In Defence of a Multi-Paradigmatic Approach to Theory Development
in Community Psychology
Glenn A. Williams
Leeds Beckett University
Keywords: Theory, Science, Community Psychology, Framework, Paradigm
Author Biography: Dr. Glenn A. Williams is a Community Psychologist and is committed to
working towards: addressing inequalities in health and well-being; fostering inclusivity and
challenging marginalisation; adopting a facilitative approach to individual and social change;
and empowering people to make healthier choices for their lives. He has been a Committee
member of the Community Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society (BPS)
since the Section was formed in 2010 and he is currently Chair of the Section. He is
Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow with the BPS, International Affiliate with the
American Psychological Association, and member of the Society for Community Research
and Action. Glenn is employed by Leeds Beckett University (United Kingdom) as Principal
Lecturer in Psychological Therapies and Mental Health and previously worked for Nottingham
Trent University (UK) for over 10 years as Senior Lecturer in Psychology and
Internationalization Coordinator. He is currently doing research into the psycho-social needs
of people who convert to a different religion or spiritual tradition from that of their upbringing.
He has also carried out studies into community arts initiatives and the role that arts
participation can have on health and well-being. He has expertise spanning a period of over
20 years of evaluating interventions for health and well-being. He has expertise in using a
range of quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methods to address social problems and
has written extensively about using this range of strategies to conduct community-based
research (e.g. Williams & Zlotowitz, 2013; Williams & Kibowski, 2016).
Recommended Citation: Williams, G.A. (2016). In Defence of a Multi-Paradigmatic Approach
to Theory Development in Community. Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice,
7(2), pages 1-7. Retrieved Day/Month/Year, from (http://www.gjcpp.org/).
Correspondence should be sent to Glenn A. Williams, School of Health & Community Studies,
Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, Leeds Beckett University, Portland Building 519, City
Campus, Portland Way, Leeds LS1 3HE, United Kingdom. [email protected]
Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice
Volume 7, Issue 2S
February 2016
InDefenceofaMulti-ParadigmaticApproachtoTheoryDevelopmentin
Community
Itwasoncesaid,“Thereisnothingmorepracticalthanagoodtheory”(Lewin,1952,p.
169)andyetCommunityPsychology(CP)asapracticaldisciplineisbesetwithatheorypracticegulfthatdoesnotappeartobenarrowing.ThearticlebyJason,Stevens,Ram,
Miller,Beasley,andGleason(2016)playsacommendableroleinoutliningthechallenges
faced by community-based researchers and practitioners in developing, testing and
utilizingtheoreticalapproachesthatcouldreliablybenefitthehealthandwell-beingof
targetgroupsinacommunity.Quiterightly,Jasonetal.(2016)haveacknowledgedthat
theoriesusedinthefieldofCPshouldmoreaccuratelybetermedasframeworks,rather
than constituting actual theories, since theories would be expected to offer a
comprehensive methodology for explaining and predicting behaviors in a range of
settings.Andhereinliestheproblem…ShouldtheCPdisciplinebeaimedattransposing
findings, and theories, developed from research conducted in one type of social
environment to a host of other potentially similar social settings? Researchers and
practitionersalikemayexperiencetensionsinattemptingtoreplicateanintervention,
basedonatheory,withothersamplesandsettings.Therearerecentworryingtrends
from one study to show that with “the current (selective) publication system [in
academicjournals],replicationsmayincreasebiasineffectsizeestimates”(Nuijten,et
al.,2015,p.172).Likewise,wefindthereisatendencyinacademiatoavoidpublishing
non-significant findings (Franco, Malhotra, & Simonvits, 2014), even though a more
honest and transparent approach to theory development and testing in CP would be
through registration of hypotheses before a study has commenced,just as Jason et al.
(2016)haveendorsed.Thiswouldcertainlybeawayforward,butuntilfundingagencies
and academic journals are unified in their insistence for all a priori hypotheses to be
communicatedpriortoconductingastudy,thismaybeonlyonewaytobuildtheories
thataretrustworthyinthefieldofCP.
