceptualizations that instantiate and reify the very oppressions we seek to disrupt. This paper chronicles one researcher’s attempt to reconceptualize research as sacred acts of relationships and relating through challenging the primacy of language, and traditional conceptualizations of disability. Calling on praxis as a complex dynamic of theory and practice—two indivisible parts of being human—I will discuss a research project involving a professional development experience for teacher candidates with disabilities or diagnoses, as a research endeavor that attempted to facilitate research as a sacred act occurring in the relationships formed and relating within, between, and among the people involved and employed methodological tools that do not rely on language as an only source of communication.

Critical Qualitative Inquiry: An Optimistic Counter in/to a Conservative Backslide

In this conceptual paper, we theorize possibilities for critical qualitative inquirers who work in the face of and in response to escalating authoritarian threats to democracy, academic freedom, and belonging. We explore seemingly failed methodological, pedagogical, and activist resistances that arose from our experiences as critical qualitative methodologists in states marked by oppressive conservative driven democratic backsliding. Drawing inspiration from Manning’s account of the minor, Malabou’s plasticity, and Butler’s radical interdependence, we share how new collective, creative, and clever countermoves emerged from the failure of planned resistances. Our examples exist in the space of radical hope, offering provocations for critical qualitative researchers as we (re)conceptualize and (re)enact movements toward justice amid a conservative backslide.

How Can Critique of Critique Create Possibilities for Critical Qualitative Inquiry?

This commentary is based on a presentation given at the annual meeting of the Coalition for Critical Qualitative Research at the 19th International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry. The focus of the presentation was to address the theme: “ What are your conceptualisations of reactions to critique of critiques, and possibilities for, critical qualitative inquiry?” The aim was to prompt the participants to critically reflect on the idea of critique, and critiques of such critique.

Becomings-With Critical Qualitative Inquiry

This special issue was initiated using ideas and content from the 2023 all-day discussion at the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (ICQI) relating critical qualitative inquiry (CQI) and contemporary issues of social, environmental, and other forms of justice. Definitions and multiple possibilities for CQI were explored. What is CQI? What does it mean for qualitative research? Critique? (Re)Conceptualization? To provide the reader with a feel for the complexity of issues and content discussed along with research initiated through these discussions, the remainder of this introductory article provides (1) a brief history of critical qualitative work, (2) an overview of the critical content introduced in the 2023 all-day session, and (3) a description of the new critical work recently conducted by participants who joined the discussions.

Nursing practices to optimise rheumatic fever prevention in a high-risk country: An integrative review.

New Zealand is one of the last high-income countries in the world experiencing significant rates of rheumatic fever. Nurses play a crucial role in rheumatic fever prevention; however, little is understood as to how nurses can best achieve this. To explore nursing practices that optimise rheumatic fever prevention. An integrative review. Four electronic databases (CINAHL, SCOPUS, Medline via, and Ovid) were searched for peer-reviewed empirical articles published from 2013 to 2023. Grey literature (guidelines/reports) was also sourced. Critical appraisal was applied using the Mixed-Methods Appraisal Tools and the Joanna Briggs Critical Appraisal checklist. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101, thematic analysis method was used to generate themes. Seven research articles and three national reports were included. Four themes-in-depth nursing knowledge and improving prophylaxis adherence, cultural competency, and therapeutic nurse-patient relationships-were found. While nursing knowledge and ways to improve injection adherence are essential, being culturally receptive and developing therapeutic relationships are equally important. Without strong and trusting relationships, it is difficult to deliver care required for prevention success. When working with vulnerable populations it is important to be culturally receptive in all interactions with patients and their families. New Zealand has high rates of rheumatic fever, especially among vulnerable populations such as Pacific Islanders and Māori. Nurses are often frontline primary care providers who, when skilled with the right tools, can help reduce the prevalence of this disease. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis flow chart. No Patient or Public Contribution was required for this research.

"There is nothing to protect us from dying": Black women's perceived sense of safety accessing pregnancy and intrapartum care.

Pregnancy and childbirth have become a dangerous journey for Black women as harrowing stories of death and near-death experiences resonate within Black communities. While the causes of pregnancy-related morbidity and mortality are well documented, little is known about how Black Canadian women feel protected from undesirable maternal health outcomes when accessing and receiving pregnancy and intrapartum care. This critical qualitative inquiry sheds light on Black women's perceived sense of safety in accessing pregnancy and intrapartum care. Twenty-four in-depth interviews were conducted with Black women who were pregnant or had given birth. Five interconnected themes were generated through thematic analysis: (1) There is a lot of prejudice towards us, (2) We are treated as sick bodies, (3) There is a lot of stereotypes towards us, (4) Our care is lacking in quality, and (5) We feel unsafe in the healthcare system. These themes highlight the perils faced by Black women accessing pregnancy and intrapartum care. The right to safe motherhood and equitable care for Black women should be a national priority in Canada to avert a looming crisis.

