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On the Nature of a Critical Methodology
Abstract
This article describes an expanded view of methodology— termed a critical methodology—in the wake of criticisms of the received view of scientific method. A critical methodology would involve a deemphasis on method per se, the need for methodological innovation and the continual critical examination of the assumptions that undergird methods and other research resources. It is argued that under a critical methodology, the processes of theory construction and research would be essentially processes of argument construction, where arguments can be supported with many types of evidence. Although there is no final certainty through method under this framework, progress can result from the tension between various perspectives in context.
... The purpose of this study is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the limitations regarding the potential for early childhood education and care to be viewed as a strong and equal education partner (Moss & Bennett, 2006) within Ontario's Early Learning Program. I examine the developmental psychology suppositions within early childhood education as they are presented in the practice framework for Ontario: Early Learning for Every Child Today [the ELECT] (Best Start Expert Panel on Early Learning, 2007) using an approach informed by critical psychology (e.g., Burman, 2011;Morss, 1995;Yanchar, Gantt, & Clay, 2005), post-colonial theory (e.g., Cannella & Viruru, 2004), and deconstruction (e.g., Flyvbjerg, 2002;Lather, 2006). I focus in on the work of Lenz Taguchi involving Deleuze and Guattari's deterritorialization (1987) and immanence (Deleuze, 1997) to examine the complexities of early childhood education practice and theory (e.g., Lenz Taguchi, 2012;Lenz Taguchi, 2010). ...
... Cronbach was dissatisfied with what he viewed as flaws in test score interpretations. By rejecting traditional positivist validation research, he developed the concept that validity could be viewed contextually, while remaining firmly in the realm of statistics (Yanchar, Gantt, & Clay, 2005). Motzkau (2009) suggests that critical psychology of development (CPOD), despite being a valuable critique, seems to have failed in unsettling the developmental mainstream. ...
... Flyvbjerg (2001a; points out that this model of self-perpetuation will eventually lead to its own demise, that social science has not succeeded in producing general, context independent theory as promised so in the final instance has nothing else to offer than concrete -context dependent knowledge (Flyvbjerg, 2006). The logical positivism that underpins developmental psychology limits opportunities for "incomparable" theories to be analysed together; however critical methodology acknowledges different perspectives, because they can be intellectually known and discussed, and juxtaposedpushing the limits of what we know, practice and understand (Yanchar, Gantt, & Clay, 2005). ...
This is a 2014 paper prepared for the comprehensive exam requirements of the Early Learning Cohort program in Applied Psychology and Human Development at OISE, University of Toronto. It is a critical examination of how past and current practices in early childhood education have been pre-determined by the dominance of developmental psychology in the child care regulatory and practice framework for Ontario. The purpose of this study is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the limitations regarding the potential for early childhood education and care to be viewed as a strong and equal education partner (Moss & Bennett, 2006) within Ontario’s Early Learning Program. Through a critical textual analysis, the focus is on developmental psychology suppositions within early childhood education as they are presented in the practice framework for Ontario: Early Learning for Every Child Today [the ELECT]. This critical examination of the ELECT is informed by a literature review of critical psychology, post-colonial theory, and deconstruction as they have been applied to early childhood education and care. The approach and conclusions are also informed by the work of Lenz Taguchi with a particular focus on her work involving Deleuze and Guattari’s deterritorialization (1987) and immanence (Deleuze, 1997).
My examiner (Charles Pascal) (accurately, you'll see) called it 3 papers in 1; but deemed it sufficient for qualifying me as a PhD Candidate. Sadly for the reader, what I learned by writing this ("cumbersome beast" - for the record, I don't think CP called it exactly that ...) outweighs any pleasure that could be gained by reading it. On the very practical side of things that are related to my day job as a child care planner and policy analyst, I see weaknesses in our system planning and delivery models now more than ever since preparing this paper (which made it all worth the wade, even it was just a little bit, into the deep waters of Deleuze and Guattari).
... Under this view of critical thinking, only methods and research endeavors that fit within the scope of scientific analytic reasoning will be viewed as capable of producing viable knowledge and thus appropriate for psychological investigation. This historical bias has given rise to a type of methodological orthodoxy that, as critics have argued (Danziger, 1990;Giorgi, 1970;Koch, 1999;Polkinghorne, 1983;Robinson, 2000;Yanchar, Gantt, & Clay, 2005), forestalls flexible, innovative, and inclusive research by limiting inquirers to only certain kinds of research questions (i.e., those that can be answered by the privileged methods) and devaluing or marginalizing alternative investigative approaches. ...
... Indeed, an increasing number of critics have argued-albeit outside of the disciplinary mainstream-that such assumptions cannot provide sufficient resources for a science that must deal with the complexities of human life situated in richly meaningful and value-laden contexts (e.g., Danziger, 1985Danziger, , 1990K. J. Gergen, 1994;Leaf, 1993;Martin, Sugarman, & Thompson, 2003;Polkinghorne, 1983;Richardson, Fowers, & Guignon, 1999;Slife & Williams, 1995;Yanchar et al., 2005). As others have argued, various qualitative alternatives, although not harmonious with many of the canons of scientific analytic reasoning, provide useful investigative resources in this regard and should be evaluated according to appropriate standards of quality (Guba, 1981;Merrick, 1999;Morrow, 2005;Stiles, 1993). ...
... The second consideration has to do with the possibility of critical thought that serves a productive function, involving creativity and imagination that facilitate the development of new perspectives and practices. If, as some have argued, creative powers must be exercised in the crucial scientific work of developing and revising theories and conducting progressive research (Feyerabend, 1975(Feyerabend, /1993Holton, 1973;McPeck, 1981;Nickles, 1980;Robinson, 2000;Sternberg, 1996;Yanchar et al., 2005), then a form of critical thinking that facilitates the work of creativity and innovation would be of great value. Scientific analytic reasoning can facilitate this productive function in some ways-for instance, in helping researchers design the soundest research possible within accepted guidelines-but it cannot cultivate the development of ideas that diverge from those guidelines because it is itself guided by them. ...
Critical thinking in psychology has traditionally focused on method-centered tasks such as the assessment of method use, data analysis, and research evidence. Although helpful in some ways, this form of critical thinking fails to provide resources for critically examining the scientific analytic foundation on which it rests and, when used exclusively, prohibits sufficiently critical analysis of theory and research. An alternative view of critical thinking--that emphasizes the identification and evaluation of implicit theoretical assumptions--is advocated. It is suggested that this alternative approach improves on method-centered approaches by addressing not only implicit assumptions but also rule-following concerns. This approach is intended to facilitate innovation and the production of scholarly work in ways that incorporate relational values such as dialogue, care, and respect. Finally, this alternative form of critical thinking is described as a theoretically situated, open, and evolving conception of critique that should itself be continually reanalyzed and refined, particularly in response to the evolving nature and needs of the field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... Es decir, la producción de conocimiento psicológico se estimó determinada por una metodología científica prescriptiva, desde donde se evaluó su legitimidad. Esta adhesión irreflexiva y hasta cierto modo reverencial del método ha sido llamada por algunos/as como metodolatría (YANCHAR, GANTT & CLAY 2005). ...
... Esto quiere decir que, en principio, todo método es una extensión teórica, y por tanto, fijado dentro de los límites de las redes de supuestos en que se circunscribe. Como consecuencia, todo método es inherentemente limitado, parcial e histórico, en tanto forma parte de una u otra tradición científica o disciplinar (YANCHAR et al. 2005). ...
... Esta es también la apuesta de la psicología de corte cualitativo. Por tanto, el énfasis no está en el pluralismo metodológico (lo cualitativo, lo cuantitativo, métodos mixtos, etc.) que ha sido aceptado mediante un acomodo institucional a la ciencia psicológica, sino mediante un cuestionamiento reflexivo continuo, informado teórica e históricamente (YANCHAR et al. 2005). En tanto extensión teórica que sugiere técnicas y modos de accionar indagaciones, el método es un nodo en las redes de intencionalidades de los investigadores e investigadoras. ...
Qualitative psychology has been co-opted by institutions that represent scientific rationality inherited from modernity (with its emphases on observation, measurement, and control). A process of cooptation involves an assimilationist attitude of ownership, where the difference or opposition adheres to a policy preset by the largest group's consensus and privilege. Through the institutionalization of qualitative research and its bond, sometimes forced-to traditional scientific paradigms, qualitative psychology loses its critical potential. Given this, we propose a critical review of the epistemological and ontological assumptions of qualitative psychology and propose alternative methods (such as critical discourse analysis, feminist epistemology, fractal method, critical ethnography, among others) to revitalize critical activity.
URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1202201
... Contemporary psychology has, in large measure, endorsed a view of science that emphasizes an empirical and quantitative approach to investigation that draws heavily on the natural sciences. This approach to scientific inquiry has, however, been subjected to critical analysis from a wide variety of philosophical and methodological perspectives (see, e.g., Danziger, 1990;Gergen, 1985;Robinson, 2000;Yanchar, Gantt, & Clay, 2005). By and large, these criticisms have focused on four interrelated issues. ...
