Qualitative Research in Germany

Abstract

The essay provides an overview of the history of qualitative research in Germany with an emphasis on sociology and psychology. After long marginalization by the mainstream (and partly too by cutting itself off from non-qualitative research), qualitative research seems to be accepted nowadays as a core component of academic disciplines. To achieve this, a long process of elaboration and differentiation of qualitative approaches and methods was needed. The authors try to reconstruct the process by differentiating six (partly overlapping) phases: (1) initial flourishing followed by a decline; (2) (re)invention and meta-theoretical foundations; (3) empirical elaboration; (4) technical and reflexive elaborations; (5) consolidation and establishment; and (6) internationalizing qualitative research.