Australian Counselling Research Journal | www.acrjournal.com.

au Copyright © 2019

A social constructivist approach to the

gathering of empirical data
Dr Judith R Boyland

Constructivism offers a paradigm of investigative thinking whereby the researcher

journeys with participants into a space of interpreted reality that is as personal and
individual as each person in the collective sampling and as diverse as the multiplicity
of lived experiences that are profiled. As individuals live in the world of their
personal reality each interprets that reality in their own way, leading the researcher
towards building a diverse and complex socially constructed landscape that profiles
the collective experience without the presumption of universality. By being aware
and recognising how one’s own interpretations of lived experience can influence
interpretation of the data, the researcher acknowledges, owns, and explicitly deals
with personal subjectivity throughout the investigative process.

Keywords: axiology, biosocial interpretation, epistemology, essential/intrinsic variables, data corpus, hermeneutics,
interfunctional relations, ontology, quark, social construction, social reality

Introduction viewed as knowledge and truth being created by the mind in

Social constructivism has its origins in the seminal correspondence with something real in the world. This would
work of Vygotsky (1934/1986) who postulated the notion that seem to be consistent with the ideas expressed by Berger and
it was not possible to separate learning from social context. Luckmann (1966/1975/1991), who postulated the notion that
Advancing this assumption, Vygotsky established the concept knowledge is created by the interaction of individuals, and the
of interfunctional relations and proposed that knowledge is a influence that one individual has upon another individual. It would
product of the interaction of social and mental functions whereby also seem to be in agreement with the ideas of Hammersley
each individual mentally constructs a world of experience through (1990) who claimed that while reality is socially defined, it also
cognitive processes. Also described as interpretivism, social refers to the subjective experience of everyday life and is about
constructivism can be defined as a worldview wherein individuals how the world is understood rather than about the objective
seek understanding of their known world in a manner that is of reality of the natural world.
their own experience (Creswell, 2013; Denzin & Lincoln, 2011; Drawing on conceptions developed by Gergen (1991)
Mertens, 2010; Schwandt, 2003). From a platform of social and Ginter et al. (1996), Cottone (2001) argued that social
constructivism, persons interpret their world through a subjective constructivism highlights the notion that what is real is not
lens which, from a philosophical perspective, influences and objective fact. Rather, social constructivism allows for a biosocial
is influenced by epistemological, axiological, and ontological interpretation of what is real. Cottone’s claim is that the reality
positions that define their lived reality (Boyland, 2018). As of the individual gives way to relational reality where all that
individuals live in the world of their personal reality each interprets is known is known through biological and social relationships,
that reality in their own way leading the researcher towards is grounded in the biology of cognition, and evolves through
building a diverse and complex socially constructed landscape interpersonal interaction and agreement about what is fact.
that profiles the collective experience in terms of individual
knowledge, actions and beliefs, and personal experience: without Social Reality
any sense of universality.
According to Schwandt (2003), a construction can be In debating the notion of social reality, Finn (2002)
argued that the whole issue of constructivism versus realism
arises only in the context where the metaphysics of the freedom
Corresponding Author: Dr Judith R Boyland of will is accepted. In defence of his argument, Finn proposed
Email: judyboyland1@bigpond.com
a position that could be defined in response to the following
rhetorical questions – Is not reality constructed by our own
Australian Counselling Research Journal ISSN1832-1135 activity? Is not social convention constructed out of individual

Copyright © 2019 30 Australian Counselling Research Journal | www.acrjournal.com.au