... Two common responses to such criticisms of methodological rigidity in psychology are advocacy for more qualitative forms of psychological research and calls for more mixed-method (or methodological pluralistic) approaches (Yanchar et al., 2005). Nonetheless, many scholars have noted that while all methods and methodologies enable some understanding, they also constrain understanding in certain ways based on the nature of the assumptions underlying any given method or methodology, whether one's approach is primarily qualitative in nature or sim-ply pluralistic (see, e.g., Danziger, 1990;Feyerabend, 1993;Gadamer, 1989;Polkinghorne, 1983;Slife & Williams, 1995). ...
... Nonetheless, many scholars have noted that while all methods and methodologies enable some understanding, they also constrain understanding in certain ways based on the nature of the assumptions underlying any given method or methodology, whether one's approach is primarily qualitative in nature or sim-ply pluralistic (see, e.g., Danziger, 1990;Feyerabend, 1993;Gadamer, 1989;Polkinghorne, 1983;Slife & Williams, 1995). Some scholars have, therefore, begun to argue for a more contextually sensitive and radically open methodological approach to psychological study (see, e.g., Yanchar et al., 2005). Indeed, as the noted philosopher of science, Paul Feyerabend (1993), a source of inspiration for many of these scholars, has stated, "The only principle that does not inhibit progress is: anything goes" (p. ...
Much of the understanding of the nature of science in contemporary psychology is founded on a positivistic philosophy of science that cannot adequately account for meaning as experienced. The phenomenological tradition provides an alternative approach to science that is attentive to the inherent meaningfulness of human action in the world. Emmanuel Levinas argues, however, that phenomenology, at least as traditionally conceived, does not provide sufficient grounds for meaning. Levinas argues that meaning is grounded in the ethical encounter with the Other such that meaning arises in rupture. For Levinas, the physical world (i.e., the elemental) and the I provide constraints on the meaning given by the Other, even as the Other is logically prior to all other experience. This Levinasian perspective advocates an epistemology that is open to the rupture of the Other as a way to knowledge. This emphasis on openness to rupture entails a methodology in which psychologists must allow the objects of study to guide their methods of research. Finally, the Levinasian perspective implies a scientific community that is sensitive to the rupture occasioned by the encounter with the Other.
... Viewing these approaches as separate and disparate is counterproductive; health psychology researchers need to be fluent in both approaches, functioning competently as 'pragmatic researchers' (Onwuegbuzie and Leech, 2005), and able to use appropriate forms of methodology in relevant ways. Such methodological pluralism functions to increase the competencies of researchers, ensures that issues of epistemology are addressed, and helps to ensure more reflexive research practices (see Chamberlain, 2004b;Yanchar, Gantt and Clay, 2005). ...
... In many respects, this is similar to arguments raised by Yanchar et al. (2005) who discuss the need for psychology to adopt a critical methodology. They see this as involving a de-emphasis on methods, promotion of methodological innovation, and critical consideration of assumptions underlying research methods and practices. ...
Health psychology Health psychology was formally established in the 1970s when a group of psychologists met in the USA to discuss the relevance and application of psychology to issues of physical health, and formed the Health Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association. A definition of health psychology was subsequently presented at the Division's annual meeting in 1979, which essentially defined health psychology as the contribution of all the educational, scientific and professional aspects of psychology to any and all areas of physical health, and specifically included health promotion and maintenance, illness treatment and prevention, and the role of psychological factors in health and illness (Matarazzo, 1980). Later, the definition was extended to identify a role for health psychology in improving health care services and policies (Matarazzo, 1982). This definition of health psychology remains commonly in use today, although the degree to which health psychologists attempt the additional tasks of ...
... The author is what Ladson-Billings and Donnor (2000) refer to as a moral activist pursuing an ethical epistemology, or one who seeks to understand the ways of the dominant order that disadvantages people of color for the purpose of altering or changing that very order. Critical researchers reject scientific claims of objectivity and instead embrace researcher positionality, self-reflection, moral purpose, research as praxis, and advocate for marginalized and oppressed populations being studied to advance the pursuit of social justice and equity (Denzin and Lincoln 2008;Kincheloe 2008;Lather 1986;Yanchar et al. 2005). Her lived experiences inform her tone, lack of objectivity, and bias toward restorative justice, all of which are supported by critical research theories that reject objectivity to advance the pursuit of social justice and equity (Denzin and Lincoln 2008;Kincheloe 2008;Lather 1986;Yanchar et al. 2005). ...
... Critical researchers reject scientific claims of objectivity and instead embrace researcher positionality, self-reflection, moral purpose, research as praxis, and advocate for marginalized and oppressed populations being studied to advance the pursuit of social justice and equity (Denzin and Lincoln 2008;Kincheloe 2008;Lather 1986;Yanchar et al. 2005). Her lived experiences inform her tone, lack of objectivity, and bias toward restorative justice, all of which are supported by critical research theories that reject objectivity to advance the pursuit of social justice and equity (Denzin and Lincoln 2008;Kincheloe 2008;Lather 1986;Yanchar et al. 2005). ...
Given the collective trauma caused by COVID-19 global pandemic, it is more important than ever that schools look for ways to create safe, trauma-sensitive, and restorative learning environments. This article presents implementation science, readiness assessments, and ongoing evaluation as central and integral to all efforts that seek to transform punitive schools into restorative schools. The author first presents five elements of a school’s relational ecology as a framework for comparing a punitive school to a restorative school: structure, leadership, staff, students, and response to behavioral incidents. Then, the author calls upon school administrators, as well as restorative justice trainers who work with schools, to utilize a systems change approach that supports whole-school change. Without a full commitment to systems change, restorative justice in education (RJE) will continue to fall short of expectations and the educational system itself will continue to cause the same harm to marginalized students as it did prior to the pandemic.
... The use of different methods in relation to specific research contexts and questions permits the researcher to take advantage of their peculiarities (Maclachlan, 2000). Therefore, the selection of a research methodology is structurally both a theoretical and a practice-oriented process (Yanchar, 2005), as the choices are based on the researcher's theoretical orientation, the specific research questions, the different contexts in which data are collected and the researcher's assumptions about the fact that specific ways of collecting data are more likely to be appropriate for certain groups (Chamberlain et al, 2011;Frost and Nolas, 2011;Harper, 2011). ...
... The aim of this research was not to make a direct comparison between the groups of participants by collecting equivalent data but rather to make links and connections among the participants' discourses (Shank, 2006) and, in so doing, develop 'multi-nodal' dialogical explanations (Mason, 2006, p. 9) and gain insight about how one way of understanding ADHD may inform, and be informed by, the others. In line with this logic, we adopted practice informed and contextually sensitive methods (Yanchar, 2005), diversifying the methods used for collecting data on the basis of specific aims, contexts and conditions. Interviews with mental health professionals were adopted to analyse how they constructed accounts of ADHD in relation to their professional experience and how they discursively supported their specialist practice. ...
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common diagnosis given to children. In recent decades, there has been an increase in the diagnosis of ADHD and in methylphenidate use. This research analyses the discursive construction of ADHD in the Italian context, focusing on the positioning of the child. The study addresses the discourses of the key adults who interact with the child, analysing professional, scholarly and parental discourses. Regarding the theoretical and methodological framework, this study integrates a discourse analysis approach with positioning theory. The discourse and psychological framing of ‘risk’ pervades the structuring of participants’ narratives, which position the child as at-risk, and risky, in body and mind. The three groups of participants in this study articulated the notion of risk in different, but overlapping, ways. For mental health professionals, children are likely to develop serious psychiatric conditions; for teachers, children mainly represent a potential threat and danger to other children and the school’s social order; for parents, the child is susceptible to becoming an ‘out-of-society’ individual in the future. The notion of risk operates as a regulatory device, leading from warning (picturing a possible future) to action (preventing this future), and implies the moral obligation to intervene and govern children in the name of risk.
... Following a dialogical perspective of a multi-voiced and performative self (e.g., Hermans & Dimaggio, 2007), we offer an alternative engagement with online postings through a creative dissemination of findings using research poetry (Faulkner, 2007). Align with Yanchar, Gantt, and Clay (2005) critique of dogmatic treatment of methods in psychological research, this paper modestly contributes methodological insights in the creative and theoretically informed use of research poetry as an affective research practice to approach suicide talk in online space. A critical implication of reconceptualizing research poetry is to reimagine the 'poetic' writing praxis as a method of inquiry (see also works of Richardson & St Pierre, 2008). ...
... Unpacking psychological processes in this manner resists 'rationalist', 'clean', 'detached', and 'value-free' assumptions in research activities concerning emotionally charged and stigmatized topics. Re-approaching online texts from a novel perspective can contribute to methodological insights in psychological research (i.e., Yanchar et al., 2005) by further dissolving the representational divide between 'online' and 'offline' interactions in favor of a more synergistic yet differentially produced realities (Papacharissi, 2009). ...
