Introducing qualitative research into a psychology program: Co-learning, hospitality and rigour

I am an academic in the Clinical Psychology Unit in the School of Psychology, University of Sydney and convenor of Qualitative Research in Psychology, a group with ninety members from within the Unit, the School and other disciplines and Universities. The aim of this paper is to describe the evolution of this group and the promotion of qualitative methods within a discipline traditionally aligned with quantitative research. I will describe three factors that I see as contributing towards these developments; a focus on co-learning with students and academics using innovative teaching methods, an ethic of hospitality towards quantitative research colleagues and an insistence on high standards to establish the trustworthiness of research findings. Examples of three studies conducted by students will be provided.