Graduate education in qualitative methods in U.S. psychology: current trends and recommendations for the future

ABSTRACT

The visibility of qualitative research methods (QRM) in U.S. psychology has increased with the dissemination of qualitative research in journals and books, formation of professional and scientific organizations, and recognition in educational institutions. While gains have been made, the current state of doctoral training in qualitative methods remains uncertain. It is unclear what training graduate students receive in U.S. psychology programs about qualitative methodologies and how further gains can be made in expanding visibility of QRM in graduate education. In this mixed-methods study, we surveyed a sample of faculty in U.S. psychology graduate programs about the frequency of QRM course offerings, graduate training, and students’ use of QRM in their dissertation research. We also explored qualitative responses from faculty regarding their attitudes about QRM and how these attitudes might help increase or diminish the frequency of methods training available to students. We found that even within graduate programs where there was support for QRM, enduring perceptions about the value of qualitative research limit faculty and graduate students’ use of qualitative methodologies in their research. With these findings in mind, we offer several recommendations for increasing the visibility of QRM in U.S. graduate education and the discipline of psychology as a whole.

KEYWORDS:

• Faculty
• graduate students
• qualitative
• research methods
• training

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Abby Stewart, Michelle Fine, and Ozge Savas for comments on previous drafts.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Notes

1. Nine respondents did not indicate if QRM were perceived as important in their departments. Similarly, eight respondents indicated that they “did not know” if a qualitative methods course has been offered or not offered in the last five years. As such, these respondents were excluded in cross-tab analyses that explored the associations between importance and course offerings.

2. Respondents were given a slider scale ranging from 0–100%. The average percentage of graduate students using QRM in their dissertations across survey responses was 18.8%. However, five respondents reported that 80–100% of their graduate students use QRM in their dissertations. We removed these five responses from analysis concerning student use of QRM in dissertations because they were not reflective of the majority of responses and skewed the interpretation of results to this question. To aid in the interpretation of the remaining responses, three groups were formed: departments that were low in students’ use of QRM in their dissertations (median=4), departments moderate in using QRM (median=10), and departments high in using QRM (median=30).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jennifer D. Rubin

Jennifer D. Rubin is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychology and Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan. She uses mixed methodologies to examine how social environments shape people’s sexuality and gender, with a focus on new media technologies, sexual health, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer contexts. Her recent work explores the ways in which social media complicate self-presentation strategies for people at various intersections of gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicity/race.

Sarah Bell is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychology and Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan. She uses qualitative methods in her research to explore dimensions of women’s sexuality, such as desire, pleasure, and orgasm. Her work examines how women negotiate their experiences in relation to cultural norms pertaining to sexual health and well-being.

Sara I. McClelland

Sara I. McClelland is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan. She has conducted qualitative research for the last 20 years on issues related to HIV prevention, sex education in schools, reproductive rights for minors, and sexual health. Her research program focuses on studies of the intimate imagination: expectations individuals develop for what they deserve to feel, experience, and avoid in their intimate lives.