This article advances the creative and theory-informed use of research poetry as a critical methodology in qualitative psychological research. As a case in point, we drew insights from Ken Gale’s maddening as methodology to make sense of online texts on youth suicide. In this context, we retheorize maddening poetic conversations as an alternative structure to research poetry to grapple with naturally occurring data online. As an analytical approach, the authors resist interrogating a speaking human subject, but rather argue the constitution of space – an ‘online-offline’ synergy that is open to affective, political, and emplaced non-human agents. Using online postings of young people bereaved due to the death of their peer, we described a reflexive, dialogical, and performative writing praxis through poetry as an alternative mode of analysis and presentation. As a methodological innovation, poetic conversations may hold a valuable space for multiple and conflicting perspectives on emotionally charged and culturally taboo topics like youth suicide. As a reflexive process, holding difficult spaces allow listeners to reverberate personal and social struggles in sense making and to communicate the emotional disruptions in navigating silent and silenced spaces of death and dying.
... Viewing these approaches as separate and disparate is counterproductive; health psychology researchers need to be fluent in both approaches, functioning competently as 'pragmatic researchers' (Onwuegbuzie and Leech, 2005), and able to use appropriate forms of methodology in relevant ways. Such methodological pluralism functions to increase the competencies of researchers, ensures that issues of epistemology are addressed, and helps to ensure more reflexive research practices (see Chamberlain, 2014; Yanchar, Gantt and Clay, 2005). Further, health psychologists taking up qualitative research methodologies often have difficulty in moving into more constructionist epistemologies (Stoppard, 2002; Walsh-Bowers, 2002; Navarro, 2005). ...
... He further argues that 'bricoleurs come to understand research methods as also a technology of justification, meaning a way of defending what we assert we know and the process by which we know it' (Kincheloe, 2005: 325). In many respects, this is similar to arguments raised by Yanchar et al. (2005) who discuss the need for psychology to adopt a critical methodology. They see this as involving a de-emphasis on methods, promotion of methodological innovation, and critical consideration of assumptions underlying research methods and practices. ...
In this chapter we document the historical development of health psychology within psychology and discuss the different approaches to health psychology that have emerged within the sub-discipline. We then discuss the emergence and development of qualitative research within health psychology, and the emergence of a critical perspective on health psychology. We describe and illustrate the most commonly used and some of the less commonly used methodologies for qualitative research in health psychology, and discuss a number of important ways that the use of these methodologies extends the scope and depth of research findings, illustrating these issues with example research. We then turn to a discussion of some problematic issues faced by qualitative research and researchers within the discipline, and argue for an expansion and more creative use of methods used by qualitative researchers, and for more attention to the synthesis qualitative research findings. We also discuss recent moves to arts-based research using qualitative methodologies. The chapter closes with a discussion of future directions for qualitative research in health psychology.
... Given the above, we have read Goldberg's text under the guidance of a collection of writings which attempt to articulate the 'strategy', 'method' and logic of deconstruction (Culler, 1982;Hepburn, 1999;Royle, 2000;Spivak, 1974;Wilson, 1998). Not a universal method, deconstruction resembles the critical procedures articulated by Osbeck (2005) and Yanchar et al., (2005) in that what is emphasised is the importance of the particularity of the (con)text under consideration and the consequent creativity required in the generation of methodological procedures. As with the aforementioned texts, what is sought through deconstructive readings are new configurations that allow for innovative directions in thought and activity. ...
... With its inherent political orientation and concern with institutional influences (Beardsworth, 1996;Culler, 1982;Hepburn, 1999), deconstruction echoes Osbeck's (2005) emphasis on the ethical value of research. There would thus be no allowing for a privileged ground that is beyond critical examination; no solution is final, no space is finally established, as readings are continuously (re)opened to usurpation (Yanchar et al., 2005). Wilson (2004) has argued that paying close attention to the minutiae of the neural articulated in reductionist neuroscience may offer surprising avenues for the development of feminist theory. ...
The sex/gender binary has proven to be a profoundly useful conceptual distinction in the furthering of the feminist project. It has also been a controversial opposition that has given rise to an ongoing and productive debate. In this article we utilise neuroscience, specifically a text by the neuropsychologist Elkhonon Goldberg, to trouble this binary in the hope of furthering the critical project. We argue that a cautious negotiation with the biological may be theoretically and politically productive. By taking seriously Goldberg’s notions of functional-morphological and corporeal-environmental intimacy in reading his claim of distinct gender-based cognitive styles it is possible to glimpse the variation of sex itself. This, we argue, demonstrates both the limits of binaries and celebrations of difference and reveals the complexity which we have to negotiate in the search for emancipatory change.
... It also differs from calls for melding the two approaches that continue to view them as if they are distinct in a very fundamental sense (e.g., Dawson, Fischer, & Stein, 2006;Slife & Hopkins, Conversation 9 2005). As other contributors have argued (e.g., Yanchar, Gantt, & Clay, 2005), the decision to use quantitative and/or qualitative methods should depend on specific features of any given research situation. I can offer one broad suggestion, however: Quantitative methods are likely to be helpful in situations calling for certain kinds of systematic comparisons and/or when the concrete specification of phenomena of interest is central to advancing understanding. ...
In this article, I examine conversation analysis, a fruitful area of qualitative research, in order to extend my prior explorations of the idea that quantitative methods can and should be part of the repertoire of interpretive approaches employed by investigators committed to treating psychological phenomena as irreducibly meaningful. My examination includes considering several lines of research by investigators who are not practitioners of conversation analysis in which quantitative methods were employed to study patient behavior in psychotherapy and defensive behavior more generally. These lines of inquiry show that (a) quantitative research methods have a good deal to offer practitioners of conversation analysis as they endeavor to advance our understanding of the organization of interactions, and (b) we can employ quantitative methods and continue to embrace a commitment to interpretive inquiry. I also offer a critique of fundamental methodological precepts associated with conversation analysis, which differ notably from the precepts guiding most qualitative research efforts in psychology. In a fascinating twist, these precepts, which include discomfort with interpretive research procedures, have resulted in limitations in very recent attempts by some practitioners of conversation analysis to employ quantitative methods in their investigations.
... A dismissal of what Yanchar et al (2005) call methodolatry, deconstruction is described as a method sous rature, where general methodological injunctions are undermined through attention to a text's specific convolutions. As Wilson (1998) argues, deconstruction is not a 'general' project to which can be attributed an acontextual method. ...
Neuroscience may be read as part of a historical search for an integrative and agentive centre. The prefrontal cortices, the dominant locus of the executive functions, which includes the control of cognitive processes and the regulation of self in the process of fulfilling intentions, is currently such a centre. This attribution is complexified through a deconstructive reading of texts by the neuropsychologist Elkhonon Goldberg. What emerge are dynamics that decentre attempts to determine a point from which agency may proceed. It is argued that the grounds for centric claims simultaneously undermine such ambitions.
... Unfortunately, these texts present naïve views of science and the scientifijic method, views that must ignore a large philosophy-of-science literature to maintain their naiveté. This literature shows how all methods entail unproven assumptions or prejudgments about the world to be investigated, whether or not the researcher is aware of or even endorses them (Bishop, 2007;Okasha, 2002;Rescher, 1999;Spackman & Williams, 2001;Sugarman & Martin, 2005;Wiggins, 2011;Yanchar, Gantt, & Clay, 2005). Because the formulation of any method occurs before any investigation using the method, this formulation necessarily involves pre-investigatory beliefs or presuppositions about the world in which the method is to be used. ...
Our study of the philosophy of social science has led us to realize that many psychologists, including ourselves, have participated in a kind of popular myth, sometimes known as the myth of neutrality. The primary feature of this myth is the supposition that the research fijindings and conceptual practices of secular psychology are essentially neutral to or compatible with various worldviews, including theism. Instead of being bias-free or bias-minimized, the research and practice of psychologists presupposes certain assumptions or biases about the world. We explicate some of the more important assumptions of conven-tional methodology and practice and compare these assumptions to the theistic assump-tion of a currently and practically relevant God. We fijind that theistic conceptualizations are considerably diffferent from secular conceptualizations, not only in their hypotheses about psychological events but also in their practical applications to psychological prob-lems. These diffferences, we believe, suggest the need for a theistic approach to psychology as a complement to our currently secular approach to psychology. We describe how this is possible by pointing to several applied branches of this theistic approach, including other articles of this special Journal issue, which relate to programs of research and approaches to practice.
... For psychology to engage in course correction, critical approaches are necessary. A critical approach is one that challenges mainstream viewpoints and practices and pushes the stigmatized, understudied, and misunderstood to the center (Yanchar et al., 2005). Often, the conceptual framing of research is inadequate for the consideration of systemic racism, the experiences researchers bring that might influence their work, and understanding the rich diversity within specific populations of color. ...