Resisting the Neoliberal Academy: Justice-Oriented (Re)Imaginings Through Critical Qualitative Inquiry

Even as educational institutions (re)produce inequitable forms of power and knowledge, critical qualitative inquiry often challenges these exclusionary, confining ways of being and knowing perpetuated within academic spaces. Drawing upon a conceptual framework that unites critical qualitative inquiry, poststructuralism, and intersectionality, this work interrogates how neoliberal academic spaces complicate detachment from and our un-learning of narrow ways of scholarly being and knowing, what and whose knowledge counts in these spaces, and our enactment of knowledge and power circulation more broadly. By framing our positions as critical public intellectuals, we utilize co-authorship between a practitioner and practitioner-oriented scholar to unpack narrow, whitewashed, neoliberal notions of expertise often entrenched and normalized within realms of pedagogy and scholarship. Finally, we seek to challenge and (re)envision such maintenance of singular perspectives, voices, and knowledge bases, arguing that critical qualitative inquiry can and should meet such a moment to upend existing structures.

Containment, control and surveillance: a qualitative inquiry into eating disorders and the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT This paper works towards a social geography of eating disorders through the lens of the coronavirus pandemic in the UK. Through an empirical engagement with experience-centred knowledge, I couple nine in-depth interviews with autoethnographic material, drawing out the spatial (real and virtual) and temporal (habit, routine, anticipation, non-linearity) dimensions of eating disorder experience, management and recovery; highlighting principally how pandemic lockdown conditions intensified space-time, mind/body and social relations across various micro-domestic and macro-governmental scales. I engage ‘lightly’ with Foucauldian concepts of disciplinary and biopolitical power to draw out broad-brush themes around matters of containment, control and surveillance; taking feminist inspiration to think through Foucault critically as I explore a nexus of gendered pandemic power relations. In doing so, I contribute towards new feminist understandings of the disciplinary gaze, emphasizing the ongoingness of surveillance through both physical body-checking and what I term psychological ‘guising’. Through such (in)voluntary disordered bodily practices, and an engagement with the feminist mind/body dualism, I emphasize the complexity of EDs as embodied mental illnesses, further complicating feminist understandings of control. I close by discussing the ethical-methodological importance of ‘empathy’ while emphasizing the overall imperative of critical qualitative inquiry for socio-cultural geographies and beyond.

Barriers to Black Medical Students and Residents Pursuing and Completing Surgical Residency in Canada: A Qualitative Analysis.

The limited available data suggest that the Canadian surgical workforce does not reflect the racial diversity of the patient population it serves, despite the well-established benefits of patient-provider race concordance. There have been no studies to date that characterize the systemic and individual challenges faced by Black medical students in matching to and successfully finishing training in a surgical specialty within a Canadian context that can explain this underrepresentation. Using critical qualitative inquiry and purposive sampling to ensure gender, geographical, and student/trainee year heterogeneity, we recruited self-identifying Black medical students and surgical residents across Canada. Online in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were analyzed through an inductive reflexive narrative thematic process by four analysts. 27 participants including 18 medical students and 9 residents, were interviewed. The results showed three major themes that characterized their experiences: journey to and through medicine, perceptions of the surgical culture, and recommendations to improve the student experience. Medical students identified lack of mentorship and representation, as well as experiences with racism as the main barriers to pursuing surgical training. Surgical trainees cited systemic racism, lack of representation and insufficient safe spaces as the key deterrents to program completion. The intersection with gender exponentially increased these identified barriers. Except for a few surgical programs, medical schools across Canada do not offer a safe space for Black students and trainees to access and complete surgical training. An urgent change is needed to provide diverse mentorship that is transparent, acknowledges the real challenges related to systemic racism and biases, and is inclusive of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Interpretive Autoethnography in Medicine: An Accessible Way to Introduce Healthcare Professionals to the Craft of Critical Qualitative Writing

Qualitative research is valuable in medicine because of the deep insights it offers into the social and cultural dimensions of healthcare. Historically, qualitative methods have been influenced by critical theory and have shared its constructivist epistemology and orientation towards social justice. It can be challenging to teach such critical qualitative inquiry to healthcare professionals because its underlying philosophy can seem at odds with the objectivist biological perspective emphasized in medical education. This is unfortunate because several social inequities are perpetuated by modern healthcare systems and critical qualitative inquiry is essential to the project of addressing them. This article argues that Norman Denzin’s interpretive autoethnography is a promising method through which educators could introduce healthcare professionals to critical qualitative inquiry. In this method, the author uses the craft of writing creatively about their personal experiences as a tool for cultural interpretation and social justice activism. Such a creative analytic practice might seem alien to many medical professionals. On the other hand, the idea of analyzing their own experiences in detail is likely to feel familiar to them because of the prominence of reflective writing in healthcare professional development practice. This familiarity might make interpretive autoethnography accessible to healthcare professionals and practicing the method could help them to appreciate the value of interpretive writing as a way of investigating sociocultural meaning and promoting just change.

