The promise of qualitative inquiry for positive psychology: Diversifying methods

Abstract

This article offers a corrective for positive psychology, viewing qualitative methods as a paradigm of equal value to quantitative methods for psychologists interested in better understanding human strengths. Gergen, Josselson, and Freeman’s framework for qualitative psychology in general, along with other qualitative theory, will be utilized as a basis for application to positive psychology in particular. Qualitative inquiry’s potential for enriching positive psychology will be described, noting several qualitative research approaches. Then, the role of qualitative psychology in promoting the flourishing of positive psychology will be examined, discussing implications for theoretical advancements, building community, and enhancing psychology through interdisciplinarity. Finally, the possibility for qualitative methods in positive psychology to build relationships between academia and society will be explored; in particular, the nature of this collaboration, and the communication of positive psychology to the public will be noted. The conclusion notes how such potentials may be realized given current realities.     

Epistemological premise, developmental idea, main motivation in Jung's and Kohut's psychoanalysis: looking for some analogies

We are living the passage from the positivistic ideal to a new cultural climate which may be called post-modernism, subjectivism or perspectivism and in which we have lost the conviction that it is possible to reach an absolute knowledge. This climate can become a strong stimulus to a dialogue and a comparison among different psychoanalytical schools and between psychoanalysis and empirical research to find some of the reference points we need in our work. In my paper I will compare self psychology and analytic psychology in order to point out several strong analogies. Firstly, they are based on the same methodological option which gathers knowledge through an empathic understanding 'from within'. According to both Jung and Kohut the individual has within himself a psycho-biological potential, an individual pre-formed core that asks to evolve completely: the central motivation of human beings is the realization of their own individuality. This shared theoretical and epistemological ground conveys convergences in the clinical field between the two disciplines (interpretation of dreams, respect of resistance, diminishing attitude regarding sexual drives, etc.) and specifically determines an attitude of the analyst, which respects the individual process of development, which pays attention to the inner experience, and which gives importance to the analyst's and the patient's subjective experience.     

BIG DATA: NEW SCIENCE,NEW CHALLENGES,NEW DIALOGICAL OPPORTUNITIES

The advent of extremely large data sets, known as “big data,” has been heralded as the instantiation of a new science, requiring a new kind of practitioner: the “data scientist.” This article explores the concept of big data, drawing attention to a number of new issues—not least ethical concerns, and questions surrounding interpretation—which big data sets present. It is observed that the skills required for data scientists are in some respects closer to those traditionally associated with the arts and humanities than to those associated with the natural sciences; and it is urged that big data presents new opportunities for dialogue, especially concerning hermeneutical issues, for theologians and data scientists.     

Effort,play, and sport

The effort involved in playing sports calls for a hermeneutical reflection on the power that we have to move our bodies. Drawing on Paul Ricoeur’s phenomenology of the lived body and his later ontology of the flesh, I explore how athletic displays of agility, strength, and speed within the theater of sporting competitions exemplify the way that the effort made by athletes attests to their will and desire to succeed. The agonistic spirit of the Greek Olympics is evident in sporting events where competitors or teams strive against one another. At the same time, the players’ willingness to enter the field of play has a counterpart in real-life situations over which we cannot exert complete control. The contingencies of the game in which the players are caught up are a model of the absence of aseity that is a mark of all human existence. By setting the playing field off from the concerns of everyday life, the game places this feature of the human condition on stage. The players’ physical exertion is the sign of a form of consent that sets the will, desire, and effort to exist against the wish for absolute freedom. Sporting competitions are therefore a theater for dramatizing the misery and grandeur of a specifically human freedom.     

Inspiration in the Act of Reading: A Discussion of Ulrich H. J. Körtner's Hermeneutics

In German‐language theology, Professor Ulrich H. J. Körtner's theory of inspiration, as it relates to the Bible reader's perspective, is well known. His attempt to gain fruitful insights from contemporary literary hermeneutics while linking them to theological concerns makes his approach a valued yet not uncontroversial example of a reception‐aesthetics twist on the Lutheran sola Scriptura. This article presents Körtner's hermeneutical considerations with special regard to inspiration related to the Bible reader's perspective and shows how this approach may be related to some aspects of the crisis that the Lutheran churches and theology suffer today.     

The Role of Science in Evangelical Hermeneutics

In this article, I argue that evangelical Christians can accommodate science within the limits of strict Biblical exegesis governed by grammatical-historical hermeneutics. To this end, I describe the grammatical-historical method to show how science enters into it. I then distinguish between theological and exegetical uses of science. Next, I use Lakatos’ philosophy of science to distinguish between ad hoc and well-motivated exegetical moves. Based upon these criteria, I then present the gap- and day-age theories as examples of hermeneutical failure in the accommodation of science. Finally, I use the framework interpretation to illustrate a hermeneutically successful accommodation of science.     

Enhancing Theological Education for Women in Africa

This paper highlights the models that are being used by African women theologians and the All Africa Conference of Churches to increase women's chances in theological education, hence ensuring equal participation of women and men in church leadership.     

Teaching Comparative Religious Ethics: A Review Essay

Though others have surveyed the different methods in comparative religious ethics, relatively little attention has been given to different approaches to pedagogy (exceptions include Lovin and Reynolds; Juergensmeyer; Twiss). The field of comparative religious ethics has now reached a level of maturity so that there are a variety of ways such courses can be taught. In this review I consider the approaches to comparative religious ethics found in four recent texts by Jacob Neusner, Darrell Fasching and Dell deChant, Regina Wolfe and Christine Gudorf, and Sumner Twiss and Bruce Grelle. In the essay I note the strengths and weaknesses of each text, with special attention given to how the texts might work in the classroom. I then argue that the different texts reflect different understandings of the goal of teaching comparative religious ethics, and I make these goals explicit in order to help teachers decide how they might approach the teaching in this growing field.