How do interpretative researchers do research? In this chapter, we move from the general principles described in Chapter 5 to show how those principles shape research practice. We first give an overview of the contemporary landscape of interpretative research. Then we describe how interpretative psychological researchers go about gathering and assembling the conversations, stories, or texts they intend to analyze. We give some examples of how interpretative analyses proceed. Then we discuss some of the ethical complexities that arise when researchers study people's everyday lives. We end with a discussion of reflexivity, that is, systematic reflection on the process of the research.

The landscape of interpretative research

Interpretative researchers study people as reflective, intentional, meaning-making actors. Researchers from many fields use interpretative strategies in their work, including discursive researchers, narrative researchers, phenomenological researchers, and psychodynamic researchers, as well as cultural and psychological anthropologists. What these approaches have in common is a goal of understanding how research participants engage in making sense of themselves and of the world and how they portray themselves to others. The studies usually rely on rich talk – that is, talk that is not constrained by detailed questioning or fixed response alternatives (Marecek, 2003).