Historically, psychological science has contributed to maintaining the hegemony of white normativity and a fallacious belief in objective science that speaks to one singular truth about race. Due to a widespread unfamiliarity with critical theories and research methods in the field, novel approaches to psychological scientific inquiry are warranted to support scholars in pursuing racially-just empirical inquiries with socially-just implications. This manuscript aims to (1) introduce an evolution from critical race theory in psychology to a set of principles to guide research praxis: PsyCrit and (2) demonstrate its utility through use in an exemplar qualitative study. Qualitative coding analysis of semi-structured interviews with four Black mothers and one Black father ( n = 5) participating in the Engaging, Managing, and Bonding through Race intervention was conducted to model the use of PsyCrit in practice and deepen our understanding of parent factors in Black families. This manuscript unpacks four aspects of the exemplar study utilizing four of the seven tenets of PsyCrit. The depth of analysis provided by the framework suggests that these principles may serve in guiding psychological researchers toward more nuanced investigations, especially as they relate to issues of race or racism.
... As part of this move, research using multiple methods to study complex social problems is gaining acceptance (Todd et al., 2004, Bryman, 2004). For example, researchers advocate a mixed-method approach based on a " contextual and evolving theory of inquiry " (Yanchar et al., 2005, p.35, emphasis in original), that uses methods in a " flexible and unorthodox " (p.30) way to aid scientific progress and to find the most authentic solutions to the issues at hand (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004 ). ...
In recent years, combining quantitative and qualitative research methods in the same study has become increasingly acceptable in both applied and academic psychological research. However, a difficulty for many mixed methods researchers is how to integrate findings consistently. The value of using a coherent framework throughout the research process is discussed and arguments illustrated by referring to a study on individual- and cultural-level influences on sexual health behaviors conducted with adolescents in Germany and England. The article concludes that using an appropriate framework throughout the research process can ensure integration of findings in a consistent and coherent way. This can improve mixed methods research and produce greater “yield.”
... And in many ways, some of the assumptions supporting the use of these practices in educational research remain largely unsubstantiated; specifically the claim that random assignment of individuals, classrooms and schools can be used systematically to create similar comparison groups which are equally likely to be adversely affected by confounding influences. A critical analysis of these underlying assumptions is needed, more specifically, the need to think critically about the methods we use to determine program effectiveness, or -what works,‖ and whether they are reasonable (Burgess-Limerick, Abernathy, & Limerick, 1994;Yanchar, Gantt, & Clay, 2005;Yanchar & Williams, 2006). ...
This article considers the underlying assumptions related to the use of random assignment in educational research and evaluation; more specifically, the ability of random assignment to create similar comparison groups for the purpose of determining the effectiveness of educational programmes. In theory, randomly assigning individuals to comparison groups is considered to be the best method available for creating similar groups; however, in educational research designed to identify proven best practices, random assignment of individuals is rarely possible; other methods including random assignment of intact units and nonrandom selection techniques are often used. Using a database simulation, this study explored the degree to which various methods might be effective at creating comparable groups. Given the complex dynamics of the teaching and learning process and the abundance of potentially confounding variables, it seems likely that comparison groups will always be dissimilar to some degree. While random assignment of individuals performed as expected when controlling for a single extraneous factor, the likelihood that comparison groups created in this manner will differ is extremely likely when multiple confounding variable are present. Based on the results of this study, random assignment of intact units is not an acceptable alternative to random assignment of individuals.
... This resonates with recent arguments on the need for researchers to be bricoleurs (Kincheloe, 2001(Kincheloe, , 2005, researchers who can operate interdisciplinarily, innovate and combine methodological and analytical strategies as necessary for the needs of a particular project. Such an approach invokes research and analysis as processes involving creativity, problem solving, and flexibility (Kincheloe, 2005) and requires researchers to be critically reflexive (Yanchar et al., 2005). Pursuing these directions will enable our research processes to be more synergistic with the messiness of everyday life and the complexity and fluidity of social processes. ...
In this paper, we argue that media saturate everyday living, and that people engage with and are engaged by media in diverse and complex ways. We suggest a need for an informed social psychology of media that conceptualises media as social practice, and attends to media practices as they occur. We propose that much media psychology research is limited because it: (i) focuses too strongly on documenting causal, and usually negative, media effects; (ii) continues to apply unsuitable research methodologies and theories to investigating media and ignores advances in media research and theory arising outside the discipline; and (iii) largely ignores the social contexts in which media engagements occur. These arguments are illustrated by studies that take a more social and critical approach to media research and that show possibilities for overcoming these limitations and developing insights into psychological concerns enmeshed in media practices.
... Thus, research and evaluation practices would be explicitly informed by some theoretical and historical sense of the topic of interest and what appear to be the most defensible procedures for answering questions and solving problems. In this sense, methods would be viewed as practical (though theoretically informed) extensions of the investigators' assumptive framework that may facilitate inquiry, rather than formulaic or mechanical procedures for arriving at truth or what works (Weimer, 1979; Yanchar, Gantt, & Clay, 2005). Moreover, researchers and evaluators would appropriately emphasize the theoretical nature of their methods and their work by identifying assumptions, values, and moral commitments that have practical and theoretical consequences. ...
This essay examines calls for methodological eclecticism based on the “compatibility thesis,” arguing that they fail to take seriously the assumptions of method and, in so doing, fail to provide a methodological perspective that adequately incorporates the centrally important task of critically examining the theoretical background of methods and conceptual frameworks for research. The authors offer an alternative view of method use and a set of guidelines that emphasize the importance of contextual sensitivity, creativity, conceptual awareness, coherence, and critical reflection in research and evaluation practices.
... Poststructuralist notions of discourse, alternative discourse' and hegemony are key, in order to challenge assumptions behind ordinary ways of thinking about business and entrepreneurship, and to imagine and explore unorthodox, alternative beliefs and behaviours that may disrupt established practices (Yanchar et al 2005) of supporting Bangladeshi women into business. In this way the process of setting up a business can be de-familiarised and viewed through 'fresh eyes'. ...
The doctoral study sets out to explore the narratives of Bangladeshi women in inner-city London, setting up in business. It is interested in how, through their stories, the women make sense of becoming business women. It is interested in what they mean by business success. How do they experience the process of becoming business women, as followers of Islam, as women, and as members of ethnic communities? Do their stories incorporate resistance to the discourse of mainstream business policy and business advice? What are the emergent theories of creativity / agency that emerge from their stories? As a critical study, Alvesson & Deetz's critical approach was adopted as a methodological starting point, at the point of PhD registration, albeit with significant reservations – because of the challenges inherent in critical poststructuralist methodologies.
... Theories in the field have been developed over the years in conjunction with available methods. Unfortunately, it is probably true that methods conceptualized as if they fully conformed to positivism play an instrumental role in the formulation of theories (see Danziger, 1985;Yanchar, Gantt, & Clay, 2005). Therefore, it may be the case, for example, that the availability of methods to study perception Quantitative Research 35 by asking participants to watch a screen and press a button when they see a particular array played a role in establishing the Cartesian framework as the dominant theoretical perspective. ...
Many critics of positivism in psychology oppose the use of quantitative research methods. The author first argues that a premise accepted by both critics and supporters of quantitative research is mistaken. Contrary to what many critics and supporters alike believe, interpretation plays key, unacknowledged roles in how quantitative methods are actually employed. The author then argues that a hermeneutic perspective based on practices leads to the view that our understanding of psychological phenomena is irreducibly interpretive and also leads to recognizing that quantitative research can make a unique contribution to inquiry. In the final section of the article, the author offers suggestions about how to conduct explicitly interpretive quantitative investigations. These suggestions are based on the view that although the influence of positivism is not all-constraining (and, therefore, interpretation typically does enter into quantitative methods as they are actually employed), commitments to positivism do constrain how quantitative researchers pursue their work. As part of marking out a different critical viewpoint on positivism, the author attempts to identify what is really involved in going beyond a modernist approach.
... Awareness of the traditional medicines patients may be taking alongside their prescribed treatment may play an important role in providing quality care and avoiding adverse interactions" (Poynton, Dowell, Dew & Egan, 2006, p. 8). When medications are taken home, or prepared in the home, they enter into the social space of the home, into social relationships and take on social meanings, and can reshape relations, identities, moralities and routines (Lefebvre & Nicholson-Smith, 2007;Sointu, 2006;Yanchar, Gantt & Clay, 2005). The symbolic meaning of medications exceeds their materiality as things in a physical world. ...
Research reveals that medicines are frequently not taken as intended, stockpiled for future use, discontinued when symptoms fade or passed to others. Medications are material objects with therapeutic uses that enter into and take on meaning within people's lives. In this way they are culturally embedded phenomena that carry meanings and shape social relationships and practices. The symbolic meanings given to medications and cultural relations are important for understanding variations in medication practices. Households with elders often contain more medications and have more complex age-related medical conditions. In households where members are engaged in the reciprocation of care among two or three generations, medications within and between these relationships take on a range of dynamic meanings. In this paper, we explore how interactions between household members affect medicines-taking practices of elders and their families from three cultural groups: Māori, Tongan and Chinese. Introduction New Zealand society is awash with biotechnologies. Medications take a variety of forms; through prescription, pharmacist-only, pharmacy-only and over the counter, and extending to alternative or complementary products such as homeopathic and "natural remedies", and dietary supplements. Their use is complex and often problematic; many substances are wasted, used for other purposes or given to other people without prescription or medical advice. Overall adherence to recommended medication regimes is only around 50 per cent (Haynes, McKibbon & Kanani, 1996; PHARMAC, 2006), and varies according to factors such as type of illness, number of medicines taken, socio-economic status and the meanings people attach to these objects (van der Geest, 2006). The New Zealand Medical Council guidelines advise doctors to be "mindful of their patients' cultural beliefs, mores, and behaviours. Awareness of the traditional medicines patients may be taking alongside their prescribed treatment may play an important role in providing quality care and avoiding adverse interactions" (Poynton, Dowell, Dew & Egan, 2006, p. 8). When medications are taken home, or prepared in the home, they enter into the social space of the home, into social relationships and take on social meanings, and can reshape relations, identities, moralities and routines (Lefebvre & Nicholson-Smith, 2007; Sointu, 2006; Yanchar, Gantt & Clay, 2005). The symbolic meaning of medications exceeds their materiality as things in a physical world. Medications are invested with history and tradition, and often crystallise connections with people, places and events. The places people dwell in and the things they collect become part of them, and crystallise aspects of who they are, want to be and show to others (Noble, 2004).
