The promises of qualitative research revisited: 10 years of Qualitative Psychology.

Abstract

The three authors of the 2015 American Psychologist "The Promises of Qualitative Inquiry" article assess the extent to which these promises have been realized in the first decade of Qualitative Psychology. In this review, we first highlight the ways in which contributions to the journal have markedly expanded the palette of legitimate methodologies for addressing important psychological questions. Augmenting traditional nomothetic research, such practices are acutely sensitive to issues of contemporary social and political significance and to the voices of marginalized and underrepresented subgroups. With respect to the flourishing of psychological science more generally, journal contributions have expanded domains of education, relations with other disciplines, and the dimensions of philosophic inquiry into the nature of knowledge. Finally, with respect to psychology's relationship to the broader public, journal contributions have expanded the reach and efficacy of the discipline's communication, and offered a model of care-or working with-in its orientation to those otherwise "under study." As substantial as these achievements have been, significant spaces for improvement are also noted, particularly with respect to creatively expanding the range and variety of practices characterizing qualitative inquiry.