I n this se c ond unit weha vediscusse d someof themain qua litative me thods of r e se a rc h in Ps y c holog y , f oc usin gonhow t he semethods ope nne w a nd c ritica l possibilitie s reg a rdin gamo re in- de pth inquir ythat p a y s atte ntion toc onstruc tivist,a nthropolog ic a l, phe n omenolog ic a l, discur sive a nd other “alte rna tive “e leme nts (dif fe r e nt fr om ma instre a m ps y c holog ya nd stric t qua ntitative me thods) in spec ific situations of da il ylife .   B e a rin gthis in mind :

  Discuss t heim por tan c eoft he sequalitat iveapp r oac he sofin qu iry in bu ildin g a nd s ustaini ng a “cr itical psychology”that is inte re ste d inund er stand in gho w :

1)     kno w ledge is pr odu ce d,use d and a ppr opr iate d

2)     e xper ienceis f r a m e d an d sign i f ied (de pe n din g o n t hesocial, cultural an d par tic ular c onte xtoft hegr oup orin divi dual)

3)     the under lying id e ologi e s, discour se s and re lations ofpow e roppre ss, stigm at i z eor alie nat e ce r tain sec tion s ofsocie ty.

Takein to ac c ount t he f ollow i ngw he n e lab or at i ng the e ssay:

1.      You w ill noticethatther ea rethr e e(3 )in te r e sts i n these a ppro ac he s o f inquir y .   I a m in te re ste d int hatyouatleast e lab or at eoneof t he m .   I n e ssen ce , the thr e eof the m a re inter- re lat e d, so ela bor a tinga n yo f the m in – de pthwill be e noug hforthe pu rpose s of this e ssa y .

2.      The re ’s s e ve r a l theor e tic a l fr ame wor ks (from c on struc tivist a nd fe minist th e or ies to c olonia l and e thnolo g ica ltheor ies) a nd methods (r a ng in gf romg roundthe o r yto an a l y sis ofdiscour se a nd n a rra tive a na l y sis) tha ty ou c a n c hoose f rom iny our e labo ra tion of qua litative a pproac he sofinquir y .Althou g h it wo uld be r ec omme nd a ble th a ty ou mention them, I am m or ein tere s te d int hatyou pick on l y one(a theor e tic al f r ame w or k, par adigmorme thod).   Pick theonethat f its morewithy ou r inte re sts or t hewa yy ou makey our a pp roa c h toa nswe r this essa y .

3.      Re membe r tha t thelo g iche reis to discuss how thisa pproa c h e s ofinquir ya nd pa rticula r inte re sts a re re late d toam or e”cr itical” psychology (atleastas IanP ar ke rde f in e s it) . Useat le asttwo (2)oft heassigne d te xt s oft he c onf ere nc epor tion oft he c lass . You a rea lso w e lcome d to usethe te x tsa ssig ne d tothe la bora tor yse c tions, a s longa s the y a ppl ytoy our d is c ussion.