Cardiff University | Prifysgol Caerdydd ORCA
Online Research @ Cardiff 
WelshClear Cookie - decide language by browser settings

Swimming against the stream?: Mindfulness as a psychosocial research methodology

Stanley, Steven ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4776-4097, Barker, Meg, Edwards, Victoria and McEwen, Emma 2015. Swimming against the stream?: Mindfulness as a psychosocial research methodology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 12 (1) , pp. 61-76. 10.1080/14780887.2014.958394

[thumbnail of Stanley Barker Edwards McEwen accepted manuscript for ORCA.pdf]
Preview
PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version
Download (14MB) | Preview

Abstract

In this article, we extend psychosocial research methodology by integrating a breaching experiment, influenced by ethnomethodological sociology, with aspects of mindfulness practice, influenced by Buddhist traditions. We offer an empirical investigation of what happens when researcher-participants subtly “swim against the stream” of normative public social conduct in a capital city setting. Our qualitative analysis explores a single case from a corpus of 172 first-person retrospective accounts of standing still and doing nothing in a busy, public place. We investigate the qualitative aspects of how one researcher-participant arguably adopted a mindful, beginner’s mind orientation toward the flow of psychosocial consciousness. We empirically investigate this psychosocial orientation of mindfulness by integrating Wetherell’s concept of affective-discursive practice with James’ stream of consciousness. Mindfulness offers a specific, embodied reorientation toward psychosocial flows. We discuss the methodological implications and limitations of this reorientation for psychosocial research.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Psychology
Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
L Education > LC Special aspects of education
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
ISSN: 1478-0887
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 30 March 2016
Date of Acceptance: 30 September 2014
Last Modified: 11 Nov 2023 11:56
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/68206

Citation Data

Cited 13 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item Edit Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics