Introducing Qualitative Research in Psychology

Carla Willig lectures at City University, London, UK. She has been teaching courses on qualitative methods in psychology for many years. Her research and publications are concerned with the epistemology and application of discourse analytic work and, more recently, phenomenological research methods.

• List of boxes chapter one: From recipes to adventures How, and what, can we know? Positivism Empiricism Hypothetico-deductivism Critique of the 'scientific method' Feminist critique of established epistemologies Social constructionism Epistemology and methodology Qualitative research Overview of the book Three epistemological questions Further reading chapter two: Qualitative research design General principles of qualitative research design The research question Choosing the 'right' method Semi-structured interviewing Participant observation Diaries Focus groups Further reading chapter three: Grounded Theory Basic principles of Grounded Theory An example of Grounded Theory Versions of Grounded Theory Limitations of Grounded Theory as a method for psychological research Three epistemological questions Further reading chapter four: Phenomenological methods Phenomenology The phenomenological method Phenomenology and psychology Descriptive phenomenology Interpretative phenomenology Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Doing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Analysis of an individual case Worked example Integration of cases Interpretation Writing up An example of IPA Limitations of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Three epistemological questions Conclusion Further reading chapter five: Case studies Research methods for psychological case studies Types of design for case study research Procedural issues An example of case study research Limitations of case study research Three epistemological questions Conclusion Further reading chapter six: Discursive Psychology The 'turn to language' Discursive Psychology and Foucauldian Discourse Analysis Discursive Psychology An example of discourse analysis Limitations of discursive psychology Three epistemological questions Further reading chapter seven: Foucauldian Discourse Analysis Selecting texts for analysis Procedural guidelines for the analysis of discourse An illustration of the application of the six stages to an interview extract Limitations of Foucauldian Discourse Analysis Three epistemological questions Key differences between Discursive Psychology and Foucauldian Discourse Analysis Further reading chapter eight: Working with memories Narrative psychology Memory work Why memories? Data collection and analysis 'Saying sorry': an example of data analysis in Memory Work Limitations of Memory Work Three epistemological questions Conclusion Further reading chapter nine: Quality in qualitative research What constitutes 'good' qualitative research? Epistemology and evaluation Evaluation of the methods introduced in this book Some caveats Opportunities and limitations in qualitative research A word about technology 'What' and 'how' Further reading Appendix one: What is understood by 'dominance'? An interpretation through memories Goran Petronic Reflexive preface Abstract Introduction Method Participants Procedure Analysis of memories Comparison of memories Discussion References Appendix two: A qualitative study of the occurrence of abuse in one heterosexual and in one lesbian relationship Kris dew Valour Reflexive preface Abstract Introduction Method Reflexivity Results Discussion References Appendix Appendix three:The emotional experience of looking at art : an observation in the National Gallery Karolina Mornsjo Reflexive preface Abstract Introduction Method Setting Participants Ethical consideration The paintings Practical considerations Analysis Discussion References References Index