However,CPresearchers,theorists,and
practitionersfaceanother,morepivotal
challengetobeingabletocrafttheories
thatcanwithstandtestsofvalidity,
reliability,andutility.Jasonetal.’s(2016)
articleappearstobemainlyviewed
throughapost-positivist“lens,”which
prizesnumbersandtheestablishmentof
quantitativetrendsasthemainsourcefor
theorydevelopmentinCP.Byreading
Jasonandhiscolleagues’(2016)citations
oftheheavyweightsinthephilosophyof
sciencefield,suchasFeynmanand
Popper,thereadercouldbeleft
wonderingwhethertheoriesthathave
beenusedbyCPcaneverattainthesame
statureastheoriesgeneratedbythe“hard
sciences.”However,althoughsome
philosophersofsciencearequoted,an
importanttheoristisneglected,namely
Kuhn(2012),whoproposedthatscience
canprogressviaaprocessofrevolutions
inwhichparadigmsinfluencethe
directionsandassumptionsofscientific
enquiry;suchparadigmsarechallenged
andsomeofthemcanwithstandsuch
challenges.Myargumenthere,however,
isthatweshouldnotbemakingone
paradigm–post-positivism–rulethe
roostinCPwhentherearetwoother
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paradigmsthatcanalsobeinfluentialin
theirownway.Thesetwoparadigms–
theconstructivistandthetransformative
(Nelson&Prilleltensky,2010)-arevital
tomakingprogressinCPtheory
developmentandunderstandinghowto
engageinpraxisbyunifyingthetheories
withcommunity-basedpractices(Kagan,
etal.2011).Itisthroughthe
constructivist“lens”thatcommunity
practitionersandresearcherscanbetter
understandanothercommunity
member’sworldviewsandmeaningmakingand,insodoing,canwork
towardsatheoreticalunderstandingof
howtheseperceptionsevolve.Itis
throughthetransformative“lens”that
researchersandtheoristscanunderstand
howbesttogeneratemeaningfulsocial
changethroughactivismandbyengaging
fullywithastakeholdergroupand
workingfromanunderstandingofthis
group’sinterestsandneeds.Itisthrough
thetransformativeparadigmthat
analysescanbeconductedinto
methodologiesofeffectivesocialchange
andhowbesttoimplementsuchchange,
whereasthepost-positivistparadigmhas
itsutilityinassessingtheextent,or
degree,ofthechangesbeingmade.Each
paradigmasksdifferentquestions,but
theyallplayaroleinseeingasocial,
political,andpsychologicalphenomenon
throughdifferenteyesandhavingamore
holisticunderstandingofthe
phenomenon.Byadoptingamultiparadigmaticapproach,CPresearchers
andpractitionersarelesslikelytobeakin
tothe‘blindmen’inthewell-known
parableof“TheBlindMenandthe
Elephant”(Saxe,1881),inwhicheach
blindmanbelievedtheelephantwas
solelylikethebodypartoftheelephant
thatwasbeingtouchedatanygiventime
February 2016
andinsistedhisinterpretationwasright.
Onthecontrary,suchblindmenwereall
correctintheirownwaybuttheywere
alsowhollywrongbyinsistingthattheir
perspectivewastheonlycorrectone.
Jasonetal.(2016)dowellintheirarticle
torecognizetheroleofperspectivismand
thatanunderstandingofeach
researcher’sortheorist’sperspectivecan
bepivotaltoeffectiveandaccuratetheory
building.
TowardstheendofJasonetal.’s(2016)
article,thereaderispresentedwithan
insightthatarguesforprivilegeand
powertobeacknowledgedinrelationto
theoryconstructionandresearchinCP.
However,thisseemsmorelikean
afterthoughtinsteadofbeingintegralto
howCPresearchandactionshouldbe
conductedasamatterofcourse.Thereis
alsoanimplicithierarchyinJasonetal.’s
(2016)paper,whichisevidentinthe
discussionofcross-sectional,longitudinal,
andexperimentaldesigns,butthereis
littlementionofqualitativeresearch
methodologies,participatoryaction
research,FourthGenerationEvaluation
(Guba&Lincoln,1989),andothermixed
methods.Byplacingquantitative
methodsonapedestal,thecommunitybasedresearcherandpractitionermay
runtheriskofdoingresearchandaction
onatargetgroupratherthanwith,oron
behalfof,thoseinacertaintargetgroup
(Williams,2013).
