Doing Your Qualitative Psychology Project

This book is for students who are about to embark on a qualitative research project as part of their psychology degree. While there are a number of books on qualitative psychological research, Doing Your Qualitative Psychology Project is unique as it leads you step-by-step through the process of doing your project and writing your dissertation. The focus throughout is on how to make your project excellent! Editors Cath Sullivan, Stephen Gibson and Sarah C.E. Riley focus on the steps involved in completing a qualitative dissertation and on the decisions that you′ll need to make as you go along.

Dr Cath Sullivan is Senior Lecturer in Psychology in the University of Central Lancashire’s School of Psychology and her research interests mainly relate to the social psychology of gender, discourse and social constructionism. Cath has over 10 years’ experience of teaching qualitative methods to undergraduate and postgraduate students, and since 2005 has been an active member of the Higher Education Academy Psychology Network working group on Teaching Qualitative Research Methods at Undergraduate Level (TQRMUL). Her published articles and book chapters include empirical qualitative papers and pieces about qualitative methodology.

Stephen Gibson is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at York St John University. He is a social psychologist with research interests in areas such as peace and conflict, citizenship and national identity, and dis/obedience. In addition, he has been involved in numerous projects concerning the teaching of qualitative research methods. Between 2008 and 2011 he was chair of the TQRMUL group, and is co-editor (with Simon Mollan) of the forthcoming volume Representations of Peace and Conflict (Palgrave, 2012).

Sarah Riley is a Senior Lecturer in the Psychology Department at University College Wales, Aberystwyth, who uses and teaches a range of qualitative methods. Recent projects include looking at clubbing and dance cultures as forms of social and political participation (Economic and Social Research Council) and using cooperative inquiry to explore ′dilemmas of femininity′ (British Academy). Her books include Critical Bodies: Representations, Identities and Practices of Weight and Body Management (PalgraveMacMillan, 2008) and Sex, Identity and Consumer Culture (Open University Press, forthcoming).