Australian Counselling Research Journal | www.acrjournal.com.au Copyright © 2019

beliefs? Do we not collectively invent the world rather than example we have to constructed facts, with social convention
discover it? According to Lincoln and Guba (2000), the belief being constructed out of individual beliefs and intentions. He
is that knowledge encapsulates local and specific constructed also claimed that for this to be so, a certain kind of constructive
realities and varies in accordance with the individual and the activity needs to have taken place. In support of his argument,
situation. In considering epistemological practicalities, they define Kukla introduced the notion of a “quark”,1 maintaining that
the aim of constructivist inquiry as being about understanding constructions are fashioned out of social episodes whereby
and reconstruction; where the nature of the knowledge to be constructive activities constitute the fact.
understood relates to individual reconstructions coming together While analysing social constructivism according to the
around consensus. aims of science, Khalifa (2010) identified social constructivists
Knowledge is accumulated through informed and as holding to the notion that things taken for granted are actually
sophisticated reconstructions and vicarious experience while the products of social contingencies. He identified a philosophical
quality of the criteria relies on trustworthiness and authenticity. pull between strong constructivism and weak constructivism
From an axiological perspective knowledge is propositional, in – the “strong” thesis being that facts are constructed; and the
that it is underpinned by a transactional knowing deemed to “weak” thesis claiming that if scientific practices were different,
be instrumentally valuable as a means to social emancipation. hypotheticals would not be postulated as fact. Suggesting a
General values are formative in that they are inherent in the middle path, Khalifa’s claim was simply that if social conditions
developing nature of the research with the specific values of were different, conceptions about reality would be different.
altruism and empowerment being promoted and with there being From a perspective of standing on middle ground,
an intrinsic ethical tilt towards revelation as the constructivist the short explanation of constructivism postulates that the aim
researcher moves towards a praxis of participation where the must have something to do with social conditions while also
focus of concern is on “liberation from oppression and freeing satisfying some plausibility condition. In both data collection
of the human spirit” (Lincoln and Guba [2000], p. 169). Action is and data analysis, concern lies with the pragmatic utility of
intertwined with validity: that is, it is purposeful and the means is validity of application and the specific social construct appears
justified by the end. Profiling a constructivist perspective on the to be natural and obvious to the people who accept it. The
link between knowledge, action, and the impact on the relational collective narrative that emerges from the data corpus2 profiles a
Self, Lincoln and Guba proposed that the ensuing ontology is landscape that encapsulates this world of lived experience which,
grounded in principles of relativism. Therefore, from a platform as well as not representing reality as a statement of universal
of constructivism, a universal and absolute truth is unattainable. fact, acknowledges that the reality of the lived experience is
Methodology incorporates both hermeneutics and logic, something that exists independently of ideas or perceptions that
where principles of interpretation are suspended in the common are universally held about it.
language that is shared and understood by both researcher
and participant. Neimeyer and Levitt (2001) proposed that
constructivist methodology elucidates local rather than universal
Knowing, Doing, Being
meanings and practices; focusses on provisional rather than
essential patterns of meaning construction; considers knowledge Marton and Booth (1997) put forward a constructivist
to be the production of social and personal processes of making position when they expressed that conceptions of reality are
meaning; and is more concerned with the pragmatic utility of aspects of individual awareness that exist in some latent form and
validity of application than with validity per se. It is this focus can be brought to a reflected or thematisised state through the
on distinctive patterns or processes of constructing meaning in researcher’s interventions during the course of interview. Thus
a given personal or social context without the presumption of it is that the authors posited the notion of seeing individuals as
universality that differentiates constructivist methodology from the bearers of different ways of experiencing which, for Prosser
traditional knowledge claims and it is these very distinctive (2011), is contextualised through the visual when stated as, “how
patterns that set constructivist methods apart from constructionist humans ‘see’ is part nature and part nurture: being governed
methods, where attention is shifted to broader systems that by perception that, like other sensory modes, is mediated by
characterise cultural contexts. physiology, culture and history” (p. 479, internal quotation marks
From an alternative perspective, similarities with included in original text).
constructionism reflect Owen’s hypothesis that the inherited Berger and Luckmann (1966/1975/1991) referred to
and developmental aspects of human nature and all other the notion of everyday life presenting as a reality, interpreted
aspects of humanity are created, maintained, and destroyed in by individuals as being subjectively meaningful as a coherent
interactions with others (Owen, 1995). Such a hypothesis could world organised around the “here” of the body and the “now” of
give rise to the notion of a social construct as defining meaning the present (pp. 19-22). They identified thought processes as
or connection assigned to objects, situations, and happenings in being shaped by conditions in the social setting within which they
the environment. Owen also referenced the notion of defining occur. These same authors also emphasised the point that all
meaning to people’s conceptions of their relationships to and social facts are defined as including elements of human thought,
their interactions with these objects and events. Therefore, it understanding, and meaning: whereby constructing multiple
could be suggested that while a specific social construct might realities.
be an idea or notion that appears to be natural and obvious to In a similar vein Owen (1995) suggested that the
the people who accept it, it may or may not represent reality as tool of knowing is inevitably the subjectivity of the people
a statement of fact or as something that exists independently of themselves and while acknowledging that each human being
ideas or perceptions that are universally held about it. is an individual, it also needs to be acknowledged that humans
In further consideration of the social context, Kukla are part of a shared collective of aims, values, and experiences.
(2000) proposed the notion that social facts are the clearest Referencing the conventions of “individualism”3 and “groupism”4,

