Chapter 10 – Qualitative approaches in psychology

An approach that encourages the development of theory through the data emerging from the analysis of qualitative data patterns and are not imposed on the data before they are gathered. Data are analysed until saturated.

This approach holds that what people say is not a source of evidence for what they have in their heads or minds. It analyses speech as people’s ways of constructing their perceptions and memories of the world as they see it. Speech is used to construct one’s ‘stake’.

An approach that analyses text for themes and which can be theory driven (theory emerges from the data) or top-down (testing hypotheses or seeking to confirm previous findings and theories). Highly versatile and not allied to any specific philosophical position.

This approach sees the role of psychological research as one of intervention to produce change for human benefit. An important aspect of the approach is the emphasis by the researcher on a collaborative project.

In this approach researchers try to access the perceptions and thoughts of the researched persons and to reflect and understand these in a way that is as close as possible to the way that the persons themselves interpret the world. The data analysis is usually a search for themes among interview data.