Module: The Historical Origins and Philosophy of Gestalt Psychotherapy
6 - 10 March 2002 Bob Shore and Naomi Anderson
Day Thirteen 6 March 2002
We were in seminar groups and the task is to prepare this for Saturday. Each of the 3 groups has an article which describes a methodology of research. The group I am with has the title Researcher as Instrument.
Day Fourteen 7 March 2002
I really do not feel like expanding on the theoretical work. I do want to say how much I enjoyed this and also I recognise a number of aspects regarding Copernicus, Descartes, Newton and others and this led my thoughts to the history of mathematics; this being an overlapping area.
Day Fifteen 8 March 2002
So exhausted . . .
Day Sixteen 9 March 2002
RESEARCHER AS INSTRUMENT.
An Exploration of the Relationship between
Gestalt and Qualitative Methodology.
OR
‘You Don’t have to be a Gestaltist, but it Helps!’
'Five Axioms' of Qualitative Research;
1. Your Reality is not my Reality. Realities are multiple, constructed and holistic. There is not a single reality "out there".
2. Knower & Known are interactive and inseparable.
3. Time and Context Bound Hypotheses- each case is unique.
4. Mutual simultaneous shaping. Not cause and effect but evolving, holistic and interdependent.
5. Qualitative Inquiry is value bound.
The fundamental of the article is that qualitative research is value bound. The intimate involvement of the researcher, bringing their own reality, uniqueness, and so, their influence to the interaction, is considered not only valuable but essential to produce meaningful results.
This is in direct contrast to quantitative research, where the influence of the researcher is considered to introduce unwelcome 'bias' and to contaminate or invalidate the results.
"In qualitative research the person of the researcher is unavoidably and intentionally implicated in the inquiry."(Brown, J.R., 1997) The article identifies four major areas where common ground exists between Gestalt practice and qualitative research.
Awareness - The researcher's awareness of self, other and field is essential to reveal what is "actually going on" as we collect data.
Availability - Being present; the researchers ability to be immediate and in contact with the interviewee/ client participant in the here-and-now. The "I-Thou", dialogic relationship, rather than the "I-it".
Ability to use self as instrument; to be in touch with own affective response; to use all our senses; to be alive to the obvious to"…reverberate to what happens in this interaction…so that it becomes part of the dynamic... .(Polster & Polster, 1973).
Process orientation - "A process is a succession of events that one experiences, responds to and helps create." (Brown, J.R., 1997, p 80). Both Qualitative Researchers and Gestalt Therapists need to "…follow the tide as it flows [and] maintain a flexible, exploratory attitude"(ibid.). The researcher/therapist "…forgoes attempts to control the direction of the course of a therapeutic experience or a qualitative study and lays aside a desired outcome."(ibid, p 81)
As with all Qualitative research the results cannot be generalised due to the impracticality of studying a large number of cases. The main advantage, however, of this type of research is that it can produce in-depth findings that can give insight and meaning into felt human experience.
We have seen in the sketch a poorly conducted interview.
The researcher ignored the ever-changing field of which they are an essential part.
The researcher was not present in the relationship. She dismissed the feelings of the interviewee and took no notice of her own affective response.
Because the researcher was not applying Gestalt principles to the interview she could not use herself as instrument so could not produce meaningful results. The result clearly would not represent the felt experience of the interviewee.
Although Judith Brown, the author of the article, acknowledges that the Gestalt Approach cannot be learnt in a short time she goes on to advocate her two-week course on applying the 'basic principles' of Gestalt (p83) to Qualitative Research!
We strongly agree with her that the Gestalt Approach has 'much to offer to qualitative research' (p83) but we seriously question whether the Gestalt Approach, with its requirement for prolonged, in-depth training should be adopted by researchers who have been introduced to the subject in a two week course.
Perhaps you don't have to be a Gestaltist to produce meaningful results in Qualitative Research but it certainly helps - It might even be essential