A story of great expectations. Qualitative research in psychology in the Czech and Slovak Republics

ABSTRACT

In this article, we explore how social, cultural, and institutional contexts have influenced methodological choices in psychology research in the Czech and Slovak republics (C&SR). Thirty years since the collapse of communism in 1989, many qualitative psychologists are disappointed, feeling their hopes have not been fulfilled. In the current performance-oriented and measurement-obsessed academic milieu, it has become difficult to do in-depth qualitative research. Despite the broad integration of qualitative research into C&SR psychology, there has been only a modest increase in qualitative research getting published. Our article looks at the personal narratives of key figures in qualitative research in the C&SR and how these overlap with the overall narratives of social change in our countries and the epistemological changes in our science. The article draws on a conference panel discussion, interviews with key actors who have shaped qualitative research in C&SR, and our own experiences.

KEYWORDS:

• Czech Republic
• psychology
• qualitative methods
• qualitative approach
• Slovak Republic

Additional information

Funding

The work on this article was supported by VEGA research grants No. 2/0123/16 and No. 1/0641/19, and by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under contract no. APVV-14-0531.

Notes on contributors

Radomír Masaryk

Radomír Masaryk is an Associate Professor in the Institute of Applied Psychology, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia. His research has mostly focused on applying qualitative research methods in various areas of health psychology. Currently he is exploring how young people discern the trustworthiness of health-related items in the news.

Magda Petrjánošová

Magda Petrjánošová is a Research Fellow in the Institute for Research in Social Communication in the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia. Her research interests focus on interventions for reducing prejudice against stigmatized minorities; on new media, and on lowering the threshold for civic participation among those whose participation is low.

Barbara Lášticová

Barbara Lášticová is a Senior Research Fellow in the Institute for Research in Social Communication in the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia. She is participating in a project focused on identifying evidence-based methods to effectively combat discrimination towards the Roma in the changing political climate of Europe. She is also the principal investigator of a project exploring interventions for reducing prejudice against stigmatised minorities; and another conducting a qualitative meta-analysis of social psychological aspects of anti-discrimination interventions.

Nikoleta Kuglerová

Nikoleta Kuglerová is a PhD candidate in the Institute of Applied Psychology, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia. Her research is on how to reduce the stereotyping of stigmatised minorities.

Wendy Stainton Rogers

Wendy Stainton Rogers is a Professor Emerita at the Open University, UK. Her publications include: Explaining Health and Illness (1991); Social Psychology: Experimental and Critical Approaches (2003) Social Psychology (2011); The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research in Psychology (2008; 2017). Her new book A Psychology of Human Being will come out in the Autumn. In retirement her efforts are directed to supporting the research of others, the recognition of the important role that qualitative research has to play in improving health and medical care, and making psychology more transformative and more human.