Qualitative Research and Family Psychology Jane F. Gilgun University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Qualitative approaches have much to offer family psychology. Among the uses for qualitative methods are theory building, model and hypothesis testing, descriptions of lived experiences, typologies, items for surveys and measurement tools, and case examples that answer ques- tions that surveys cannot. Despite the usefulness of these products, issues related to gener- alizability, subjectivity, and language, among others, block some researchers from appreci- ating the contributions that qualitative methods can make. This article provides descriptions of procedures that lead to these useful products and discusses alternative ways of under- standing aspects of qualitative approaches that some researchers view as problematic. Keywords: deductive qualitative analysis, grounded theory, qualitative family research As a researcher originally trained in logico-deductive methods, I have found that qualitative approaches are useful for accomplishing many tasks, such as theory and model building, hypothesis testing, concept development, the de- lineation of social processes, descriptions of lived experi- ences, the development of typologies, and the creation of items for surveys, assessment instruments, and evaluation tools among many others. Such approaches are particularly useful for understanding meanings that human beings at- tribute to events in their lives and, through discourse anal- ysis, can aid in understanding intersections of cultural themes and practices and individual lives. Qualitative meth- ods can be used in basic, applied, and evaluation research. Qualitative approaches are not useful for establishing prevalence and incidence. Although they can inform re- searchers about the contexts of experiments and quasi- experiments, how and what treatments were implemented, and participants’ responses to the treatment, they will not yield an effect size or any other quantified outcome. Be- cause of the volume of data generated, they are difficult to use in large-scale surveys. They will not show a mathemat- ical relationship between variables, but they can provide the model to be tested, the hypotheses that compose the model, and the items of instruments that represent the hypotheses. Despite the usefulness of the products of qualitative re- search to social science, many researchers steeped in logico- deductive, mathematical approaches are wary. Several is- sues block a serious consideration of qualitative approaches. Among these are questions about generalizability, subjec- tivity, and language. The purpose of this article is to describe some fundamen- tal uses for qualitative methods and to examine common concerns that block some researchers from doing qualitative research. The topics covered are not exhaustive, but they represent some core issues as I have learned them through experience. My intended audience is other researchers trained in logico-deductive methods and who are interested in exploring whether qualitative approaches can help them answer their research questions. I will not address the many complex and interesting philosophies of science issues con- nected to qualitative approaches. (See authors such as Den- zin & Lincoln, 2000; McMullen, 2002; O’Neill, 2002 for discussions.) As important as these are, I also believe that by doing qualitative research, researchers will learn through their own experience how philosophical ideas are relevant to their work. In this article, my considerations of philo- sophical issues are linked to procedures of research. Definitions and Other Fundamentals I define models as a set of interrelated hypotheses that account for significant social phenomena, typically how something works, such as how persons overcome adversi- ties or how family members enact family rituals. Hypothe- ses are statements of relationships among concepts or vari- ables. Concepts are the components of hypotheses and thus are also part of theories and models. In my work, theories are composed of hypotheses that have been tested qualita- tively and/or quantitatively but are always subject to further testing. A set of interrelated theories becomes a model when the theories together are thought to account for how some- thing works. Models may not have been tested beyond the testing that researchers conducted to formulate them in the first place. In qualitative research, there are two general sources of models: those whose components are drawn from analysis of qualitative data only or models that integrate these analyses with related research and theory that en- hance, amplify, and lend significance to the results of the analysis. Models from both sources can be further docu- mented through excerpts from transcripts, field notes, and other relevant documents. Methods of data collection in qualitative research are Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jane F. Gilgun, School of Social Work, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 1404 Gortner Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108. E-mail: jgilgun@umn.edu Journal of Family Psychology Copyright 2005 by the American Psychological Association 2005, Vol. 19, No. 1, 40 –50 0893-3200/05/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/0893-3200.19.1.40 40