Qualitative and mixed methods research in cross-cultural psychology

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511974090.010

9 - Qualitative and mixed methods research in cross-cultural psychology

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012

Alison Karasz

Edited by

Fons J. R. van de Vijver ,

Athanasios Chasiotis and

Seger M. Breugelmans

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Alison Karasz: Affiliation:
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA
Fons J. R. van de Vijver: Affiliation:
Universiteit van Tilburg, The Netherlands
Athanasios Chasiotis: Affiliation:
Universiteit van Tilburg, The Netherlands
Seger M. Breugelmans: Affiliation:
Universiteit van Tilburg, The Netherlands

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Summary

Qualitative and mixed methods research is enjoying a renaissance in psychology and the other social and health sciences. Signs of resurgence are everywhere, ranging from the emergence of new journals emphasising qualitative and mixed methods research to the establishment of the American Psychological Association's new division of qualitative research. Recently, the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, the main publication forum for cross-cultural psychologists, published a special issue devoted to cross-cultural and mixed methods. By inviting a chapter on qualitative methods, the editors of this volume reflect a new softening of rigid methodological and disciplinary boundaries that previously characterised our discipline. As I argue in the following pages, this is a very good thing.

In the first chapter of this volume, the editors situate cross-cultural psychology in a critical and historical context, describing persistent problems in the field and pointing out new directions for the future. In the following pages, I show how qualitative and mixed methods research can help to address some of these problems and help lead the way to new discoveries. I avoid a detailed account of qualitative and mixed methods, touching little on topics such as sampling strategies and analytic techniques. Instead, I provide an overview of the relationship between qualitative and quantitative research and describe key data collection methods and mixed methods designs.

Type: Chapter
Information: Fundamental Questions in Cross-Cultural Psychology , pp. 214 - 234

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511974090.010 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2011

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