Latinx Teachers Engaging Students, Parents, and Families

ABSTRACT Classroom teachers and certified English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers struggle staying current with pedagogical approaches and strategies to work with diverse student populations. In order to support Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) students’ success in the classroom, teachers must implement effective teaching strategies. Teaching without knowing the students’ background knowledge is problematic for all students. To this end, this study explored (a) how teachers who graduated from a federally funded bilingual and bicultural education program engage in justice agendas for their CLD students, (b) the things these in-service teachers attribute as barriers and support systems in their social justice work, and (c) the educational strategies the in-service Latinx teachers value in their role as advocates in their social justice work. Qualitative and Critical Qualitative Research (CQR) was our overarching framework to examine participants’ experiences regarding social justice. Latino/a Critical Race Theory/LatCrit was our theoretical framework with trenzas y mestizaje (braids and mixture) as the methodological framework. Data collection was based on testimonios collected through individual pláticas and group pláticas (formal and/or informal conversations) elicited by the use of tesoros (treasures). Data was analyzed and interpreted through Trenzas y Mestizaje and LatCrit. Specifically, data analysis was achieved through braiding the participants’ experiences and/or testimonios. The following prominent themes emerged: (a) Effective classroom strategies, (b) Parent and family involvement, (c) Relationships, (d) Barriers as pre-service and in-service teachers: Resilience. The findings of this study indicate that all participants described their effectiveness as teachers through the implementation of specific strategies, intrinsic motivation for teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students (CLDs), and the sense of commitment to being role models to their students. Additionally, the findings indicate how the participants were able to overcome barriers through resilience, support from colleagues, administrators, and family members. These participants/Latinx teachers have been teaching advocating, informing, and engaging their students, parent, and families for the past seventeen years, by providing them with resources and strategies to navigate the U.S. education system.

The time has come for psychology to stop treating qualitative data as an embarrassing secret

AbstractDespite the sustained flourishing—both in terms of quantity and quality—of qualitative research in psychology, psychology's establishment ‘gatekeepers’ seem to still be wedded to the dogma that only experimental research and quantitative data are sufficiently robust to be taken seriously. In this paper we make the case against this contempt and call for qualitative research and data to be recognized as valid and epistemologically sound in its own right. Given that its ontology is based upon constructionist assumptions about the nature of the social world, its power to provide nuanced insight into the complexity of humankind is not a problem, but its greatest strength. Our paper therefore starts with a brief review of the ontological and epistemological differences between the two approaches to demonstrate that they are complementary rather than competition. We then make our case, based on two key strategies: first by shedding light on the fact that many (perhaps even most) of psychology's classic experimental studies actually collected qualitative data (in the form of debriefing interviews and the like) and used it to understand what was going on; and then by recent studies that have expressly sought feedback about the hypothesis being purportedly tested. We then recognize the extent to which contemporary researchers are expressing their frustration at the way that they are being forced into a methodological straight jacket, by carrying out their research in ways they view as inauthentic. We end with a call to kerb the methodological dogma that has taken hold of psychology, and to move to a more inclusive approach.

Using longitudinal qualitative research to understand the experiences of minoritized people

This paper demonstrates how Longitudinal Qualitative Research (LQR) is an innovative method to understand the lived experiences of members of minoritized groups when temporality is a structuring element of their experiences. Most qualitative research in psychology is cross-sectional, which limits our understanding of individuals whose experiences are context-dependent and linked to the temporal norms of specific social environments. LQR is unique for allowing researchers to compare change and stability over time and reveal how social challenges and barriers impact perspective shifts and long-term decision-making. To demonstrate the usefulness of LQR as an inclusive methodology, we discuss an ongoing study of career decision-making among a diverse cohort of biomedical scientists. We have used annual interviews to follow biomedical science trainees from the beginning of their PhD into the initial stages of their careers. We present case studies of minoritized scientists to illustrate the methods for long-term engagement used to elicit sensitive and critical information during their training. We show how LQR is a viable methodology for a variety of research questions and can be accomplished using large or small sample sizes and limited resources. Our primary goal is to show how LQR is useful to understand the experiences of minoritized individuals in contexts that have historically excluded them.

