Special section: Studying science "in the wild"
Using qualitative methods
This special section of the June 2024 issue of Qualitative Psychology, "Qualitative Methods in the Philosophy of Science: Historical and Contemporary Applications," highlights important ways psychologists and philosophers of science use qualitive methods to inform fundamental questions about the nature of science. The section is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of The Subjective Side of Science, Ian Mitroff's (1974) pioneering study of over 40 National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientists engaged with the Apollo 11 missions. Mitroff's comprehensive methods included repeated interviews with key scientists, which led to important insights on how their personalities and social interactions influenced their handling of evidence, especially when new evidence contradicted a scientist's pet theory. Mitroff's findings led him to question the "storybook" view of science implicit in the idea that there is a single scientific method that guarantees objectivity and distance in any branch of inquiry. The open access introduction to the special section (Osbeck et al., 2024) features an interview with Mitroff on the inspiration and motivation for his book and what he considers his most important findings. The special section also includes contributions from contemporary philosophers of science and psychologists who, like Mitroff, use qualitative methods as a rich source of insights about science. The idiom "in the wild" in the title of this spotlight refers to the pioneering study by Edwin Hutchins (1995) in which he investigated cognition in naturally occurring contexts of practice. As a set, the articles in the special section raise important questions about the nature of science as it is actually practiced, including the intricate ways cognitive, social, cultural, and personal processes coordinate in problem-solving and innovation.
What is the significance of this special section?
The special section is important for two main reasons. First, it explores what it means for human activity to be scientific. This line of inquiry obviously has implications for psychological science, the most important being that science is more complex and multidimensional than is typically assumed and that scientific thinking is inextricably tied to social and cultural processes. The human element of science raises questions that are ultimately epistemological and ethical.
Second, the special section demonstrates an expanded range of applications and the epistemic value of qualitative methods. It illustrates that these methods can and should be used in the pursuit of knowledge relating to epistemology and cognition. The respect garnered by qualitative methods in cutting-edge philosophy of science may surprise some psychologists and challenge their view of qualitative data and interpretive analysis.
Tell us about a few key takeaways.
What are some practical implications of the articles featured in this special section?
One important way the articles featured in the special section can be useful is for education in research methods. The suggestion that psychology students would benefit from exposure to philosophy of science arises with some frequency. However, without some background in philosophy, it can be difficult to present relevant material in a way that bears any relation to actual research practice. The articles in the special section provide concrete illustrations of how philosophy of science has implications for psychology and how empirical research, in turn, can be used to inform philosophy of science and science policy. At the very least, the topics invite nuanced reflection and discussion about scientific research and what it means for psychologists to "do science." As the articles in the special section illustrate, qualitative research in philosophy of science and in psychology of science reveal scientific thinking to be a complex but fruitful domain in which to study a range of human psychological processes, including perception, intuition, learning, reasoning, imagining, emotion, and values.