Hello and Welcome to the Ireland Network for Pluralism in Qualitative Research.
On these pages you will find information, resources and guidance for the conduct of pluralistic qualitative research. Launched in January 2020 (see Events page for information on the launch Conference with keynote Speaker, Professor Carla Willig, from City, University of London) the Network aims to support researchers in academic, clinical and professional practice across Ireland who are interested in pluralistic qualitative research. With the support of the School of Applied Psychology at University College Cork, and in response to the growing interest in pluralistic research in all areas of psychology the Network will operate through the website to feature guest blogs, notice of upcoming conferences, seminars and training that researchers may be interested in, lists of relevant publications, and book and event reviews.
The website will be overseen initially by members of the INPQR Working Group so please send details of anything you would like uploaded to Nollaig.frost@ucc.ie, m.dempsey@ucc.ie or Sarah. Foley@ucc.ie. We are also keen to hear suggestions of other resources you would like to see included on the website.
What is Pluralistic Qualitative Research (PQR)?
Pluralistic qualitative research combines qualitative approaches, methods or techniques in the same piece of research to explore a phenomenon from different perspectives, in different ways, and along and across different dimensions. It is the mixing of qualitative methods in pursuit of a more holistic insight to human experience. It regards the complexity of human experience as being better understood from multiple perspectives and promotes the combining of worldviews as a way to pursue this.
Why use Pluralistic Qualitative Research ?
As a pluralistic qualitative researcher you may want to gain insight to experience from different perspectives and construct more holistic insight than can be achieved using one method alone. PQR allows you to draw on a range of appropriate methodological and analytical techniques to address one key research question in different ways or to ask new research questions as the research evolves. PQR differs from mixed-methods research because it only uses qualitative methodology to gain greater insight into the breadth and depth of a phenomenon. With the understanding that human experience is multi-dimensional, PQR allows for the combination of different methods of data elicitation and analysis so that further meanings can be extracted from from the phenomenon under study.
/en/media/projectsandcentres/inpqr/INPQR.jpg