Teaching Qualitative Inquiry in Undergraduate Psychology Programs:

Enhancing Students’ Methodological Literacy

Linda M. McMullen
University of Saskatchewan
www.usask.ca
 Context: U Saskatchewan Undergraduate Psychology Curriculum

• research-intensive

• history of teaching qualitative research in the department

• location of this course in the curriculum

• introductory course
• second-year courses in statistics and research design/methods
 third-year research courses for majors
 first-term courses
• second-term courses
• fourth-year Honours thesis

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 Objectives

• to provide students with an understanding of how to situate qualitative methodologies vis-à-vis

quantitative methodologies in psychology

• to introduce students to the wide range of topics and research questions that can be pursued via
qualitative inquiry in psychology

• to familiarize students with the range of qualitative methodologies and methods of generating
and analysing data

• to provide a basic, hands-on experience with analysing discourse

• to begin to prepare students to conduct qualitative research in the future

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 Outline of Course

• situating qualitative inquiry in psychology

• overview of ontology, epistemology, methodology, method

• covering the components of a research proposal

• rationale for a qualitative study; the importance of the research question
• how to think (differently) about the role of the literature
• methods of data generation
• methodologies
• data analysis
• ethics
• criteria for assessing quality

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 Arguments against the Model of the Stand-Alone Course

•Reinforces the methodology/methods-driven focus of our discipline

•Separates the learning of methodologies and methods from substantive content

•Reinforces the quantitative – qualitative binary which is seen as a false dichotomy

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 Arguments for the Model of the Stand-Alone Course

• Increases the visibility, status, and depth of coverage of qualitative inquiry in our discipline

• Reinforces the methodological diversity that characterizes our discipline

• Provides the time necessary for a sustained immersion in a new language of research

• Enables proficiency in one language of research to be further enhanced through repetition and
comparison when learning comparable concepts in the new language, e.g., epistemology;
sampling; generalization

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 Comparisons

• Epistemology  objectivism, constructionism, critical realism

• Hypotheses vs. research questions

• Sample (random; stratified; vs. purposive or exemplary; theoretical)

• Generalization (sample to population; vs. abductive; case-to-case; communicative)

• Quality control (criteria linked to epistemological stance)

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 Outline of a Restructured Undergraduate Psychology Curriculum

• Introductory course – inclusion of qualitative research via textbooks or selected readings, coupled
with a curriculum-based research experience in both quantitative and qualitative approaches

• Mandatory, stand-alone, second-year courses in both quantitative and qualitative approaches

• Focus on how qualitative inquiry has shaped substantive areas of our discipline

• Optional, senior-level courses that focus on in-depth coverage of a particular qualitative

methodology

• Capacity to complete an Honours thesis project based in qualitative inquiry

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 Aspirational Outcomes

•learning the languages of research: setting a foundation for bilingualism (quantitative and
qualitative research) (Collini, 1993)

•awareness of unstated assumptions in both quantitative and qualitative research

•research must be intellectual, not technical, in nature; develop “a metaunderstanding of the

character of research work” (Alvesson & Skӧldberg, 2000)

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