What is Psychological Research?

This interview is a slightly modified transcript from the first PSYCHE Talk, hosted at the Department of Communication and Psychology at Aalborg University, October 6, 2023. PSYCHE – Psychology of Culture, Humanity and Education, is a newly established research section that gathers three different research groups: Qualitative Studies, Situated Psychology and Cultural Psychology. PSYCHE Talks are hosted as biannual events, where prominent psychological researchers are invited to discuss fundamental questions about the nature and subject matter of psychology through an interview-based format. The title of this interview is inspired by two interviews with the American anthropologist, Jean Lave, conducted by Steinar Kvale in 1991 (published in 1995) and 2004 under the heading: “What is Anthropological Research?”. In this interview, Professor of General Psychology and Qualitative Methods, Svend Brinkmann, is interviewed by Assistant Professor of Psychology, Alfred Sköld.