Dialogue and communication: developing a constructive-interpretative methodology

This paper aims to discuss epistemological and methodological problems within qualitative research in psychology in relation to González Rey’s Qualitative Epistemology and constructive-interpretative methodology. A valuable heuristic which provides an alternative to these problems specifically in relation to the use of dialogue and communication. The discussion moves beyond criticism regarding the dominant perspectives, to direct attention towards generating new models that advance a consistent investigative course, that are attuned to multiple implications for practice. Firstly, we will address key epistemological problems that have marked the history of psychology, with emphasis on instrumentalism, which culminated in the devitalisation of research and the neglect of emerging qualitative aspects in the field of communication. Alternatives in qualitative research in the field are discussed, in order to highlight how they were mostly proposals that stemmed from innovations from methodological standpoints, and were epistemologically conservative and not reflective. Finally, González Rey's thought platform is presented as a possibility to advance communication and dialogue in relation to the limitations. This framework articulates, as a unit, the theory of subjectivity, Qualitative Epistemology and constructive-interpretative methodology. This unit is based on the understanding that scientific knowledge is never a final product, but a production of intelligibility that has at its core the researcher’s creative thinking and communication of the research.