Constructivist Approaches and Research Methods

A Practical Guide to Exploring Personal Meanings
First Edition
Constructivist Approaches and Research Methods
September 2016 | 248 pages | Sage UK
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Hardcover
ISBN: 9781473930292
Available from January 0001

Description

This book provides a comprehensive overview of personal construct psychology (PCP) that will help researchers understand the why's, what's and how's of conducting a rigorous constructivist research project.

From the theoretical underpinnings of constructivist approaches to the practical values of these techniques, these three expert authors explain how to conduct interpretative, constructivist research from inception to completion. Key topics include:

  • Understanding research philosophies and paradigms
  • Constructing and exploring personal realities
  • Establishing effective research procedures
  • Evaluating grids, mapping, narrative and other research methods
  • Managing the practicalities of fieldwork
  • Analysing and presenting data

With activities and procedural examples from a wide range of disciplines woven throughout the text and two special chapters featuring in-depth case studies from a variety of constructivist researchers, this book helps readers grasp the tools, designs, and opportunities of interpretative research.

An essential companion for both researchers and practitioners looking to understand people’s values, attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, or motivations!   

Contents

Part I: Making decisions based on philosophy, theory and project purpose

  • Chapter 1: Introduction and orientation to constructivist research
  • Chapter 2: Understanding the nature of constructivist approaches
  • Chapter 3: Linking philosophy and theory to research purpose
  • Chapter 4: Constructing personal realities

Part II: Practicalities of Engaging in Constructivist Research

  • Chapter 5: Exploring personal realities
  • Chapter 6: Setting the climate for effective research encounters
  • Chapter 7: An evaluation of a range of potential research techniques
  • Chapter 8: An evaluation of a range of potential research designs
  • Chapter 9: Realities and practicalities in managing fieldwork
  • Chapter 10: Data analysis, meaning interpretation and management/presentation issues

Part III: How others have used PCP – sample research cases

  • Chapter 11: Cases using different designs
  • Chapter 12: Constructive alternatives, psychic mirrors and narrative turns: reflections on a lifetime as a personal construct researcher

Description

This book provides a comprehensive overview of personal construct psychology (PCP) that will help researchers understand the why's, what's and how's of conducting a rigorous constructivist research project.

From the theoretical underpinnings of constructivist approaches to the practical values of these techniques, these three expert authors explain how to conduct interpretative, constructivist research from inception to completion. Key topics include:

  • Understanding research philosophies and paradigms
  • Constructing and exploring personal realities
  • Establishing effective research procedures
  • Evaluating grids, mapping, narrative and other research methods
  • Managing the practicalities of fieldwork
  • Analysing and presenting data

With activities and procedural examples from a wide range of disciplines woven throughout the text and two special chapters featuring in-depth case studies from a variety of constructivist researchers, this book helps readers grasp the tools, designs, and opportunities of interpretative research.

An essential companion for both researchers and practitioners looking to understand people’s values, attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, or motivations!   

Contents

Part I: Making decisions based on philosophy, theory and project purpose

  • Chapter 1: Introduction and orientation to constructivist research
  • Chapter 2: Understanding the nature of constructivist approaches
  • Chapter 3: Linking philosophy and theory to research purpose
  • Chapter 4: Constructing personal realities

Part II: Practicalities of Engaging in Constructivist Research

  • Chapter 5: Exploring personal realities
  • Chapter 6: Setting the climate for effective research encounters
  • Chapter 7: An evaluation of a range of potential research techniques
  • Chapter 8: An evaluation of a range of potential research designs
  • Chapter 9: Realities and practicalities in managing fieldwork
  • Chapter 10: Data analysis, meaning interpretation and management/presentation issues

Part III: How others have used PCP – sample research cases

  • Chapter 11: Cases using different designs
  • Chapter 12: Constructive alternatives, psychic mirrors and narrative turns: reflections on a lifetime as a personal construct researcher
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Constructivist Approaches and Research Methods

A Practical Guide to Exploring Personal Meanings


September 2016 | 248 pages | Sage UK

Format Published Date ISBN Price
Hardcover 31/03/2026 9781473930292 $230.00
Paperback 31/03/2026 9781473930308 $122.00

This book provides a comprehensive overview of personal construct psychology (PCP) that will help researchers understand the why's, what's and how's of conducting a rigorous constructivist research project.

From the theoretical underpinnings of constructivist approaches to the practical values of these techniques, these three expert authors explain how to conduct interpretative, constructivist research from inception to completion. Key topics include:

  • Understanding research philosophies and paradigms
  • Constructing and exploring personal realities
  • Establishing effective research procedures
  • Evaluating grids, mapping, narrative and other research methods
  • Managing the practicalities of fieldwork
  • Analysing and presenting data

With activities and procedural examples from a wide range of disciplines woven throughout the text and two special chapters featuring in-depth case studies from a variety of constructivist researchers, this book helps readers grasp the tools, designs, and opportunities of interpretative research.

An essential companion for both researchers and practitioners looking to understand people’s values, attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, or motivations!   


Table Of Contents:

  • Part I: Making decisions based on philosophy, theory and project purpose
  • Chapter 1: Introduction and orientation to constructivist research
  • Chapter 2: Understanding the nature of constructivist approaches
  • Chapter 3: Linking philosophy and theory to research purpose
  • Chapter 4: Constructing personal realities
  • Part II: Practicalities of Engaging in Constructivist Research
  • Chapter 5: Exploring personal realities
  • Chapter 6: Setting the climate for effective research encounters
  • Chapter 7: An evaluation of a range of potential research techniques
  • Chapter 8: An evaluation of a range of potential research designs
  • Chapter 9: Realities and practicalities in managing fieldwork
  • Chapter 10: Data analysis, meaning interpretation and management/presentation issues
  • Part III: How others have used PCP – sample research cases
  • Chapter 11: Cases using different designs
  • Chapter 12: Constructive alternatives, psychic mirrors and narrative turns: reflections on a lifetime as a personal construct researcher

Recent Product Reviews:

Theoretically rich and provocative of deep reflection in the field to which it is primarily addressed, but equally in any field of enquiry and practice where one works with human beings to enhance their optimal functioning. Yet, eminently practical and with ‘Activities’ that cannot but challenge habitual modes of meaning-making.
Bill Warren, Associate Professor, School of Education, University of Newcastle. Australia
This book is a welcome guide to an empirically grounded understanding of the constructivist approach. With its focus on research practice in a multitude of fields, it is of great value both for the budding researcher and the seasoned professional.
Jörn Scheer, Emeritus Professor of Medical Psychology at the University of Giessen
An excellent overview of the issues facing the constructivist researcher. Graduate students will value its helpful handling of the paradigm debate, while the newcomer to constructivist research will receive a solid grounding in constructivist methods that goes beyond the basic grid interview technique.
Devi Jankowicz, Professor of Constructivist Managerial Psychology, Heriot Watt University
This book illustrates a perfect connection, through the personal constructs theory, between an epistemological perspective, constructivism, and its possible methods. It is a useful and complete guide for researchers who are interested in exploring both how people construe their world and their personal perspectives as researchers themselves.
Massimo Giliberto, Director, Institute of Constructivist Psychology

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