Are you a pluralistic researcher? Are you a PhD student or supervisor?
This page has been designed to encourage peer support and to provide a space for networking. Send us a description of your pluralistic work with contact details, and we will post it here for others to see, and so they are able to get in touch with you.
Nollaig Frost
My interest in pluralistic research came out of my research into the experience of becoming a mother to a second child. Keen not to impose my own story onto those of others I sought ways to minimise the introduction of personal and methodological assumptions to the exploration and interpretation of the data. First I employed a variety of narrative analysis models, and then, realising the challenges of being pluralistic alone, I worked with other analysts to explore the data using different methods of analysis. The outcomes were interesting in highlighting the ways that data can be explored and findings synthesised, and also in highlighting challenges and decisions made by data analysts, working either alone or as part of a team.
Since then I have worked with others to use qualitative methods pluralistically to explore topics that include understanding experiences of mental illness, parenting and migration, to name a few. I am considering increasingly the role of pluralistic qualitative research in mixed methods approaches, and maintain my interest in issues of reflexivity and researcher impact when using more than one qualitative method. It is particularly exciting to work with researchers in other countries, institutions and disciplines to consider the benefits and challenges that pluralism in research can bring, and to see these being addressed in PhD and other research. Currently, I am co-editing with Rachel Shaw a Special Issue of the QMiP Bulletin entitled: The Place of Qualitative Methods in Mixed Methods Research- stand by for its publication soon!
If you have comments, queries or ideas about how pluralism can and is developing I would love to hear them. Do contact me through this blog, on Twitter @N_PQR or at n.frost@mdx.ac.uk
Deborah Rodriguez
I’m currently a part-time Psychology doctoral student at Middlesex University, London. My research aims to explore changes in attachment across the transition to second-time parenthood in both partners of heterosexual couples, and to examine the meaning that this experience has on the couples in understanding changes to their sense of self and to their relationship. This study will ask the following overarching question: How do heterosexual couples make the second-time transition into their identities as parents, biographically and in their current lives and relationships? Across the transition to second-time parenthood, the study will explore how couples (re)construct their sense of selves as individuals, how they (re)construct their relationship, and how their attachment styles and attachment networks change with this transition.
Relationships and life consist of multiple layers, dimensions and perspectives. And so this study will use multiple methods (psychosocial interview method, visual methods and participant diaries) as this generates multidimensional material (Gabb, 2009). The data will be analysed pluralistically as this will provide multi-dimensional perspectives into understanding a person’s experiences in a holistic manner (Frost, 2011), and so will uphold the integrity of exploring the multiple layers presented.
Narrative analysis will be used as its purpose is to explore how people make sense of events and actions within their lives, and to explore the manner in which these stories are told (Riessman, 2008). Thematic analysis will also be applied to the data as this model identifies patterns (Braun and Clarke, 2006), and focuses on the content of the stories told (Riessman, 2008). Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis may also be applied as its purpose is to explore personal lived experiences and attempts to understand what the world is like from the participant’s point of view (Shinebourne, 2011).
My study aims to really push the boundaries of research into adult attachment by using pluralistic methods to further the understanding of adult attachment and couple relationships – this research is designed to be innovative in its methods, and as a result, groundbreaking in its findings. Watch this space!
Deborah Rodriguez, Middlesex University, London.
Please contact me at d.rodriguez@mdx.ac.uk Follow me on Twitter @Deborah_Rod
Nick Caddick
As a qualitative researcher, one of my long-standing interests is different methods of data analysis. There are so many varieties to choose from, and many different versions of each different variety of analysis, all doing different things and transforming qualitative data in unique ways. I’m interested in how the type of analysis we choose frames what we can ‘see’ in the data we collect. As well as trying my hand at different types of analysis, I therefore consider the prospect of combining different forms of analysis an intriguing one in terms of multiplying the possibilities for what can be ‘seen’ in the data.
I was introduced to the idea of pluralism through a meta-study that I was involved in with colleagues at Loughborough University (see Barnes et al., 2014). I then experimented with pluralistic analysis in my PhD by striving to integrate the theoretical frameworks of narrative and phenomenology. This was a challenging process but one that has developed my understanding of both of these qualitative traditions and further fuelled my interest in pluralism. As my PhD research draws near(ish!) to completion, I retain a strong desire to experiment with pluralism in future work and look forward to conversing with other pluralist-minded qualitative researchers.
Nick Caddick – Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport, Loughborough University.
Contact: n.d.caddick@lboro.ac.uk Twitter: @NickCaddick1
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/phc/team/research-students/nick-caddick.html
Reference
Barnes, J., Caddick, N., Clarke, N. J., Cromby, J., McDermott, H., Willis, M. E. H., & Wiltshire, G. (2014). Methodological pluralism in qualitative research: Reflections on a meta-study. QMiP Bulletin, 17, 35-41.
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