The Contribution of Pluralistic Qualitative Approaches to Mixed Methods Evaluations

Abstract

There is a strong trend in policy‐making circles for strategic, systemic, and large‐scale interventions. Although such trends make sense in terms of economy of scale and scope, the political will necessary for making these large‐scale interventions a reality is often lacking, and the problem of the transferability of interventions from one local context to another (e.g., from trial conditions to local communities, and then across local communities) remains largely unsolved (Cartwright & Munro, 2010). ©Wiley Periodicals, Inc., and the American Evaluation Association.

Analysing one dataset with two qualitative methods: The distress of general practitioners, a thematic and interpretative phenomenological analysis

“…Analytical pluralism (Clarke et al, 2015) refers to studies which utilize mixed qualitative methods. Such studies are growing in popularity (Burck, 2005, Frost et al, 2011, Frost and Nolas, 2013, Savage, 2000, Robinson and Smith, 2010. Analytic pluralism does not necessarily seek one over-riding 'truth' about a set of data, but instead uncovers a multidimensional understanding of the various elements at play within that set (Frost et al, 2011).…”

A meta-methodology to enhance pluralist qualitative research: One man’s use of socio-sexual media and midlife adjustment to HIV

“…PQR was initiated with a study on transition to second-time motherhood (Frost, Nolas, Brooks-Gordon, Esin, Holt, Mehdizadeh, & Shinebourne, 2010) and has proved popular in health-related research in which it has been extended to explore, for example: perspectives on smoking (Dewe & Coyle, 2014), understanding self-injurious behaviour (Josselin & Willig, 2014), and the experience of combat veterans (Caddick, Smith & Phoenix, 2015). PQR has been useful also in designing and evaluating services where meanings are often contested between stakeholders (Frost & Nolas, 2013). PQR offers exceptional potential to dialogue across differences in analytical approach (Stefaruk & Johnson, 2013) and existing studies have used up to four qualitative methods.…”

Mapping Qualitative Research in Psychology across Europe: Contemporary Trends

“…Furthermore, such diversity has evolved in more recent methodological innovations in the field which have led to the use of mixed approaches (Frost & Nolas 2013), a renewal of participatory approaches (e.g., Campbell & Cornish 2014;Campbell & Murray 2004), developments in therapeutic or applied work (Wilson et al 2016), the fore-grounding of an applied psychology perspective (Tseliou et al 2019), and new perspectives in postqualitative inquiry (St. Pierre 2018). Also, alternative ways of representing human experiences and the surrounding world have been explored creatively through methodological developments that adapt digital media, social networks, memory work, visual forms, or specific art forms to research in psychology (e.g., Reavey 2015).…”