ABSTRACT
Qualitative psychology is characterised by a considerable and ever-increasing scope and diversity of perspectives and approaches. Against this backdrop, this chapter argues that it is important for qualitative researchers to be clear about the purpose of qualitative research and to understand what unites qualitative researchers in all their diversity. The chapter proposes that three features are required for an inquiry to constitute a piece of research: i) the presence of a research question, ii) methodological transparency, and iii) contribution to knowledge. To illustrate this, the chapter examines two recent strands of work that appear to take qualitative psychology in very different directions: “post-qualitative inquiry” and “a science of persons on the move”. It is argued that both can be part of qualitative psychology’s wider project of developing a better understanding of the complex processes that underpin and inform human action and experience. As such, they are not mutually exclusive alternatives but, rather, are ways of extending and developing qualitative psychology. The chapter concludes that, despite its epistemological elasticity and methodological diversity, qualitative psychology unites researchers around the goal of generating insights and understanding regarding the human condition.