... 234). la psicología crítica no actúa solo sobre las teorías dominantes, también se ocupa de los métodos , un ejemplo es el trabajo de Yanchar, Gantt y Clay (2005), que yendo más allá de la ya muy debatida rivalidad entre métodos cualitativos y cuantitativos, proponen desarrollar una metodología crítica produciendo procesos de argumentación sostenidos por muy diversos tipos de evidencia. Sobre ese tema, Spink (2003), en Brasil, ya consideraba necesario no solo revisar r e v i s ta c o l o m b i a n a d e p s i c o l o g í a v o l . 1 9 n . ...
En este artículo se presenta una definición de psicología críticaseñalando los aspectos que le otorgan esta condición.La presencia de esas características en la psicología sociallatinoamericana es analizada por medio de ejemplos tomadosde la producción contemporánea en esa parte del continente(desde finales de los ochenta hasta la década actual).Específicamente, se analizan trabajos de psicología social comunitaria y psicología política que abordan la identidad, elpoder y su forma de usarlo, la exclusión y la legitimidad socialde ambas áreas de investigación y acción, así como el efecto dela crítica y la autocrítica en la construcción de teoría. Tambiénse discuten aspectos relacionados con la complejidad y las diferentesmaneras de enfocar los problemas psicosociales.
... Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was used to identify, explore, and describe patterns within the data. This method allowed the researcher to draw on content, rhetorical, discursive, and narrative analytic techniques as required (Yanchar, Gantt, & Clay, 2005). ...
The healthcare system is complex and challenging to virtually everyone but more so to those who are marginalised, impoverished, and isolated—all factors that exacerbate health literacy barriers. This article reports on an analysis of qualitative data collected for a kaupapa Māori evaluation of a Cardiovascular Disease Medications Health Literacy Intervention. The evaluation study involved a kaupapa Māori evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention and the discussion of wider learnings in relation to health literacy interventions with Māori and other Indigenous communities. Findings are grouped into three key themes: Whakaaro, tūrangatira, and whanaungatanga. Whakaaro—fluidity of understanding—refers to the importance of maintaining patient medication knowledge and nurturing relationships between patients and health professionals. Tūrangatira—presence—refers to changes in participation practices between patients and health professionals, as well as the limitations and outcomes of the intervention approach. Whanaungatanga—building relationships—covers the intervention structure and design and the role of the research nurse. This study highlighted that the responsibility for improving health literacy lies with everybody in making substantial systemic change. In this intervention, the focus of responsibility for building health literacy skills in patients and whānau (family) sat with front-line health professionals.
... Nitel araştırmalar doğası gereği çalışılan konu üzerinde oldukça kapsamlı bulgulara ulaşma imkanı vermektedir. Nitekim Yanchar, Gantt ve Clay (2005), araştırmacı ile katılımcıların deneyimlerini paylaşmalarını ve bu esnada kullandıkları gündelik dili nitel araştırmanın gücü olarak vurgulamaktadır. Ayrıca bu yöntemle elde edilen verilerin, sayılara dayalı yapay bir ilişki ile karşılaştırıldığında daha anlamlı olduğu da belirtilmektedir. ...
... We chose to use the term storytelling as an overarching term that includes both the Swedish social and cultural history and memory as well as individual stories and experiences. Informed by the critical methodology approach in psychological and humanistic research (Yanchar et al., 2005), we analyse initiatives to enhance participation through the use of relational storytelling in heritage practice. ...
As in many other policy areas, there is a rising concern about how to involve the general public in heritage management and preservation. We analyse attempts made by Swedish cultural heritage authorities to initiate new participatory devices. We ask: How is storytelling used as a participatory device? What are the implications of this in terms of how legitimate concerns are reconfigured? Storytelling has a capacity to transform dominant discourses and result in new objects of care. We conclude that even storytelling itself is reconfigured in these practices, resulting in the collection of narratives, with limited transformative effects.
... In alignment with our commitments to critical methodology, which calls for continuous examination of the assumptions that undergird research resources and inform inquiries and findings [32], critical attention to author identities and positionalities characterized the research process throughout. Therefore, in articulating our materials and methods, we begin by offering reflexivity on our researcher positionalities: The study is led by a doctoral candidate who identifies as a cisgender, secular, fluid, well-resourced, able-bodied, white woman, and a multidisciplinary scholar. ...
Chosen family"-families formed outside of biological or legal (bio-legal) bonds-is a signature of the queer experience. Therefore, we address the stakes of "chosen family" for queer and transgender (Q/T) young adults in terms of health, illness and the mutual provision of care. "Chosen family" is a refuge specifically generated by and for the queer experience, so we draw upon anthropological theory to explore questions of queer kinship in terms of care. We employ a phenomenological approach to semi-structured interviews (n = 11), open coding, and thematic analysis of transcriptions to meet our aims: (1) Develop an understanding of the beliefs and values that form the definition of "chosen family" for Q/T young adults; and (2) Understand the ways in which "chosen family" functions in terms of care for health and illness. Several themes emerged, allowing us to better understand the experiences of this population in navigating the concept of "chosen family" within and beyond health care settings. Emergent themes include: (1) navigating medical systems; (2) leaning on each other; and (3) mutual aid. These findings are explored, as are the implications of findings for how health care professionals can better engage Q/T individuals and their support networks.
... And it extends beyond our field's relatively recent, collective acceptance of methodological approaches that deviate from quantitative analyses. A commitment to equity is enacted through (a) explicit examination of the ontological, epistemological, and axiological assumptions embedded in the questions that we ask, and (b) creative, innovative approaches to answering those research questions (Yanchar et al., 2005). Stated differently, we must take care to avoid confusing statistical sophistication and computational wizardry with empirical rigor. ...
Researchers in the field of health psychology developed interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) to explore how individuals make sense of, and meaning from, experiences of personal significance. We describe our approach to using IPA to explore whether current theories of achievement motivation adequately account for the experiences of students with disabilities, and expand the theories so that they do. First, we describe how our substantive area of interest is situated within the field of educational psychology. Next, we provide an overview of IPA, including the philosophical roots, general protocol, indicators of quality, and potential challenges. Finally, we suggest ways that IPA could be used to advance the study of achievement motivation toward more equitable ends.
... Arguably, the most central values of science include an unwillingness to accept truth statements simply based on authority (Manzo, 2006) and the systematic use of evidence (Allen & Clough, 2015) to advance understanding. What counts as systematic and evidence, however, are considerations that must be adapted to the subject matter of the science (Yanchar, Gantt, & Clay, 2005). To create a model of the person, it is necessary to acknowledge the intersubjectiverather than either "objective" or "subjective"origins of psychological knowledge (Iacombini, 2011;Overgaard, 2005). ...
... In ethnographic terms, Wacquant (2011) described a strategy of tracing the circulation of a given research topic wherever it might appear, among different actors and contexts, akin to what Packer (2010) described as conducting a "regional ontology" and Marcus (1995) described through conducting multisite ethnography to accommodate to geographically complex topics of inquiry. Lather and Smithies (1997) described a "methodology of getting lost" to account for the way in which conducting qualitative research challenged preformulated assumptions and approaches to understand human experience; Kamberelis and Dimitriadis (2005) similarly depict researchers as bricoleurs who use whatever they find at hand for the services of conducting research; and Yanchar, Gantt, and Clay (2005) called for a "critical methodology" that would destabilize methodological dogmatism in the service of innovation based on epistemological difficulties. Last, and perhaps most pertinent to this article, Slaney and Tafreshi (2018) defended the idea of a "methodological pragmatism" that encourages researchers to view methods as a set of "tools" to draw on based on their usefulness rather than a perspective of methods that researchers are committed to on the basis of previously decided theoretical positions. ...
... Nitel araştırmalar doğası gereği çalışılan konu üzerinde oldukça kapsamlı bulgulara ulaşma imkanı vermektedir. Nitekim Yanchar, Gantt ve Clay (2005), araştırmacı ile katılımcıların deneyimlerini paylaşmalarını ve bu esnada kullandıkları gündelik dili nitel araştırmanın gücü olarak vurgulamaktadır. Ayrıca bu yöntemle elde edilen verilerin, sayılara dayalı yapay bir ilişki ile karşılaştırıldığında daha anlamlı olduğu da belirtilmektedir. ...
