The Counseling Psychologist http://tcp.sagepub.com/ Qualitative Research in Counseling Psychology : Conceptual Foundations
Susan L. Morrow The Counseling Psychologist 2007 35: 209 DOI: 10.1177/0011000006286990 The online version of this article can be found at: http://tcp.sagepub.com/content/35/2/209

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Division of Counseling Psychology of the American Psychological Association

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Increasing methodological sophistication and diversity within the qualitative genre have brought the discipline to an exciting moment, in the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, in which both major journals in counseling psychology have published special qualitative issues (i.e., this issue; see also Haverkamp, Morrow, & Ponterotto, 2005a). The purpose of this article is to identify the purposes and goals of qualitative research, as well as its foundational elements, including paradigmatic bases, the language of qualitative inquiry, core assumptions and characteristics, and standards of trustworthiness or rigor. In addition, I explore the historical and disciplinary origins of qualitative research. Finally, I locate qualitative research in counseling psychology within the overall genre and address the promise qualitative inquiry holds for the field in terms of future directions for counseling and psychotherapy research as well as counseling psychology’s multicultural and social justice agendas. It is common for qualitative researchers to make their worldviews, assumptions, and biases explicit to assist the reader in understanding the researcher’s stance vis-à-vis the research (Morrow, 2005). In this spirit, I