Asking, Witnessing, Interpreting, Knowing: Conducting Qualitative Research in Community Psychology

We present a framework to describe the process of conducting community-based qualitative research. Qualitative research activities are presented as a series of interrelated acts called asking, witnessing, interpreting, and knowing. Each act in the research process is described in terms of current qualitative research practices, and illustrated with examples from our own research projects on families with schizophrenia and men's mutual support and batterer intervention groups. We critically examine the assumption that qualitative research serves to reveal or amplify the voices of participants. We examine connections between qualitative research and social change and describe the use of qualitative research to not only empower marginalized groups, but also to critique and transform privileged groups. The framework is intended to help community researchers to more fully conceptualize, understand, and engage in the practice of qualitative research.     

The Replication Crisis and Qualitative Research in the Psychology of Religion

ABSTRACT

This article forms a contribution to the discussion on the “replication crisis” in psychology from the qualitative research perspective and qualitative-oriented psychology of religion. The main theme of our article is, how should we deal, as qualitative-oriented psychologists of religion, with the issue of replicability? The introductory part of the article concentrates on validity criteria within qualitative-oriented research, and why qualitative-oriented psychologists of religion should take them into consideration in their research projects. Next, a typology of approaches (Intuitive, Field, Pragmatic, Synthetic), toward replication within qualitative studies is presented. Alongside discussing the possible ways of making qualitative research more replicable, examples of good practices in that matter are discussed. Some takeaway tips for qualitative-oriented psychologists of religion, that are to be used in order to make their research more replicable, are presented in the concluding part. Promoting CAQDAS, developing clear research protocols and procedures, describing the cultural context of the research in detail and discussing methodological issues and barriers/limitations of the study in a separate section are one of the main ideas postulated in the article, that should be included in the future qualitative studies on religion (s). The article concludes with a plea of sorts, that qualitative-oriented researchers do need to pay more attention to methodological issues while designing a research project, keeping in mind that it can (and should) be replicated in the future.     

心理学研究方法中“质”与“量”的整合

心理学研究方法中“质”与“量”的分歧由来已久。虽然“质”与“量”的研究方法各有其优势,但是也不可避免地存在一些弱点。如果将质与量的方法进行整合,使之进行优势互补,从而更大可能地揭示心理现象发生和发展的规律是我们所面临的课题。要对质的研究方法与量的研究方法进行整合,首先必须“去范式”,将研究的重点聚焦于研究问题,而非范式;其次必须将质性的资料与定量的资料放在同一个层面上进行比较。该文通过一个案例,向读者介绍如何进行“质”与“量”的研究方法的整合     

Community Psychology at the Crossroads: Prospects for Interdisciplinary Research

Effective engagement in interdisciplinary work is critical if community psychology is to achieve its promise as a field of ecological inquiry and social action. The purpose of this paper and special issue is to help make the benefits of interdisciplinary community research clearer and to identify and begin to address its challenges. Although some areas of psychology (e.g., biological, cognitive and health) have made substantial interdisciplinary strides in recent decades, progress in community psychology (and related areas) is more modest. In this article we explore the prospects for expanding and improving interdisciplinary community research. Challenges include designs, measures, and analytical frameworks that integrate multiple levels of analysis from individuals through families, organizations, and communities to policy jurisdictions, and the complexities involved in simultaneously bringing together multiple disciplinary collaborators and community partners. Challenges to interdisciplinary collaboration common to all disciplines include the disciplinary nature of academic culture and reward structures, limited funding for interdisciplinary work and uncertainties related to professional identity and marketability. Overcoming these challenges requires a synergy among facilitative factors at the levels of the interdisciplinary project team (e.g., the framing question; embedded relationships; leadership), the investigators (e.g., commitment to new learning; time to invest), and the external context (e.g., physical, administrative, economic and intellectual resources and support for interdisciplinary work). We conclude by identifying several exemplars of effective interdisciplinary collaborations and concrete steps our field can take to enhance our development as a vibrant community-based, multilevel discipline increasingly devoted to interdisciplinary inquiry and action.     

质化研究：心理学研究方法的范式革命

主流心理学一直坚持量化研究的传统.但是近些年来,质化研究开始复兴.成为心理学研究方法的一个新"范式".实证主义的衰落和社会科学家对现象学、释义学科学观的重视是质化研究复兴的理论基础.量化方法的困境与多元方法论的思潮、应用实践的需要都促进了心理学家重新接纳质化方法.质化方法的特征是:(1)追寻意义;(2)情境敏感性;(3)主位研究策略;(4)整体描述策略.在怎样看待质化研究方面,心理学内部存在着广泛的争论.     

