Emerging To A Brave New World

Qualitative research is entering a freer, more holistic phase, says Sheila Keegan, strengthened by its relationship with the ‘New Sciences’

Qualitative research is changing. It has moved out of the lab. There is growing interest in research approaches such as ethnography, semiotics, discourse analysis, breakthrough events, blogs. There is resurgence in creative research. Insight has become established.

There is talk of co-creation, of researcher as facilitator, of ‘living life as inquiry’ (Marshall, 1999). Why has this happened and why now? Perhaps it reflects the coming of age of qualitative research or is, perhaps, the spirit of the age finally in tune with qualitative thinking?

Qualitative research had become bogged down in its attempt to serve two masters. On the one hand we have the rigid protocols and assumed objectivity stemming from classical – or Newtonian – science. On the other, there’s the fluid, exploratory approach which most practitioners would see as essential for good qualitative research.

But, the world is changing. We can no longer rely solely on a Newtonian world view. The new sciences, including complexity, quantum physics and evolutionary psychology offer a very different way of understanding the world. This perspective shift has liberated research, providing theoretical bases for qualitative thinking which can give us the confidence to approach qualitative inquiry in new ways; ways that are emergent and more open.

By emergent inquiry, I mean research which is an ongoing process of learning, which is open to, and builds on, ideas wherever they come from; which is rigorous but unconstrained by traditional research protocols; which is insightful, creative, which engages the feelings, beliefs, intuition and intellect of all those involved in it. You could say it’s whole body research. Also, it is not hidebound by role. Researchers, clients, consumers, and employees all work as a team, bringing different perspectives to the inquiry. Greater diversity encourages greater creativity plus more – and better – outcomes (Stacey, 2003).

Emergent inquiry is a mind-set or a way of practicing, rather than a methodology. Research becomes more like real life; messier, richer, more contradictory. We move from a linear to a non-linear perspective, i.e. think network of relationships rather than cause and effect.
 

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