Bycontrast,qualitativemethodologies,in
particular,couldhelpCP-relevanttheory
generationthroughadoptingan
inductivistapproachbydrawingfrom
specificsituationalandprocess-oriented
insightsthatresearchparticipantshave
offered.Fromthesespecificdata,
researchersmaythenbeabletoexamine
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thepotentialfortransferabledynamicsof
socialsituationsandinteractionsbeing
experiencedmoregenerallybythosein
similarsettingsandwithworldviewsand
perceptionsthatarealsoshared.
Disappointingly,Jasonetal.(2016)did
notnoticetheroleofgroundedtheoryas
amethodologyinCP;byitsverynature,
groundedtheoryisutilizedasameans
wherebynarrativesfromresearch
participantscanbetransformedintoaset
ofcodingcategoriesthataremeantto
showinterconnectivity,andtheprocess
orientationexplainshow,andwhy,
peopleactastheydo.Althoughgrounded
theoryisnotacommonmethodology
withinCP-relevantresearch,thereare
goodpracticeexamplesinwhichtheory
canbegroundedintheperspectivesof
studyinformants(Rasmussen,etal.,
2016).Thisinductivistapproachisone
waythatCPcanworkwithwhatmatters
toconstituentsinasamplegroupof
interest,ratherthangivingundue
prominencetothevaluesand
perspectivesthattheresearcherbringsto
theenterprise.Theinductivistapproach
couldbeawelcomeantidotetothe
tendencyinsomestudiestousegeneral
assumptionsofhowasocialworldmight
workandtothenusethehyopotheticodeductivemethodtotestoutspecific
hypothesesemergingfromthese
generalizations.Thisdeductiveapproach
restsonproblematicassumptions,posing
questionsofprimaryinteresttothe
researchersregardlessofwhetherthese
questionsinterestthosebeing
researched.Theresultantmethodology
thatisdeployedprivilegescertain
dominantculturalnormsandcould
deprivethoseinthetargetgroupofa
voice.Forinstance,the‘BigFive’(Costa,
Jr,Terracciano,&McCrae,2001)islauded
February 2016
byJasonetal.(2016)ashaving
satisfactorylevelsofintegrity,
measurementrigor,andappeal.
However,theBigFiveisnotwithoutits
criticisms(e.g.Block,1995,2010),not
leastofwhichisitsrelianceonthelexical
hypothesisofpersonalitystructuresbeing
bestconveyedbylanguageusedbythe
generalpublic.TheBigFivemodelalso
restsontheshakyfoundationsofnotfully
resolvingtheemic-etictension(Dasen,
2012)ofstrivingtofindpsychological
universalswhilealsoneedingto
acknowledgethevitalculture-specific
influencesthatmayoftenshapepeople’s
behaviorsand,inturn,their
psychological,emotional,andrelational
well-being.Modelsdevelopedprimarily
fromaWesternpsychologicalcontext,
suchastheBigFive,mayoftenemerge
fromeffortstoconstrainitsparametersto
apredeterminednotionofhow
personalityshouldbeexperiencedand
described,ratherthanfromconscious
effortstostartfromwithinculturesand
drawuponculturally-boundlanguageand
experiences.AnexampleofhowtheBig
Fivemaynotbehighlyvalidinallcultures
wasanefforttotranslatethemodelinto
ArabicwithinthecontextofLibya;only
threeoutofthefivefactorsemergedafter
carefultranslationandback-translation
andconfirmatoryfactoranalytictestsof
thispersonalitymodel(Abdelsalam,
2013).
Jasonetal.(2016)makepertinentpoints
aboutthreeCP-relevanttheoriesthatthey
selectedoutof32theoriesvolunteeredin
astrawpollsurveyofusersoftheSociety
forCommunityResearchandAction’s
listserv.Itisnotentirelyclearwhythose
threewerechosen,butallthreecertainly
haveanappealintermsoftheirmulti-
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layeredapproachtocomprehending
complexsocialphenomena.Certainly,
everyresearcherwillhaveafavorite
theory,anditwasdisappointingnotto
seeHobfoll’s(2001)Conservationof
ResourcesTheorymentioned,especially
asittoohasamulti-layeredperspective
byscrutinisingtheinfluencesonthewellbeingofpeoplebyscrutinizingpeopleas
entitiesnestedwithinarangeofsocial
systems.WhatmakesConservationof
Resourcestheoryattractiveisthatthere
areanumberofhypothesesthathave
beenstipulatedapriori(Hobfoll,1998)
andtheserelatetoresourcelossandloss
spirals,resourcegain,socialsupport,and
resourceappraisal.Hobfoll’stheoryhas
itsrootsinEcologicalTheoryandisitnot
surprisingtoseeBronfenbrenner’s
(1979)seminalapproachasbeingatthe
heartofthismainfocusforJasonetal.
