Review Essay: Perspective and Balance: Considering Qualitative Research Methods in Psychology

Authors

  • Vicki L. Magee Illinois Wesleyan University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-3.1.895

Keywords:

qualitative research methods, foundations of research, action research

Abstract

Mary KOPALA and Lisa A. SUZUKI's edited volume, Using qualitative methods in psychology, offers a great deal in its 237 pages and is a must read for anyone interested in more fully understanding the conversation on this topic. The authors of the book's seventeen chapters address such questions as: why has psychology placed primacy on quantitative methods; how reliable are the results of qualitative research; how can quantitative and qualitative approaches be combined; what ethics guide this approach; and what is needed to get qualitative articles published in reputable journals? Nearly half of the chapters provide excellent examples of qualitative research investigations in psychology. Although the book has some limitations, KOPALA and SUZUKI's book fills a gap in psychological literature regarding the use of qualitative research methods in psychology. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0201234

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Author Biography

Vicki L. Magee, Illinois Wesleyan University

Vicki MAGEE is an Assistant Professor of Educational Studies and Psychology at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, U.S.A, where among other courses she teaches Techniques of Psychological Research and Issues in Educational Research and Practice. In 1999 she completed her doctoral program in Harvard's Human Development and Psychology program. While at Harvard she was trained in qualitative and quantitative methods and values the unique contributions each can make. Her research agenda, involving relationship between personal writing and adolescent girls' resilience, includes the use of qualitative research methods including semi-clinical interviews, interpretive textual analysis, and thematic-coding. Her new interests include the heart and art of research that she has discovered in poetics and narrative inquiry. She is newly interested in the poetics of research where she considers the heart and art of the researcher. Her co-authored chapter in SHULTZ & COOK-SATHER's edited volume, In our own words (2001), illustrates her poetic research approach.

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Published

2002-01-31

How to Cite

Magee, V. L. (2002). Review Essay: Perspective and Balance: Considering Qualitative Research Methods in Psychology. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-3.1.895

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2002): Qualitative Methods in Various Disciplines III: Criminology

Section

FQS Reviews

License

Copyright (c) 2002 Vicki L. Magee

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.