Qualitative research refers to the collection and analysis of non-numerical data through a psychological lens in order to provide rich descriptions and possibly explanations of people’s meaning-making, how they make sense of the world and how they experience particular events.

Epistemology refers to the theory of knowledge regarding what we can know and how we can know. Ontology refers to the assumptions made about the nature of being, existence or reality. Different research approaches are associated with different epistemologies.

Positivism holds that there is a direct correspondence between the state in the world and our perceptions through our senses, provided that our perception is now skewed by factors that could damage that correspondence (e.g. interest in a topic). Empiricism states that our knowledge must arise from the collection and categorization of our sense perceptions of the world. Hypothetico-deductivism states that theories should be exposed to attempts of falsifications, rather than attempts of verification.

The classical scientific method assumed that reality exists independently of the observer and that reality can be observed through research. It assumes that any existing psychological dimension could be measured with precision.

‘Small q’ qualitative research is a structured form of content analysis, which categorizes and quantifies qualitative data systematically. ‘Big Q’ qualitative research refers to the use of qualitative techniques within a qualitative paradigm which rejects notions of objective reality or universal truth.

Nomothetic research seeks generalizable findings that uncover laws to explain objective phenomena and idiographic research seeks to examine individual cases in detail to understand an outcome. Phenomenological methods focus on obtaining detailed descriptions of experience as understood by those who have that experience in order to discern its essence.

Critical realism states that reality exists independent of the observer, although we cannot know that reality with certainty. Social constructionism has a critical stance towards assumptions about the world. It states that the way we understand the world and ourselves are built up through social processes. This is not fixed. Relativism states that reality is dependent on the ways we come to know it.  

Reflexivity refers to the acknowledgement by the researcher of the role played by their interpretative framework in creating their analytic account.

Sensitivity to context refers to whether the context of the theory is made clear. Commitment refers to prolonged engagement with the research topic. Rigour refers to the completeness of the data collection and analysis. Coherence refers to the quality of the research narrative and the fit between the research question and the adopted philosophical perspective. Impact and importance refers to the theoretical, practical and socio-cultural impact of the study.

There are several evaluative criteria for qualitative research:

Pluralistic analysis aims to produce rich, multi-layered, multi-perspective readings of any qualitative data set through the application of diverse ways of seeing.