Second Annual Conference for Qualitative Research in Human Sciences at Fordham University Focuses on Triad of Methods, Culture and Problems of Living

Frederick J. Wertz, PhD

Professor and Chair

Fordham University Department of Psychology

Mary Beth Morrissey, Esq., MPH

Doctoral Candidate and Adjunct Professor

Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service

          The Fordham University Psychology Department sponsored its Second Annual Conference for Qualitative Research in the Human Sciences this past May, convening a distinguished group of researchers and graduate students from many universities including Columbia University, New York University and the University of Dallas for the purposes of promoting qualitative research in the human sciences and recognizing and discussing projects utilizing qualitative research methods. This conference is student organized and emphasizes the learning and applications of qualitative research methods in advanced study.  The conference was interdisciplinary in both its planning and focus, drawing graduate students and professionals from the fields of psychology, education, public health and social services practicing in diverse settings and having broad research interests in the application of qualitative methods in the real world.

          Research presentations addressed both problems of methods and problems of living, as well as research ethics. A panel that included Dr. Lisa A. Suzuki of New York University, Dr. Fran C. Blumberg of Fordham University’s School of Education and Dr. Frederick J. Wertz of Fordham University’s Psychology Department examined the role of qualitative inquiry in studying culture in the human sciences. Dr. Alejandro Interian of the UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School presented important findings from a grounded theory study of an adaptation of a motivational interviewing intervention to improve antidepressant adherence among Latinos. A qualitative investigation of processes of recovery from serious mental illness among African Americans in the urban community reported by Justin Misurell, a doctoral student in the clinical pprogram at Fordham University, was also promising in its implications for possible future studies of older adults. Emily Sachs, another student in Fordham’s clinical psychology program, presented dramatic findings from her study of Tibetan refugees in India who consistently described the interference with their traditional religious practices as more profoundly traumatic than even their most violent physical torture.

The conference closed with a keynote address by Dr. Lisa Suzuki,

“Through the Looking Glass: Understanding Lives in Context Using Ethnography.” Dr. Suzuki is an associate professor in the Department of Applied Psychology at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York University. In her presentation, Dr. Suzuki shared her very personal journey as a pioneer in the study of culture that has increasingly turned to the employment of ethnographic methods in order to faithfully grasp the experiences of various people ranging from holocaust survivors to a moving personal study of her own Japanese-American father. The story she told of her father’s life history was illuminated through ethnography, and in doing so she communicated most effectively the “fit” of qualitative methods for the study of older adults.