Introduction

Introduction

Until recently, qualitative research methods occupied a contested space on the margins of mainstream psychology. We are now witnessing a process of incorporation and expansion. In the UK at least, qualitative approaches to psychological research are increasingly being integrated into the mainstream. The British Psychological Society now rules that for a degree programme to be accredited, qualitative methods must be taught. UK funding bodies (such as the Economic and Social Research Council) are now starting to favour research proposals which use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. UK Government sponsored bodies (such as NICE – the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) that make recommendations on ‘evidence based practice’ are beginning to open up their reviews to qualitative as well as quantitative studies in areas such as health psychology.

Equally qualitative research in psychology is growing. Both undergraduate and higher degree students are increasingly opting for qualitative methods for their dissertations. As the chapters in Section 3 of this handbook indicate, more qualitative research is being published and, for example, journals like the British Journal of Social Psychology and the Journal of Health Psychology are beginning to get more than token numbers of qualitative psychologists on their editorial boards. At the same time, a number of psychology journals have recently devoted whole editions to qualitative work, guest edited by qualitative researchers and usually devoted to a particular field or approach (e.g. European Journal of Work and Organisational Psychology in 2000, Canadian Psychology in 2002, and the Journal of Counseling Psychology in 2005). A number of new journals have recently been established specifically to promote the status and use of qualitative methods. Qualitative Research in Psychology, launched in 2004, is the best example, its mission explicitly to explore and expand ‘the territory of qualitative psychological research’ as well as ‘strengthening its identity within the international research community and defining its place within the undergraduate and graduate curriculum’. In 2006, within less than one year of being formed, the British Psychological Society's Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section with its 1500 members became the biggest section within the society. As we go to press, a new Division for [Page 2]Qualitative Inquiry is in the process of being established within the American Psychological Association.

Nobody is claiming that the dominance of quantitative research is threatened by immanent overthrow. But there is something stirring, and the turning point in the fortunes of qualitative research in psychology is an ideal time for this handbook. It has provided us, as its editors, with a fascinating and rewarding opportunity to trace its trajectory from the past into the future. It also offers an ideal opportunity to identify key debates, their historical origins and their implications for future developments, and to map how qualitative perspectives have been accommodated and operationalized across the sub-disciplines of psychology.