Elu(ci)d(at)ing Epistemological Impasses: Re‐Viewing the Qualitative/Quantitative Debates in Psychology

For more than two decades, psychology has witnessed repeated, largely unheeded calls for the integration of qualitative and quantitative methods in research. This article examines some of the reasons behind the difficulties with—and resistance to—integrating these approaches, focusing on psychological, social, and political factors that are glossed over in most discussions of what has come to be known in certain quarters as the QQD: the qualitative/quantitative debates. In an effort to bring some new voices to the table, we interviewed 20 doctoral students enrolled in a social‐personality psychology program at the City University of New York (CUNY) about how they think about and choose research methods in their own work, and how the qualitative/quantitative divide plays out in their lives as researchers. The students varied considerably in their backgrounds, their tenure in the program, the topics they study, and the research methods they employ. Regardless of these differences, all respondents had much to say that went beyond what is usually discussed in the QQD. They raised such issues as the relationship between epistemology and methodology, attitudes about qualitative and quantitative methods, prospects for integrating the two approaches, and the impact of methodological choices on scholarly careers. In our preliminary analysis of the interviews, we read for common themes across respondents, but also looked within each interview for unique perspectives. Respondents spoke about the place of science in psychology, their social identity as researchers, and power dynamics within the profession that are rarely discussed in the vast and cacophonic literature that constitutes the QQD. These exploratory interviews reveal the need for lifting up psychological, social, and political forces to the light of empirical investigation. Taken together, these interviews further suggest that beyond individual struggles, the methodological choices with which people grapple are community struggles, with important implications for graduate training and the socialization of psychologists, as well as the long‐standing debates on what counts as knowledge in psychology.