(2016),especiallyastheEcological
Theoryhassuchanintuitiveappealfor
thoseworkinginarangeofcommunities.
Jasonetal.(2016)recognizedthevital
roleforunderstandinghowthesocial
ecologiesofmicrosystems,mesosystems,
andmacrosystemsimpactpeople’shealth
andwell-being.However,itisalso
noteworthythatthereareothersystems
ofwhichcommunitypsychologistsalso
mightneedtobecognisant:the
exosystem,whichhasindirectinfluences
onanindividual’slife,andthe
chronosystem,whichencompasseslife
transitionsandembracesthetransitory
natureofaperson’sexistence.The
chronosystemisparticularlypertinentto
practitionersinthefieldofCPbecause
socialactorsneedtobeconstantly
adaptingtochangesintheirsocial
interactionsandrelationshipsovertime.
Overall,theconclusiondrawnbyJasonet
al.(2016),thatthe“theory”partofthe
February 2016
EcologicalTheoryisperhapslessofa
theory,seemstoringtrue.Thistheory
(orrather,framework),withitsemphasis
oninterdependence,cyclingofresources,
adaptation,andsuccession,isperhaps
moreofametaphorforhowaperson’s
socialworldsmightinterrelate.Yet,
metaphors,bytheirverynature,arenot
literalrepresentationsofarealdynamic;
theyrathersharesimilarcharacteristics
and,owingtothis,wewouldneedtobe
cautiousabouttheutilityoftheEcological
Theoryinlendingitselftothegeneration
oftestablehypotheses.
WithSenseofCommunitytheory,the
challengeisbalancingindividual
perceptionsofacommunityofinterest
withthatofagroup’sperceptions.Like
EcologicalTheory,senseofcommunityas
aconceptseemstorelyontakingmore
thanoneperspectivebyencompassing
peopleasindividualsandthenpeopleas
aggregatedgroups.Empowerment
Theoryalsoencompassesthisdualprongedapproachbyexamininghow
individualscanbeempoweredbyhaving
enrichingsocialenvironmentsinorderto
flourish.Jasonetal.(2016)havenoted
theinherenttensionsifanindividual’s
empowermentcapabilitiesarenot
fosteredbyanorganizationandwhere
therecouldbethecontradictionofhaving
anorganizationthatevinces
empowermentamongmanyofits
members,butnotallofthem.This
dynamicbringstomindprocessesof
group-think(Janis,1982)andteam-think
(Manz&Neck,1997)inwhich
considerablepressureisbroughttobear
onteammemberstoconformtogroup
normsandritualisedbehaviors.
Overall,Jasonetal.(2016)havedepicted
acompellingargumentthattheCP
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disciplineisbereftoftheoriesthatcan
withstandcleartestsof:beingamenable
toapriorihypothesisgeneration,
possessingunambiguous
operationalizationofconcepts,andbeing
replicableinawiderangeofsettingsand
situations.Instead,itisevidentfrom
Jasonandhisteam’s(2016)arguments
thattheybelievethereismuchtobe
achievedbeforecommonlyused
frameworksandmodelsinthefieldofCP
canattainthestatusofbeingtheory-like.
WhereJasonetal.(2016)andIdivergeis
themethodforachievingbetterquality
theoriesinCP.Althoughquantitativedata
collectionandanalysis,bornmainlyoutof
thepost-positivistenterprise,canoffera
greatdealofunderstandingofthe
breadthofpeople’sexperiences,they
cannotofferthedepthofinsightandthe
considerablepotentialforsocialchange
thattherespectiveconstructivistand
transformativeparadigmscanoffer.A
betterroutefortheoryrelevantto
community-basedresearchersand
practitionersisthroughadoptinga
practicethatshouldbecomeincreasingly
morecommon:utilizingmixedmethods
toresearchandtoembracemultiple
paradigmssimultaneously.Indoingso,
tangibleandtestabletheoriescanbe
sculptedtoformthebasisofmakinga
realdifferencetopeople’slives.
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