The Qualitative Revolution and Psychology: Science, Politics, and Ethics

Abstract

Growing interest in qualitative research methods and methodological pluralism in psychology since the 1990s is placed in the historical contexts of long-standing philosophical and scientific rationales and the more recent “qualitative revolution” in other social sciences that began in the 1970s. An examination of areas in which qualitative methods have become most strongly established—applied, feminist, and multicultural psychologies—suggests practical and social motivations as primary and as energizing renewed expression of previously ignored ontological, epistemological, and scientific reasoning in the turn to qualitative methods. Methodological diversification in the arenas of human suffering, women's issues, and cultural politics is traced to psychologists' deeply rooted ethical obligations. The existential philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas articulates an implicit ethics at the heart psychology's increasing acceptance of qualitative methods and provides an understanding of how the emerging methodological diversity can contribute to social justice and human liberation as well as to an enhancement of rigorous scientific knowledge.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This article is based on a paper, entitled “The qualitative revolution: Sociopolitical and ethical horizons of legitimation,” presented at the 119th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in New Orleans, August of 2006. This version was presented as the Jim Klee Forum Lecture at West Georgia University in March, 2011. I thank Mary Watkins for her help with the initial draft, Sarah Kamens and Emily Maynard for their help on the final draft, and the anonymous journal referees, whose critical comments and suggestions were of valuable in the manuscript's revision. I owe Scott Churchill a debt of gratitude for his encouragement and support of this work.

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Frederick J. Wertz

Frederick J. Wertz, Professor of Psychology at Fordham University, received his Ph.D. from Duquesne University in Phenomenological Psychology. His scholarship focuses on the philosophical foundations, research methodology, qualitative analytic methods, theoretical problems, and the cultural context of psychology. He co-edited Advances in Qualitative Research in Psychology: Themes and Variations (1987, Swets North America), edited The Humanistic Movement: Recovering the Person in Psychology (1994, Gardner Press), and coauthored Five Ways of Doing Qualitative Analysis: Phenomenological Psychology, Grounded Theory, Discourse Analysis, Narrative Research, and Intuitive Inquiry (2011, Guilford Publications). He has been the editor of the Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, The Bulletin of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, and guest editor of The Humanistic Psychologist. He served as President of APA's Society for Humanistic Psychology and Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology. He is an APA Fellow, accreditation site visitor, and president-elect of the Interdisciplinary Coalition of North American Phenomenologists.