ABSTRACT: The aim of the current study is to examine the experiences and thoughts of adolescents’ about their relationships with parents. In accordance with the purpose of the study, six focus group discussions were conducted in six high schools in Istanbul. The participants were 22 girls and 25 boys, totally 47 adolescents. The participants’ ages were between 15 and 17. The participants were determined by typical case sampling of purposeful sampling. A semi structured interview schedule was used to gather the data in the all focus group discussions. The data was analyzed by way of qualitative content analysis. The results of the analysis indicate that adolescent-parent relationships can be classified in two categories namely, positive relationships with parents and conflicting relationships with parents. Positive relationship with parents emphasizes the indulgent and supportive aspects of parents while conflicting relationships with parents indicates high intrusiveness of parents and establishment of rules by parents. Besides, adolescents evaluated their relationships with parents with an empathic perspective in both categories. The findings are discussed within theoretical background about adolescence and results of the previous studies.
ÖZ: Bu çalışmanın amacı, ergenlerin ebeveynleriyle olan ilişkilerine dair deneyimlerini ve görüşlerini incelemektir. Bu amaç doğrultusunda altı farklı odak grup tartışması İstanbul ilinde altı lisede yürütülmüştür. Odak grup tartışmalarına yaşları 15 ile 17 arasında değişen, 22 kız 25 erkek olmak üzere toplam 47 öğrenci katılmıştır. Amaçlı örnekleme türlerinden tipik durum örneklemesine dayanarak, katılımcılar odak grup tartışmalarına dâhil edilmişlerdir. Odak grup tartışmalarında yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formu kullanılmıştır. Görüşmelerde toplanmış olan veriler nitel içerik analizi yoluyla analiz edilmiştir. Yapılan analiz sonucunda ergen-ebeveyn ilişkileri, ebeveynle olumlu ilişkiler ve ebeveynle çatışmalı ilişkiler olmak üzere iki temel kategoride toplanmıştır. Ebeveynle olumlu ilişkiler, ebeveynin anlayışlı, destekleyici yönüne vurgu yaparken, ilişkinin çatışan yönü ise kuralların ebeveyn tarafından konmasıyla ve ebeveynin gence aşırı müdahalesi ile ilişkili bulunmuş-tur. Ayrıca her iki kategori kapsamında da ergenlerin ebeveynleriyle ilişkilerini empatik bir bakış açısıyla değerlendirdikleri görülmüştür. Çalışma sonucunda ergen ebeveyn ilişkile-rine yönelik olarak ortaya çıkan araştırma bulguları, ergenlik dönemine ilişkin kuramsal bilgiler ve geçmiş araştırma sonuçları ile karşılaştırılarak tartışılmıştır.
... Indeed, the approach to psychological inquiry advocated here requires what Yanchar, Gantt, and Clay (2005) identify as a truly "critical methodology." It is one in which there is a deemphasis on method per se, at least in terms of enforcing a rigid adherence to a rather narrow set of prescribed procedural practices. ...
... Finally, we generated labels for our themes based on distinct configurations of meaning cutting across participants' responses, following qualitative principles of 'internal homogeneity' and 'external heterogeneity' (Braun & Clarke, 2006) while also accounting for participants' quantified locations on the representational field. By synergistically combining quantitative and qualitative methods, we thus obtained a rich and critical characterization of cognitive polyphasia in representing the populist Duterte regime (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009;Yanchar, Gantt, & Clay, 2005 ...
Prevailing scholarship on populism focuses on explaining polarized patterns of support and opposition for populist regimes. This paper extends this conceptualization to account for the fragmented politics of Global South democracies. Invoking the concept of cognitive polyphasia, we map the Filipino public’s social representations of Duterte’s populist regime in the Philippines. Utilizing a mixed methods approach, we uncover a representational field organized by the two dimensions of political alignment (support vs. opposition) and political frame (individual vs. system). Diversely embedded in this polyphasic field, supporters of the regime may construct Duterte’s individual leadership in terms of paternalistic patriotism, or the broader government as a morally-bankrupt yet progressive technocracy. Opposition to the regime may frame the president as an oppressive tyrant, or his administration as a historical continuation of entrenched state violence. Our findings contribute to extant populism debates by describing unique representational processes of differentiation and annexation in unequal populist publics. We reflect on implications for democratic engagement in the Philippines and the broader Global South.
... Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was used to identify, explore, and describe patterns within the data. This method allowed the researcher to draw on content, rhetorical, discursive, and narrative analytic techniques as required (Yanchar, Gantt, & Clay, 2005). ...
The healthcare system is complex and challenging to virtually everyone but more so to those who are marginalised, impoverished, and isolated—all factors that exacerbate health literacy barriers. This article reports on an analysis of qualitative data collected for a kaupapa Māori evaluation of a Cardiovascular Disease Medications Health Literacy Intervention. The evaluation study involved a kaupapa Māori evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention and the discussion of wider learnings in relation to health literacy interventions with Māori and other Indigenous communities. Findings are grouped into three key themes: Whakaaro, tūrangatira, and whanaungatanga. Whakaaro—fluidity of understanding—refers to the importance of maintaining patient medication knowledge and nurturing relationships between patients and health professionals. Tūrangatira—presence—refers to changes in participation practices between patients and health professionals, as well as the limitations and outcomes of the intervention approach. Whanaungatanga—building relationships—covers the intervention structure and design and the role of the research nurse. This study highlighted that the responsibility for improving health literacy lies with everybody in making substantial systemic change. In this intervention, the focus of responsibility for building health literacy skills in patients and whānau (family) sat with front-line health professionals.
... Learner's ability to gain knowledge and learn by being part of diverse or heterogeneous learning groups 12 Olsen (1999); Poplin (1988); Von Glasersfeld, 1998 Adaptive Cognition Learner's ability to gain knowledge and cognitively engage through multiple perspectives or dimensions including metacognitive, motivational and behavioral M. Pande and S.V. Bharathi Thinking Skills and Creativity 36 (2020) 100637 Yanchar, Gantt, and Clay (2005) critical methodology is an expanded view of methodology; it involves theory construction and research process based construction of arguments supported by adequate evidence. In the first step, we identified factors of constructivism from select seminal works of the past. ...
Design Thinking has been a subject of teaching, research and real-life application in almost every domain and area of education, research and industrial endeavor for the past many years. This paper explains how to recognize the tenets of constructivist learning theory (constructivist principles) within the teaching-learning of the Design Thinking process. The research, established an integrative approach to theory, method, and practice by developing a taxonomy of constructivist principles to map the process and activities of design thinking. The paper further picks up the thread of developing and fine-tuning a Design Thinking course by presenting, what we call
as the “constructivism tenets-design thinking dashboard” which, while being suitable for business schools (Master of Business Administration), is generic enough to be used with minimal modifications for any other domains where customer experience is important, which is the case for all human endeavours.
The potential contributions of quantitative methods are rarely discussed in the qualitative research and theoretical literatures in psychology. However, it is possible that some forms of quantitative research can fit theoretically within an interpretive framework and provide useful methodological resources for contextual, interpretive inquiries. Such research, which would examine dynamic modes of existence and lived experience in context, would extend more flexible and diverse methodological resources to researchers. This article describes how some types of quantitative research can perform this function and suggests several caveats regarding their use.
The author addresses three commentaries to his earlier article “On the possibility of contextual-quantitative inquiry.” In response to these commentaries, the author identifies some examples of contextual-quantitative inquiry in use, questions the necessity of a link between numeric data and Pythagoreanism, and argues that not all methodological possibilities can be entertained at once in coherent research. Finally, the author notes that this argument regarding numeric forms of inquiry in contextual-interpretive research attempts to avoid the extremes of uncritical methodological inclusiveness on the one hand and overly narrow methodological exclusiveness on the other.
Yanchar, Slife, and their colleagues have described how mainstream psychology's notion of critical thinking has largely been conceived of as “scientific analytic reasoning” or “method-centered critical thinking.” We extend here their analysis and critique, arguing that some version of the one-sided instrumentalism and confusion about tacit values that characterize scientistic approaches to inquiry also color phenomenological, critical theoretical, and social constructionist viewpoints. We suggest that hermeneutic/dialogical conceptions of inquiry, including the idea of social theory as itself a form of ethically motivated human practice, give a fuller account of critical thinking in the social disciplines. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Pluralism offers promising ways forward for qualitative research, invoking the use of multiple methods to investigate complex social questions. Drawing on two different research projects, we reflexively demonstrate, discuss, and illustrate our processes of working pluralistically. In various ways, we argue that multiple methods function smoothly if they are closely aligned with the broad assumptions underpinning the research, resulting in their fusion into an integrated research process. The incorporation of multiple methods encourages creativity and innovation, extends the scope and depth of data, demands time, forces reflexivity, deepens and intensifies relationships between researchers and participants, and raises issues for analysis and interpretation. Although a pluralistic approach to research is demanding, substantial benefits can be obtained through working this way.
