Generic Qualitative Research in Psychology

Some topics for qualitative research in psychology are unsuitable for or cannot be adapted to the traditional qualitative designs such as case study, ethnography, grounded theory, or phenomenology. This paper explores reasons for this, and proposes that psychological researchers can use a generic qualitative design in such situations. After discussing the types of topics most suitable for a generic qualitative design, the paper differentiates generic qualitative designs from the more traditional qualitative designs, with particular attention to how generic qualitative inquiry differs from phenomenological psychological research. Finally, appropriate procedures for data collection and for thematic data analysis in a generic model are discussed and described in detail. Keywords: Qualitative Research, Thematic Analysis, Generic Qualitative Research, Basic Qualitative Research, Data Analysis for Qualitative Research.Generic Qualitative InquiryDifferentiating Generic Qualitative InquiryMany studies report people's subjective opinions, attitudes, beliefs, or experiences of things in the outer world. Such psychological things cannot be measured in the statistical sense, and require qualitative methods (cf., Aronson, 1994). Sometimes, the other more focused approaches (e.g., ethnography, case study, grounded theory, or phenomenology) are not appropriate for one reason or another. In those cases, researchers should consider a more generic qualitative inquiry approach. Suppose a researcher were interested in investigating one of the following:1. People's attitudes, opinions, or beliefs about a particular issue or experience;2. Workers' feelings about their supervisors' performance;3. The reflections of women who left the convent on their "life journey";4. Senior managers' reflections on experiences that have had significant impacts on them during their careers;5. Clients' descriptions of their experiences of psychotherapy;6. Children's reports of their experiences being placed in special education classes.Each of these topics calls for qualitative inquiry, but several other, more common approaches would not be suitable. Why not?* Ethnography (see next section) focuses on the investigation of the network of social groupings, social customs, beliefs, behaviors, groupings, practices, etc., that define a "culture." None of these topics focuses on that unit of analysis (social-cultural).* Case studies are in-depth investigations of a "single case," using multiple methods and multiple sources of data. A single case is defined by having clearly recognizable boundaries that differentiate the case from any other collection of instances. None of the groups of people above constitute a "case" in that sense.* Grounded theory uses data from people to develop an explanation (theory) for the process in question developed over time. But none of the topics above, except perhaps the senior managers' reflections, would lend themselves to development of theory. They are descriptive, not explanatory. If the researcher investigating the managers' experiences in fact wanted to develop a theory of what experiences contribute to successful leadership style, that topic might qualify as grounded theory.* Phenomenology investigates the "lived experience" of various psychological phenomena. Many of the phenomena this approach tackles include attitudes, beliefs, opinions, feelings, and the like. However, the phenomenologist's interest is in the inner dimensions, textures, qualities, and structures ("essences") of those cognitive processes, not in the external content or referents that may trigger the cognitive processes.Differentiating Generic Qualitative Inquiry from Phenomenological InquiryThe most difficult distinction to make here is probably with phenomenology. Let's take a moment for a more careful review of the differences.Phenomenology studies the inner essence of cognitive processing - what structures (temporality, spatiality, etc. …