As you are selecting readings for courses and preparing for the semester, I wanted to let you know about a new initiative we have developed at Qualitative Psychology to support professors who are teaching or training students in qualitative methods. I am excited about it.
It is a series of papers called, “Methodological Retrospectives” that are intended for use in classrooms to bring to life a range of qualitative methods. These are all written by leaders in the field but in an accessible and compelling format for students. If you are teaching participatory, phenomenological, narrative, or decolonial methods, this will be relevant for you now, but the list will continue to expand. Each review describes the origins and evolution of that method, steps in its use, and future directions, with vivid examples. The series was designed to show how methods are responsive, flexible, and intentional ways of developing knowledge can be adapted to our questions and our times.
These articles will be published in the upcoming fall issue of Qualitative Psychology, volume 12(3), but you can find them online to use them in your classes in the meantime. To find these articles, search for the words “methodological retrospective” on this webpage: https://psycnet.apa.org/PsycARTICLES/journal/qua/onlinefirst
When assigning these papers to your class, we encourage instructors to list or share the links below (rather than distributing the pdf), so that we can record usage as interest in continuation of these resources. This process will help support Qualitative Psychology as we develop additional methodological retrospectives. Here are the references for your syllabi with the doi links:
- Fernández, J. S., & Fine, M. (2024). Methodological retrospective: Critical participatory action research. Qualitative Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000321
- Hammack, P. L. & Josselson, R. E. (2025). Person-Centered Narrative Analysis: A Methodological Retrospective and Primer. Qualitative Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000341
- Wertz, F. J. (2025). Phenomenological method in psychological science: A methodological retrospective. Qualitative Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000335
- Sonn, C. & Bhatia, S. (2025). Decolonial Qualitative Enactments and Modes of Inquiry: A Methodological Retrospective. Qualitative Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000339
After the October issue is published, you will be able to easily find these and new articles in this series by searching PsycInfo for “Methodological retrospective” in the title. I hope that you enjoy the methodological retrospectives and that you have a wonderful semester.
Best,
Heidi M. Levitt, Ph.D.
Editor, Qualitative Psychology