The thorny issue of pluralism, 'paradigm wars' and politics in qualitative methods and mixed methods research

MIXED METHODS RESEARCH is clearly a recognized area of research in psychology. With the ascendancy of that work there does need to be a sustained debate surround methods and approaches in psychology. However, I think that we also need to consider alternative methods and approaches outside of and beyond psychology. In this paper, I will return back to the theme of ‘paradigm wars’ that was presented in the last issue of the Qualitative Methods in Psychology Bulletin. I want
to consider in more detail some of the key similarities and tensions between methods and approaches in psychology. I will discuss my research where I have drawn on a qualitative mixed methods approach to study textual representations of September 11th and the aftermath. The paper concludes with a discussion about the social, cultural and political implications of psychological knowledge and whether we need to consider alternatives to psychology.