The One or the Many: Quantified Subjectivity and Aggregated Uniqueness in Qualitative Rehabilitation Research

• Published in: Qualitative health research 2017-01, Vol.27 (1), p.51-59
• Main Authors: Juritzen, Truls I., Soberg, Helene L., Røe, Cecilie, Saebu, Martin, Engen, Grace, Bliksvaer, Trond, Engebretsen, Eivind
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Health technology assessment; Humans; Qualitative Research; Rehabilitation Research - methods
• ISSN: 1049-7323; 1552-7557
• DOI: 10.1177/1049732316668297

This article aims to identify and critically assess qualitative intervention studies of rehabilitation processes that target young adults. By applying a meta-epistemological approach inspired by the works of Michel Foucault and Julia Kristeva, we examine how the included studies present qualitative knowledge and whether they adhere to their own stated principles of qualitative knowledge. Through their stated aims and theoretical framing, the articles draw attention to individual processes of meaning making. Nonetheless, we find that the articles to a great extent emphasize frequencies of the qualitative data they present. Individual processes and experiences are subject to subdivisions and categorization and transformed into manageable objects of knowledge. In conclusion, these studies, with one important exception, contribute to self-marginalization of the knowledge they themselves promote: They undermine the uniqueness of the qualitative knowledge they proclaim by focusing on frequency and the general patterns and categories encompassing the unique.