Qualitative Research

As graduate education in qualitative research is only relatively recent, most of reviewers and editors of psychological journals have not had access to qualitative methods education.  Given the role of qualitative research in developing pragmatic solutions to practical problems, promoting social justice and transformation, and facilitating the development and clarification of theories, understandings, or empirically-based hypotheses--especially from marginalized perspectives or on understudied topics--the development of guidelines can further the field in many directions.  My work has generated and communicated standards for evaluating, designing, and reporting research using qualitative and mixed method approaches.  I chaired the Task Force on Publishing Qualitative Research of the Society of Qualitative Inquiry in Psychology (SQIP), a section of the American Psychological Association’s Division 5 [Quantitative and Qualitative Methods].  As well, I created a freely-accessible APA film called, Recommendations for Reviewing Qualitative Research, to provide guidance for reviewers of APA journals via their Continuing Education Program in concert with the recommendations that were developed (https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/resources/how-to-review-manuscripts).

 In addition, I was the Chair of the working group to develop qualitative reporting standards for the upcoming edition of the APA Publication Manual, which, for the first time, included guidelines for the reporting of qualitative methods in psychology and guided psychologists to consider the impact of epistemological perspectives on research reporting (see Levitt et al., 2018).  Our resultant article was the most downloaded across all APA journals for 2018 (http://www.apamonitor-digital.org/apamonitor/201812/MobilePagedReplica.action?pm=2&folio=36#pg39) and was most cited during the 2-year 2019 impact factor period for articles published in the American Psychologist.  My writings, including my recent books - Reporting Qualitative Research in Psychology - Revised Edition and Essentials of Critical-Constructivist Grounded Theory guides researchers to appreciation the functions of methodological procedures in light of the aims and epistemological perspectives of the researchers, rather than to adopt cookbook approaches to methods.  As well, I was a president of SQIP (www.sqip.org) from 2017-2018.  I advocate for educational system in which psychologists are familiar with a broad range of approaches to research and a mental health system in which guidelines are based upon the integration of research of many kinds rather than a narrowed base of evidence (Levitt et al., 2024).

Example articles

Levitt, H. M., Bamberg, M., Creswell, J. W., Frost, D., Josselson, R., & Suárez-Orozco, Carola. (2018).  Journal article reporting standards for qualitative research in psychology: The APA Publications and Communications Board Task Force report.  American Psychologist, 73(1),26-46.  doi:10.1037/amp0000151.   https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/amp-amp0000151.pdf

Levitt, H. M., Motulsky, S. L., Wertz, F. J., & Morrow, S. L., Ponterotto, J. G. (2017). Recommendations for designing and reviewing qualitative research in psychology: Promoting methodological integrity. Qualitative Psychology, 4, 1-22. www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/qua-qup0000082.pdf