In recent years pluralism has emerged as a popular approach for overcoming the method wars in psychological research, with advocates of mixed-methods approaches arguing for the integration of qualitative and quantitative methods. They contend that a plurality of methods will allow researchers to draw upon the strengths of one method to overcome the weaknesses of another. In this article I argue that mixed-methods approaches fall short of a true methodological pluralism in the tradition of William James because they rely on a single worldview rather than a plurality of worldviews. I describe how James's pluralism, as outlined in his book A Pluralistic Universe (1909/1987), differs from mixed-methods approaches and I describe some basic features of a true Jamesian methodological pluralism.
William James, the foremost psychologist in American history, contributed broadly to the field of psychology across various specializations. Of prime importance are his contributions to the neglected field of the philosophy of science in psychology. The field of psychology, in ignoring its philosophical foundations, has developed a number of problems to which a Jamesian psychology speaks. In particular, professional psychology is in the midst of a renewed debate over measuring the effectiveness of therapy. Although this debate emerged long after James’s death, many problems that surfaced with this controversy are directly relevant to the philosophical and metaphysical foundations central to James’s contributions. Through applying James’s ideas, it is demonstrated that the approaches to evaluating therapy outcomes rooted solely in a narrowly defined science reflect regression, not progress, in the development of the field of psychology. Furthermore, evidence-based practice in psychology, when defined in a broad and inclusive manner, is more in line with what James viewed as a mature academic discipline.
Perspectives on the relationship between psychology and religion have run the gamut from integration to mutual suspicion to open hostility. Despite increasing calls for greater sensitivity to the issues surrounding the psychological study of religion, significant conceptual and methodological problems remain. We propose that the pluralistic philosophy of William James provides not only an example of how a radically empirical psychology might be formulated, but also how such an approach allows for a serious psychological investigation of religion and religious experience. We argue that James offers an important corrective to the reductive approaches all-too-common in the study of religion and religious experience by allowing for the possibility that theistic understandings may be taken more seriously in psychological research and theorizing.
While casting the long-standing problem of fragmentation in a new light, the recent resurgence of interest in pluralism also poses fresh challenges regarding how this pluralism is to be harnessed in the service of integration. In response, the present paper seeks to vindicate the merits of, and to elaborate on the possibilities inherent in, the hermeneutico-dialogical proposal proffered by Yanchar, Slife and associates over a decade ago, but whose potential has remained underexplored in the intervening period. More specifically, the aim is to gain a renewed hearing for this proposal by foregrounding its distinctive possibilities as a means of harnessing pluralism in the interests of overcoming fragmentation. To this end, following a brief review of the status of the problem, I revisit the merits of integrative pluralism as a response to fragmentation as a prelude to elaborating on how the hermeneutico-dialogical proposal can facilitate this. Thereafter, I focus on elucidating the conditions of the possibility for engaging in the requisite sort of dialogical interaction, and expanding on its epistemological, methodological, and ontological underpinnings. The paper concludes with a brief defense of the practical viability of this proposal in response to anticipated charges of utopianism.
In this chapter, we explore four particular ways in which innovation has pushed qualitative data collection beyond the familiar focus on face-to-face interviews. We have chosen these methods both for their practicality and because they are tools and techniques we have used ourselves; as committed qualitative researchers, we can attest to their value. First, we identify the way innovation has occurred in response to rapidly changing socio-technological contexts: adaptations and expansions of traditional modes of researching, such as interviewing and focus groups, to utilise the potential of the connected, online worlds we increasingly live in. Second, concurrent with, but not synonymous with, theoretical shifts that have argued against a focus just on ‘the text’, we discuss the blossoming of pluralistic or multi-modal forms of interviewing and focus group research. These two offer examples of how traditionally qualitative methods have expanded beyond their origins; the next two offer examples of techniques which have been released from their quantitative moorings: qualitative surveys offer researchers access to familiar forms of data—personal accounts, perspectives and so on—often conceptualised as ‘representing the self’, somehow; story completion tasks, in contrast, provide something radically different: a window into the social meaning worlds of our participants. Read on—we hope you are inspired!
A atividade psicodiagnóstica é valorizada na Psicologia por sustentar seu status científico e fundamentar a identidade profissional. Embora o Psicodiagnóstico Tradicional contraponha atividades avaliativas e terapêuticas, o Psicodiagnóstico Interventivo as aproximou, modificação que acarretou consequências epistemológicas e metodológicas. O presente estudo examinou essa alteração e suas consequências para o status científico da Psicologia e para a identidade profissional. Para tanto, realizou-se uma exposição dos paradigmas quantitativo e qualitativo de investigação e uma análise dos fundamentos epistemológicos e metodológicos dessas duas práticas. As conclusões revelam que o Psicodiagnóstico Interventivo encontra-se coerentemente baseado na perspectiva qualitativa, ao contrário do Tradicional, que apresenta embates paradigmáticos internos. Diante disso, o Psicodiagnóstico Interventivo oferece aos psicólogos um modelo de identificação profissional mais sólido que o Tradicional.
This paper presents a definition of critical psychology, pointing out the aspects that give psychology such condition. The presence of those aspects in Latin American social psychology is analyzed by means of examples taken from contemporary production (from the late 80's to the current decade), specifically from community social psychology and political psychology, which address aspects like identity, power and its use, social exclusion, and social legitimacy of both areas of research and action, as well as the effect of critique and self-critique in the construction of theory. The complexity of psychosocial problems and the different ways to approach them are also discussed here.
This chapter draws attention to the role of the educational researcher in the context of social (in)justice at the local and global levels. It is framed as a challenge and a commitment to leadership as researchers, by reconceptualizing the ordinary, everyday actions of the professor in education as deliberate and conscious social justice praxis. Drawing on her experiences as an educator and researcher in local and international contexts, the author underscores the particular responsibility of senior professors in nations and regions where it is “safe” to engage in social justice work, to recast their roles from the perspectives of those for whom such professional engagement is life threatening. The author ends the chapter with a personal commitment to lead, teach, and research by example; to create spaces for social justice research; to engage persuasively with colleagues; and to view research as an act of courage.
A discursive-materialist framework of agency asserts the mutual constitution of agency within cultural discursive, economic, and embodied material structures. Understanding how HIV-positive men who have sex with men in the Philippines negotiate agency vis-a-vis wider social structures, we utilized Foucault's care of the self to locate agency in relationships with the self, others, and the broader world. Using data from narratives of 20 Filipino HIV-positive men who have sex with men, we analyzed the negotiation of agency as HIV-positive as embedded in the unique discursive terrain of Roman Catholicism and the economic materiality of a developing country. Three main processes of negotiating agency are elaborated: (1) questioning the spiritual self and the sexual body in the relationship with the self, (2) navigating interpersonal limits to care giving in the relationship with others, and (3) reclaiming human dignity in health care in the relationship with the broader world. Theoretical insights on the discursive and material constitution of healing in light of discursive and material challenges are discussed.
Constructing the subject: Historical origins of psychological research, 1990. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Summary The book traces the history of psychological research methodology from the nineteenth century to the emergence of currently favored styles of research. Professor Danziger considers methodology as a kind of social practice rather than being simply a matter of technique. Therefore his historical analysis is primarily concerned with such topics as the development of the social structure of the research relationship between experimenters and their subjects, as well as the role of methodology in the relationship of investigators to each other and to a wider social context. Another major theme addresses the relationship between the social practice of research and the nature of the product that is the outcome of this practice. Reviews "Danziger is to be commended for his incisive and compelling archeology of investigative practices. Without a doubt, this is the most important book on the history of psychology to come along in years." Henderikus J. Stam, Contemporary Psychology "A transformation is currently under way in the historiography of the science of psychology. and Kurt Danziger's book is one of the best of the new breed arising from that transformation... essential reading for historians of psychology, and highly recommended reading for other historians and sociologists of science." Deborah J. Coon, Isis "...the most striking achievement in historical research within psychology since the publication of Edwin G. Boring's History of Experimental Psychology ... Danziger presents psychologists with a tightly argued thesis supported by an impressive depth and breadth of scholarship. I hope that his book will initiate a profound and prolonged debate about the nature of psychology." John A. Mills, American Scientist "...a tour de force in the new history of psychology. It transcends the old debate over internal versus external factors in the development of scientific knowledge by revealing the social processes that lead to particular kinds of knowledge claims." James H. Capshew, Theory & Psychology "It is essential reading for all with an active interest in the history of our discipline and is highly recommended as well for garden-variety research practitioners who dare to consider practicing their art without taking its ways for granted." Charles W. Tolman, Canadian Psychology Details • Publisher: Cambridge University Press • Hardcover Edition: June 29, 1990 (ISBN-10: 0521363586; ISBN-13: 978-0521363587) • Paperback Edition: January 28, 1994 (ISBN-10: 0521467853; ISBN-13: 978-0521467858)
Discusses the social constructionist movement in modern psychology, noting that social constructionism views discourse about the world not as a reflection or map of the world but as an artifact of communal interchange. Both as an orientation to knowledge and to the character of psychological constructs, constructionism presents a significant challenge to conventional understanding. Although the roots of constructionist thought may be traced to long-standing debates between empiricist and rationalist schools of thought, constructionism moves beyond the dualism of these traditions and places knowledge within the process of social interchange. Although the role of psychological explanation is problematic, a fully developed constructionism could furnish a means for understanding the process of science and invites the development of alternative criteria for the evaluation of psychological inquiry. (100 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Methods involve the application of specific ordering principles in order to construct empirical domains. These principles are not theory neutral but are based on definite ontological presuppositions. Where the presuppositions of a method conflict with those of a particular theory, that theory cannot be appropriately tested by an application of this method. However, it is an important function of methods, not only to ‘test’ theories, but also to demonstrate them in action. Where the theories in question refer to the foundations of human social action appropriate methods are those which constitute empirical domains that reflect the structure of such action.
