Transforming Self and Others through Research
Transpersonal Research Methods and Skills for the Human Sciences and Humanities
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Brings the transformative approaches of transpersonal psychology to research in the human sciences and humanities.
Description
Research approaches in the field of transpersonal psychology can be transformative for researchers, participants, and the audience of a project. This book offers these transformative approaches to those conducting research across the human sciences and the humanities. Rosemarie Anderson and William Braud first described such methods in Transpersonal Research Methods for the Social Sciences (1998). Since that time, in hundreds of empirical studies, these methods have been tested and integrated with qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method research designs. Anderson and Braud, writing with a contribution from Jennifer Clements, invite scholars to bring multiple ways of knowing and personal resources to their scholarship. While emphasizing established research conventions for rigor, Anderson and Braud encourage researchers to plumb the depths of intuition, imagination, play, mindfulness, compassion, creativity, and embodied writing as research skills. Experiential exercises to help readers develop these skills are provided.
Rosemarie Anderson is Professor of Transpersonal Psychology at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. She is the author of Celtic Oracles: A New System for Spiritual Growth and the coauthor of Five Ways of Doing Qualitative Analysis: Phenomenological Psychology, Grounded Theory, Discourse Analysis, Narrative Research, and Intuitive Inquiry. William Braud is Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology and the author of Distant Mental Influence: Its Contributions to Science, Healing, and Human Interactions. Anderson and Braud are the coauthors of Transpersonal Research Methods for the Social Sciences: Honoring Human Experience.
Reviews
"Research is often characterized as objective, impersonal, and value free. In this new guide to transpersonal research, Rosemarie Anderson and William Braud point to an alternative approach that moves beyond conventional empiricism to personally engage a researcher with the object of his or her inquiry. They offer a sturdy bridge between external observation and the nature of private, inner experiences. " — The Noetic Post
"Anderson and Braud add an exciting and significant dimension to current developments in qualitative inquiry. This is bold, creative, and inspiring work, and with both clarity and passion, puts forth a vital challenge to traditional assumptions about the nature of both research and knowledge. " — Kenneth J. Gergen, author of Relational Being: Beyond Self and Community
"In recent decades, transpersonal psychology has begun to influence kindred fields, including clinical research. Transforming Self and Others through Research is a splendid example of this enrichment. This book transcends the conventional concept of researcher and subject as separate entities, as self and other. It reveals how the research process can be a path of personal development and psycho-spiritual maturity for everyone involved. How I wish this book had been available when I studied research in graduate school. I hope it finds its way into every graduate nursing program in the nation. " — Barbara Montgomery Dossey, author of Florence Nightingale: Mystic, Visionary, Healer
"This excellent book deepens the authors' previous work on transpersonal modes of research. It works well as a source book, and in its comprehensive structure and scholarly content will be a model for quite some time. To my knowledge, there is simply no current work out there that brings so much material together in one place. " — Robert D. Romanyshyn, author of The Wounded Researcher: Research with Soul in Mind
"In traditional research, we begin by exploring the literature and framing our study of research problems within the existing literature. In the transpersonal method, advanced by Anderson and Braud, a different point of departure for research is advanced: the individual researchers' experiences and personal lives. What a refreshing perspective! This means that research will be more meaningful to the investigator, hold interest, and personally transform the inquirer. This book builds on this perspective and provides an original, insightful, and honest way of inquiry. Their multimethodological approach, emphasizing skills and exercises that intersect with the lives of the researchers, is refreshing and useful. Thanks for offering this approach to the world. " — John W. Creswell, author of Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches