In contrast to an often-repeated and reductive story about the establishment of psychological research practices, the narrative of the field’s methodological development is unfolding, contentious, and situated within a wide range of historical developments. Such dynamism is evident in the recent ascension of qualitative inquiry. A new generation of researchers, scholars, and instructors are embracing methodological pluralism and qualitative inquiry, but their expectations may be incompatible with existing curricular materials that are rooted in the historical legacy of the standard storyline. To assess the extent to which (and how) qualitative research was presented to readers, we conducted a summative content analysis of nine best-selling U.S.-based introductory research methods in psychology textbooks. We found that the coverage and treatment of qualitative research is varied, spotty, dependent on a problematic and pejorative framing, and incommensurate with contemporary methodological thinking and learning standards. The perpetuation of misleading and/or incoherent epistemic narratives and the minimal and/or absent presentation of qualitative inquiry are significant obstacles for the next generation of research methods instructors. The dearth of sufficiently inclusive methodological training materials poses a challenge for new teachers who recognize the need for a more sophisticated approach to science education—specifically within the field of psychology.
We investigated the content of survey items to assess whether and how racist and sexist stereotypes are woven into the fabric of research on attitudes about abortion in the U.S. We collected and analyzed a comprehensive set of survey items (456 items from 80 studies) used in peer-reviewed research published from 2008-2018 in representative and non-representative studies of U.S. respondents. Our analysis was guided by historical narratives that have been influential in shaping representations of women and reproduction in the U.S. (e.g., the Moynihan Report, 1965). With this background, we developed three themes pertaining to how individuals' attitudes about abortion are measured: we found that items rely on (1) moral, (2) sexual, and(3) financial evaluations of women seeking abortion care. These themes highlighted implicit and explicit judgments of women, including representations of them as unwilling to partner with men and as fiscally and sexually irresponsible. We argue that survey items meant to objectively assess abortion attitudes draw on negative racial and gender stereotypes and that these
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