Dealing with problematic critiques

By Qual Academy Partner Elly Phillips

April 1, 2026

Clarke and colleagues (2025) found that feedback on qualitative work still reflects positivist assumptions about the nature of research and that concepts (saturation being a common one) are often generalised across all qualitative approaches. Although I frequently end up using "qualitative" as a generality in my own writing, it's important to recognise the diverse nature of qualitative approaches and specific knowledge needed to teach or comment on each (I wrote more about this here on LinkedIn).

My advice below is based on the position that good advice, supervision and guidance must arise from in-depth, subject-specific knowledge.

I'm going to describe five possible actions, working from what I see as easiest/most accessible to most challenging. Depending on your personality and skills, you may rank them differently!

Vent

I had to include this - the easiest option is to find a sympathetic friend, fellow student or family member and vent your frustration. It's good to have someone listen to you. You'll likely get them on your side, but might simply reinforce your frustration and this doesn't solve the problem. So moving on....

Use sources to back you up

Psychology is supposed to be an evidence-based subject, so being able to support your arguments with sources is important. The best way to support your position is to use references that are specific to your approach, written by recognised authorities in your field. Note that the most recent American Psychological Association reporting standards for qualitative work emphasise the importance of decisions that are "coherent" with the research approach and justified appropriately, rather than demanding specific actions (American Psychological Association, 2018).  That is another important source to draw on when arguing for your position.

Find a helpful supporter

If your supervisory team are not IPA specialists, find an outside expert who can provide guidance and recommendations to take to your team. You could ask the IPA discussion group, and we at Qual Academy have also provided students with recommendations and support to take back to their institution in the past. When seeking recommendations for viva examiners, requesting an IPA expert can provide a knowledgeable other opinion if other examiners are requesting changes or making critiques that aren't IPA-appropriate (Fiona has mentioned playing this role before). I remember one of my PhD supervisors supporting me early on during my research when the other was requesting a larger sample size. At the least, speaking to another person can help reassure you if/that you're on the right track to reinforce your confidence.

Understand the concerns

This one is harder to do when you're feeling emotional or pressured, but consider asking questions like "what information would you find persuasive?" or "what is your concern here?". While it might be that your supervisor or advisor does simply believe they are right and is unwilling to be convinced otherwise, they might also be worried about misadvising, that you'll fail and they'll be judged for that and a myriad of other reasons. If you can establish where they're coming from and what would be sufficient information to resolve the issue, you might have a way forward.

Stand your ground

I recognise this can be challenging, particularly if you feel that doing so might prevent your work from being published or that you must make revisions to your work, but standing your ground is ok, particularly when you have evidence (appropriate methodological guidance and empirical data) to support your choices. My totally anecdotal experience is that academics are often opinionated and argumentative, perhaps because the scientific process is inherently based on critique and disagreement. If there is a huge power differential, you might struggle - Clarke et al. (2025) write about this at some length - but you might also find that you can persuade someone else to your position. Sometimes, it might be simply that someone wants you to clarify your position and see if you stand by it.

And then...

Hopefully, one or more of those strategies is helpful, and you end up in a better position. If none of these work, I would again seek guidance from others. Are there arguments you've missed or options you haven't explored? Maybe sometimes you do have to give in, despite the issues with that.

References

American Psychological Association. (2018). APA Style JARS - Qual. American Psychological Association. https://apastyle.apa.org/jars/qualitative

Clarke, V., Braun, V., Adams, J., Callaghan, J. E. M., LaMarre, A., & Semlyen, J. (2025). “Being really confidently wrong”: Qualitative researchers’ experiences of methodologically incongruent peer review feedback. Qualitative Psychology, 12(1), 7–24. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000322