Positivism needs further scrutiny. In recent years, there has been little consensus about the nature of positivism or about the precise forms its influence has taken on psychological theory. One symptom of this lack of clarity has been that ostensibly anti-positivist psychological theorizing is frequently found reproducing one or more distinctively positivist assumptions. The contributors to this volume believe that, while virtually every theoretically engaged psychologist today openly rejects positivism in both its 19th century and 20th century forms, it is indispensable to look at positivism from all sides and to appraise its role and importance in order to make possible the further development of psychological theory.
Although creativity in science, mathematics, and technology is crucial to the fundamental processes of discovery and invention, it has largely been ignored by the philosophy of science, or it has been regarded as a question which lies outside the domain of philosophy of science proper. This has been the scandal of contemporary philosophy of science. But it has not been a hidden scandal, tacitly acknowledged and whispered about behind closed minds. Rather, it has been an open scandal, indeed, a theoretically justified one, so that its justification has made it appear non-scandalous, and even reasonable. Two questions present themselves here: first, how did the scandal arise? How is it that such an admittedly important feature of science as creativity, in its distinctive scientific modes as discovery and invention, could be excluded from systematic treatment by the very discipline whose task it is to understand science? And what rationales have been given to justify this exclusion? Second, if discovery and invention are to be proper subjects for the philosophy of science, how are they to be treated? How shall they be systematically included? What frameworks are necessary for understanding this feature of science?
This paper attempts further to explicate and justify the belief, held by a number of critics of mainstream psychology, that much customary empirical research tells one little that could not have been known without it. Apart from questions of tautology or indeterminate relations to observation, many hypotheses are derivable from propositions that are unfalsitiable because they cannot he tested without relying on conceptualizations which imply the propositions themselves. Experiments that serve no purpose beyond the operationalization of such hypotheses are a misguided enterprise.
The misconception that the application of statistical methods makes psychology a science is examined. Criticisms of statistical methods involving issues related to the generalization of aggregate-level findings to individuals, the impoverished language of numbers, the application of questions to methods, and the logic of statistical hypothesis testing are reviewed. It is not suggested, however, that statistical methods be abandoned. Instead, it is suggested that shortcomings of statistical methods indicate the importance of making ontological considerations a primary concern. Methodological considerations in the absence of an understanding of the truth or ontological status of what is being studied will inevitably undermine psychologists' efforts at understanding what it is to be human. Whereas the use of statistical methods in psychological research does not make the discipline a science, the truthful affiliation of methodology with ontology may.
Drawing freely and expertly from Continental and analytic traditions, Richard Bernstein examines a number of debates and controversies exemplified in the works of Gadamer, Habermas, Rorty, and Arendt. He argues that a "new conversation" is emerging about human rationality-a new understanding that emphasizes its practical character and has important ramifications both for thought and action. Copyright © 1983 by the University of Pennsylvania Press. All rights reserved.
The question of incommensurability is an overlooked issue that has profound consequences for our ability to understand relationships and utilize common standards for comparison, contrast, and evaluation in psychology. Are the differences among discourse communities so deep that there is no common 'commensurate' - no common measuring stick for making comparisons among communities? If so, then the community of communities, the discipline of psychology, has no way to compare competing knowledge claims, and no way to effect disciplinary unity and coherence. Kuhn's distinction between incommensurability and incompatibility is described, along with its challenge to Enlightenment rationality and scientific method for brokering the relativity among discourse communities. Popper's misconception that this challenge implies an 'anything goes' nihilism is also discussed, specifically his misconception that incompatibility and incommensurability mean incomparability. On the contrary, the article shows how recognizing the incommensurable is often the key to comparison, and thus disciplinary coherence and unity.
"The book is useful in that it focuses upon techniques and provides 'tasters' of qualitative methodologies and encourages readers to try the methods for themselves in their own research projects. It is well-referenced and directs the reader to other sources of information should they wish to pursue their interests. It is worthwhile in that it encourages the reader to take a wider perspective than the quasi-experimental methods presented in most methodology texts at this level. The authors presented encourage us to develop new ways of working and using data." --Ann Llewellyn in History and Philosophy of Psychology Newsletter This accessible book introduces key research methods that challenge psychology's traditional preoccupation with "scientific" experiments. The wide-scale rejection of conventional theory and method has led to the evolution of different ways to gather and analyze data. Rethinking Methods in Psychology provides a lucid and well-structured guide to key effective methods, which not only contain the classic qualitative approaches but also offer a reworking of quantitative methods to suit the changing picture of psychological research today. Leading figures in the research arena focus on research in the real world, language and discourse, dynamic interactions, and persons and individuals. They also guide the reader through the main stages of conducting a study. This is an essential volume for anyone interested in doing research in psychology without relying on positivist tradition, as well as students and scholars in communication, management, and nursing.
Very Little that passes today for conventional practices in psychology would measure up well against the current and traditional standards that guide thinking in the developed sciences. The best explanation for this is not the alleged complexity of the subject matter, but an utterly tamed and merely habitual mode of explanation tied to profound misunderstandings about the nature and conditions of scientific progress. Culprits are not difficult to identify, but the editorial practices of the major journals must rank high on the list of perpetrators.
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Very little that passes today for conventional practices in psychology would measure up well against the current and traditional standards that guide thinking in the developed sciences. The best explanation for this is not the alleged complexity of the subject matter, but an utterly tamed and merely habitual mode of explanation tied to profound misunderstandings about the nature and conditions of scientific progress. Culprits are not difficult to identify, but the editorial practices of the major journals must rank high on the list of perpetrators.
This paper attempts further to explicate and justify the belief, held by a number of critics of mainstream psychology, that much customary empirical research tells one little that could not have been known without it. Apart from questions of tautology or indeterminate relations to observation, many hypotheses are derivable from propositions that are unfalsifiable because they cannot be tested without relying on conceptualizations which imply the propositions themselves. Experiments that serve no purpose beyond the operationalization of such hypotheses are a misguided enterprise.
Commentators have criticized psychology's overemphasis on method and its simultaneous neglect of questions regarding the subject matter and purpose of psychology. This article summarizes four problems that have resulted from the privileging of method, and in each case illustrates how an explicit ontology provides at least partial solutions to these problems. This article also suggests three metatheoretical assumptions based on the thinking of William James that would allow for the establishment of an explicit ontology and that would allow for psychological entities per se to be studied without the threat of biological or other kinds of reductionism. Finally, concerns that may arise in the formation of an explicit ontology are briefly addressed.
This article presents a methodological critique of the predominant research paradigms in modern social psychology, particularly social cognition, taking the approach of Solomon Asch as a more appropriate model. The critique has 2 parts. First, the dominant model of science in the field is appropriate only for a well-developed science, in which basic, real-world phenomena have been identified, important invariances in these phenomena have been documented, and appropriate model systems that capture the essence of these phenomena have been developed. These requirements are not met for most of the phenomena under study in social psychology. Second, the model of science in use is a caricature of the actual scientific process in well-developed sciences such as biology. Such research is often not model or even hypothesis driven, but rather relies on “informed curiosity” to motivate research. Descriptive studies are considered important and make up a substantial part of the literature, and there is less exclusive reliance on experiment. The two parts of the critique are documented by analysis of articles in appropriate psychology and biology journals. The author acknowledges that important and high quality work is currently being done in social psychology, but believes that the field has maladaptively narrowed the range of the phenomena and methodological approaches that it deems acceptable or optimal.
This article reviews the major paradigms that are different from the positivistic research tradition of reductive experimentation and presents an approach to teaching these paradigms in graduate counseling psychology programs. Arguments and issues related to broadening reductive-positivist conceptions of research are first summarized. Three alternate paradigms, (a) the naturalistic-ethnographic, (b) the phenomenological, and (c) the cybernetic, as well as other high-context approaches are described. Each paradigm is presented in terms of its conceptual base, methodological characteristics, applications, types of research questions it can address, and its strengths and limitations. A curriculum for teaching these alternate paradigms as an extension of standard research courses is proposed. The teaching philosophy, teaching-learning mechanisms, instructional resources, and observations from past experiences of implementation are given. It is argued that such teaching would promote students 'epistemic development and more informed method choices, as well as facilitate the integration of theory, research, and practice.
