The Methodological Integrity of Critical Qualitative Research: Principles to Support Design and Research Review

This article articulates principles and practices that support methodological integrity in relation to critical qualitative research. We begin by describing 2 changes that have occurred in psychological methods over the last 15 years. (a) Building on foundational work advocating for epistemological pluralism, guidelines on how to design, review, and report qualitative and mixed methods have been advanced to support methodological integrity in keeping with a diversity of researchers' aims and approaches. (b) There has been an increased use of critical epistemological perspectives and critical methods. In light of these changes, the current article puts forward principles to support critical qualitative researchers when considering methodological rigor and when formulating rationales to support their methods in the journal article review process. Illustrating the principles with an example of critical research, the article describes common problems and issues in the research design process that can be considered in order to strengthen the returns of critical studies. Recommendations are made for editors and reviewers on how to conduct reviews of critical qualitative research, and pressing concerns for publishing critical qualitative research are detailed.

Automated summary

This article articulates principles and practices that support methodological integrity in critical qualitative research, highlighting the importance of designing, reviewing, and reporting research to align with the researchers' diverse goals and approaches. It emphasizes the increased use of critical epistemological perspectives and critical methods, and provides recommendations for editors and reviewers on conducting reviews of critical qualitative research.