Qualitative research in Indian postgraduate psychology and social work programmes: a study on curriculum content coverage and graduates’ perspectives

ABSTRACTAlthough gaining prominence in recent years, the qualitative research paradigm appears less taught and minimally employed across disciplines. In this context, the present study attempted to understand whether the Indian postgraduate psychology and social work programmes adequately covered qualitative research content in their curriculum. In addition, we explored the experiences and perspectives of graduates on the curriculum and learning qualitative research during their Master’s. The study was conducted in two phases. First, we have undertaken an on-desk research involving content analysis of the curriculum of Master’s programmes in psychology and social work across 71 publically funded universities in India. The second phase included qualitative interviews with 33 graduates who had completed their Master’s degrees from the selected universities, and the data were analyzed thematically. Most universities did not have a separate course on qualitative research (N = 65), and the research methods were taught through a single course dominated by the quantitative approach. Qualitative content is minuscule in the course, covering basic topics across universities. Furthermore, four themes emerged from the perspectives of graduates: minimal qualitative content, lack of qualitative traditions, least experts, and misconceptions. This study implies the importance of a diversified curriculum with different research paradigms to strengthen students’ capabilities.

Implications of Gunter Figal’s Hermeneutical Philosophy for Phenomenological Qualitative Psychological Research

Abstract This paper considers what Günter Figal’s perspective on objectivity and more generally, his hermeneutic phenomenology, may contribute to the traditions of phenomenological psychological research, as well as non-phenomenological approaches to qualitative research. Across qualitative research approaches and methods developed outside of phenomenology over the past 30–40 years, there has been a trend away from notions of consciousness and subjectivity, as well as objectivity. Günter Figal’s hermeneutical phenomenology retrieves these key ideas and recasts them with greater clarity and precision. These ideas, in conjunction with an understanding of the philosophical position of critical realism, suggest renewed possibilities and significant places for both objectivity and subjectivity within both phenomenological and non-phenomenological psychological qualitative research.

Critical Qualitative Research Leader and Friend: Norman Denzin as Teacher of Academic Activism

This article demonstrates the profound role that Norman Denzin played as a qualitative researcher and friend to those of us in academia. Examples of his writing, contributions, and responses to those of us working in academia are provided. Norman was an activist who demonstrated how to survive within the often narrow confines of academia and also how to become a radical academic activist who creates expanded, more just spaces for thought and action. His work will continue to increase our possibilities. We honor and thank him for being our friend, supporter, and model.

Claiming space: understanding female agency in contemporary advertising

ABSTRACT This paper seeks to examine how consumers understand and discuss female agency portrayed in contemporary advertising in relation to the body. It employs a Poststructuralist Feminist framework, drawing on the ideas of discourse, language and subjectivity in order to understand the power structures that dominate and hinder women. The empirical material, consisting of interviews (individual and focus groups) with a total of 38 women, was analysed using a discourse analysis [Willig, Carla. 2013. Introducing Qualitative Research in Psychology. Maidenhead, Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Education]. The construction of agency and power as bound up with different perceptions of claiming space was found throughout the interviews. It also seemed as if the space-claiming ability of the model allowed for a subjective sexuality; when the models exuded agency by claiming space in different ways, then the sexuality was deemed more on their terms, as if they were more in control than when their body positions were crouched or perceived as smaller.

Layered Methodologies: Innovating Multimodal Qualitative Research in Liver Transplantation

BackgroundThere is a growing interest in qualitative methodologies for understanding complexities in the lived experience of liver transplantation. Frequently, such studies explore quality of life and offer insights for integrating patient-oriented outcomes into conventional research strategies. The scope of qualitative research in liver transplantation tends to be limited, however, with respect to engagement with critical theories, leaving certain aspects of lived experience unexamined. MethodsThe authors describe the process of layering multiple modes of critical qualitative research in liver transplantation, exploring how experiences in liver transplantation are structured discursively and what aspects of recipients’ stories are not easily spoken or shared. This study pairs a critical discourse analysis of patient manuals from a Canadian liver transplant program with digital storytelling with liver transplant recipients. ResultsA homogenous narrative emerges from patient manuals that does not adequately capture the complexity of lived experience of liver transplant survivors. Digital storytelling opens new narrative possibilities by layering sensory aspects of the transplant experience, which are often difficult to articulate through words. This complicates common ideas of survivorship, who is considered a “good” patient, and the cultural scripts that transplant stories frequently engage. ConclusionCritical qualitative research offers opportunities for understanding structures of power embedded within biomedical transplant narratives. Layering qualitative and arts-based methodologies within a framework of co-creation can shift knowledge/power relations while also intervening through material-discursive practices to offer novel insights and opportunities for critical reflection on transplant experiences for recipients, families, and healthcare providers.