Abstract
Famously, Ebbinghaus declared that psychology has a long past, but only a short history. Psychology, as something implicit to human conduct, is as old as the human race, but the science, as an explicit investigative reflection upon that conduct, is a recent invention. Within the short history of psychology, we find an even shorter history of qualitative psychology specifically. Although most founding fathers (Freud, Piaget, Bartlett etc.) worked as “qualitative psychologists”, they found no need to thematize their methods of inquiry in this manner. Since around 1980, however, a field has established itself that can be called qualitative psychology. In this paper, I discuss how this field can move sensibly into the future, and I highlight two perils and two potentials. The perils stem from neo-positivism and a threatening “McDonaldization” of qualitative research, while the potentials are related to proliferation of new forms of inquiry and a transcending of disciplinary boundaries.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Notes
The members of the research group include Anders Petersen, Mette Rønberg, Mikka Nielsen, and Ester Holte Kofod in addition to myself. The members’ backgrounds are in psychology, sociology, and social anthropology.
References
Andrieu, B. (2006). Brains in the flesh: prospects for a neurophenomenology. Janus Head, 9, 135–155.
Barad, K. (2007). Meeting the universe halfway: Quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning. Durham: Duke University Press.
Bauman, Z. (1996). From pilgrim to tourist – or a short history of identity. In S. Hall & P. du Gay (Eds.), Questions of cultural identity. London: Sage.
Brinkmann, S. (2012a). Qualitative research between craftsmanship and McDonaldization. A keynote address from the 17th qualitative health research conference. Qualitative Studies, 3, 56–68.
Brinkmann, S. (2012b). Qualitative inquiry in everyday life: Working with everyday life materials. London: Sage.
Brinkmann, S., & Kvale, S. (2015). InterViews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Brinkmann, S., Jacobsen, M. H., & Kristiansen, S. (2014). Historical overview of qualitative research in the social sciences. In P. Leavy (Ed.), The oxford handbook of qualitative research (pp. 17–42). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Camic, P., Rhodes, J., & Yardley, L. (Eds.). (2003). Qualitative research in psychology: Expanding perspectives in methodology and design. Washington: American Psychological Association Press.
Carnap, R. (1966). Philosophical foundations of physics: An introduction the philosophy of science. New York: Basic Books.
Cheek, J. (2006). Qualitative Inquiry, ethics and the politics of evidence: Working within these spaces rather than being worked over by them. Retrieved from: http://www.psy.au.dk/fileadmin/site_files/filer_psykologi/dokumenter/CKM/NB40/julianne_cheek.pdf
Clarke, A. (2005). Situational analysis: Grounded theory after the postmodern turn. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Comte, A. (1975). In G. Lenzzer (Ed.), Auguste Comte and positivism: The essential writings. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Dale, P. A. (1989). In pursuit of a scientific culture: science, art, and society in the Victorian age. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Dean, M. (1999). Governmentality: Power and rule in modern society. London: Sage.
Harré, R. (2002). Cognitive science: A philosophical introduction. London: Sage.
Harré, R. (2004). Staking our claim for qualitative psychology as science. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 1, 3–14.
Hoffmeyer, J. (2008). Biosemiotics. An examination into the signs of life and the life of signs. Chicago: Scranton University Press.
Ingold, T. (2011). Being alive: Essays on movement, knowledge and description. London: Routledge.
Kvale, S. (2008). Qualitative inquiry between scientistic evidentialism, ethical subjectivism and the free market. International Review of Qualitative Research, 1, 5–18.
Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the social. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Leavy, P. (Ed.). (2014). The Oxford handbook of qualitative research. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lock, M., & Nguyen, V.-K. (2010). An anthropology of biomedicine. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Michell, J. (2003). The quantitative imperative: positivism, naïve realism and the place of qualitative methods in psychology. Theory & Psychology, 13, 5–31.
Mills, C. W. (1959). The sociological imagination. (This edition 2000). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Morse, J. M. (2006). The politics of evidence. In N. K. Denzin & M. D. Giardina (Eds.), Qualitative inquiry and the conservative challenge (pp. 79–92). Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press.
Nancarrow, C., Vir, J., & Barker, A. (2005). Ritzer’s McDonaldization and applied qualitative marketing research. Qualitative Market Research, 8, 296–311.
Packer, M. (2010). The science of qualitative research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ritzer, G. (2008). The McDonaldization of society (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge.
Rose, N. (2007). The politics of life itself: Biomedicine, power, and subjectivity in the twenty-first century. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Rose, N., & Abi-Rached, J. (2013). Neuro: The new brain sciences and the management of the mind. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
St. Pierre, E. A. (2011). Post qualitative research: The critique and the coming after. In N. K. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (pp. 611–625). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Valsiner, J. (2014). An invitation to cultural psychology. London: Sage.
Wertz, F. (2014). Qualitative inquiry in the history of psychology. Qualitative Psychology, 1, 4–16.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brinkmann, S. Perils and Potentials in Qualitative Psychology. Integr. psych. behav. 49, 162–173 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-014-9293-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-014-9293-z