Abstract:

This paper provocatively questions the 'depth ethos' so often determining today's qualitative research. The psychological primacy in qualitative research can be a barrier to generating inspiring and valuable insights by disregarding consumer reality as superficial and 'untrue'. The authors advocate an approach that generates insights via a thorough understanding and interpretation of the supposed 'obvious', combining the perspectives of ethnography, cultural analysis and linguistic learnings as a starting point for contemporary qualitative research. While not claiming the death of psychology-oriented research, the authors stress other valuable approaches outside the principle of 'going deeper'.