The Psychology of Self-Esteem: A Potential Common Ground for Humanistic Positive Psychology and Positivistic Positive Psychology

Today there are 2 positive psychologies: 1 that is humanistic and 1 that is not. Both focus on researching, understanding, and fostering well-being, optimal functioning, and healthy social institutions. However, in addition to emerging at different times, the 2 psychologies are characterized by major philosophical and methodological differences that help determine what is seen and not seen from each point of view. One area where these distinctions show up most strikingly is in the psychology of self-esteem. Although humanistic positive psychology understands self-esteem as playing a key role in human behavior, the more positivistic positive psychology seems to have largely missed such an important factor. This article examines how the psychology of self-esteem could be a meeting ground between these 2 approaches.     

Community Psychology: The Case of Cameroon

Community psychology in Cameroon is a budding discipline even its practice, given the scarcity of professionals with specialised training. However, this paper highlights public and private community-oriented projects that resonate with the principles of community psychology. The demands are high with the impact of globalisation, corruption, poverty and HIV/AIDS. Yet it is evident that professional responses to these demands will be slow because even the teaching, research and use of the main discipline of psychology face major problems, blocking its expansion and use. There is the need for strong academic and professional leadership that is usually blocked by tribalism, weakness in the pedagogy of programmes and underdevelopment and unawareness of social problems including the absence of structures for strengthening institutional capacity. These explain why only rudimentary psychological services exist for Cameroonians. There is therefore an urgent need for the rapid formalisation of community psychology in teaching, research and service for alleviating people's distress in Cameroon.     

The Practice of Community Psychology in Chile

Cet article aborde plusieurs aspects du travail en psychologie des communautés et met l'accent sur l'expérience pratique personnelle dans ce domaine au Chili. Durant la dictature militaire, la psychologie chilienne des communautés dut prendre son essor dans des conditions exceptionnelles, ce qui complexifia le travail et permit, tel un prisme, de faire ressortir plus clairement à la fois les limites, les contradictions, les possibilités et les défis de la pratique de la psychologie des communautés. Le praticien centré sur la communauté plonge dans une réalité politico-sociale structurée de telle façon que la portée et le style de son travail doivent souvent être redéfinis, et il est parfois impossible d'échapper à l'engagement. Tout cela est illustré et discutéà partir d'exemples actuels tirés de la pratique quotidienne de la psychologie des communautés au Chili.
This paper deals with several aspects of community psychology work and focuses on personal practical experience in the field of community psychology in Chile. The exceptional conditions during the military dictatorship, under which Chilean community psychology had to develop, not only made the work more difficult but can also be seen as a prism, which enables both the limitations and contradictions, as well as the opportunities and challenges, of the practice of community psychology to stand out more clearly. Community-oriented practitioners take part in a social and political reality, which is construed in such a way that the type and scope of their work often has to be defined anew, and it is sometimes not possible to avoid committing oneself. This will be illustrated and discussed using actual examples from everyday practice of community psychology in Chile.     

当代社区和谐观的质性探索

为探索社区居民及社区骨干的社区和谐观,在13个社区对24名受访者进行深度访谈。立足社区心理学中国化的视角,对27万字访谈文本进行主题分析发现:(1)社区和谐可划分为安定式和谐、融洽式和谐、共赢式和谐三种形态,三者层层递进,分别反映了大众对“不吵不闹”的良好社区秩序、“仁慈友爱”的良好社区氛围和“蓬勃发展”的良好社区局面的理解和期盼;(2)社区和谐的成因包可以从宏观和微观两个角度把握,其结果可以从时程(长期/短期)和场域(全局/局部)两个角度归纳。总之,当代社区和谐观是对中华优秀传统文化的继承,并具有时代的特色。     

Transforming Community Psychology

Community psychology has made great strides in including context when understanding people in their environments. While continuing to consider context, we need to expand our conceptualization of the individual in community settings. I propose 3 principles: (1) focus our research on people, not programs; (2) consider multiple dimensions of people's experience; and (3) conceptualize people as agentic and not simply as reactors to the environmental press. I illustrate those principles with research on domestic violence and welfare reform. In doing so, I call attention both to the way in which aspects of people's lives intersect with community settings, and to the embeddedness of people's lives (and community settings) in larger social structures.     

Development of Community Psychology

The growth and development of community psychology in Zambia has been necessitated by many social problems encountered by Zambians be they health, economic or psychological. The work of governmental and nongovernmental organizations at community level has contributed to the development of this sub-field of psychology. Community psychology in Zambia has many challenges to overcome, including the lack of trained manpower and availability of funds. Community psychology has great potential to contribute to the wellbeing of different communities in Zambia.