Collective Findings, Individual Interpretations: An Illustration of a Pluralistic Approach to Qualitative Data Analysis
The establishment of qualitative approaches in the mainstream of psychology research facilitates innovation in their use, both singly and in combination. In this article, we describe a pluralistic qualitative analysis of the transcript of a semi-structured interview on the topic of
second-time motherhood using Grounded Theory, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Narrative Analysis, and Foucauldian Discourse Analysis. Each approach encapsulates different epistemological assumptions and is employed by a different analyst. We present key collective findings and the
different interpretations of these findings by each analyst. We discuss how a pluralistic qualitative approach to data analysis can aid the quest to “know more” about a phenomenon by providing a more holistic, multilayered understanding of data that works across epistemologies.
Keywords: integration; motherhood; pluralism; polyvocal; qualitative analysis
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: Middlesex University, London, UK 2: University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK 3: University of East London, London, UK 4: University of Leeds, Leeds, UK 5: Birkbeck University of London, London, UK
Publication date: 17 March 2011
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