Copyright © 2019 31 Australian Counselling Research Journal | www.acrjournal.com.au

Australian Counselling Research Journal | www.acrjournal.com.au Copyright © 2019

Owen maintained that it is only through the integration of both Validity In Outcome
arguments, that contextual thinking can be produced whereby
the personal qualities of the individual and the impacting social Distancing the Self from a taken-for-granted stance
forces are seen in parallel as a co-construction of the individual in is actualised through incorporation of processes of analytic
community. As Owen argued, just because we can each say, “I” bracketing which, as defined by Braud (1998), are about
and because we each have a separate body, does not mean that attempting to remove biases while seeking to provide as clear
thoughts and emotions are located solely within the individual. and pure a channel as possible: one that is free from impeding
Rather, thoughts and emotions exist between individual human and interfering preconceptions about the research topic. Braud
beings who can be said to construct a shared social reality: such also claimed that employing strategies to quiet the interference
as may reflect Siegel’s notion of the neurobiology of “we” (Siegel, of bias and to allow access to the embodied truths as described
2008) and Jung’s paradigm of the collective unconscious (Jung, by participants enhances the validity of empirical evidence that
1933/2001; 1936/1991). constitutes raw data. By being aware and recognising how
The approach of human beings constructing a shared one’s own interpretations can influence interpretation of the
social reality was also posited by Berger and Luckmann data, the researcher acknowledges and explicitly deals with
personal subjectivity throughout the investigative process. How
(1966/1975/1991), who suggested that much of the individual’s
one deals with personal interpretation and acknowledges and
personal space is intimately influenced by others who are around.
deals with personal subjectivity is essentially determined by
In particular, are those with whom the individual interacts on a daily
which philosophical approach best suits the specific research
basis, sharing the world of everyday intersubjective immediate
project; promotes the most rigorous, authentic, and trustworthy
experience and using both verbal and non-verbal communication
interpretation of the data; and produces the most valid
to influence the dialectics of social reality. Encountered social interpretation of how persons conceptualise the lived reality of
facts affect and condition human beliefs and conversely, human their world.
beliefs affect the social facts of the lived experience. Berger and If dealing with the data from a descriptive point of
Luckmann also claimed that the influence of others with whom reference as postulated by Husserl (1929/1960/1982), one
the individual is intimately connected can impact to such a comes with a view that the object of investigation is an intentional
degree, that any clear boundary of “what is mine” or “who I am” structure that is understood in terms of the context. What one
can become blurred. They further argued that as individuals are brings to this particular context is a plethora of prior experience
interdependent with others, when the boundaries become blurred and assumption which must be purged or bracketed in order to
an individual can become dependent on others in sustaining attend to the actual phenomenon that is the focus of both attention
personal well-being. and intention. If dealing with the data from an interpretative
The notion of an integrated construct was also explored point of reference as postulated by Heidegger (1927/1962), one
by Ashby (1952) and Powers (1973/2005, 1998) who referred to comes with a view that the subject of investigation is about one’s
human beings as being essentially intricate control systems who presence in the world that is defined by the context. According
to Heidegger, above all else, we are “beings in the world” (p. 83)
behave as a means of defending essential variables (Ashby) and
and it is how we Be in the world that defines our lived reality.
intrinsic variables (Powers) against external disturbance. These
In essence, from a platform of description, the focus is on the
variables are said to include basic physiological fluctuations in
epistemology of the object and from an interpretative platform,
body temperature, blood pressure, and/or blood glucose levels.
the focus is on the ontology of the subject.
Also included are higher order disturbances to the firing of cortical From the hermeneutic position as explained by
neurons and synaptic integration that influence perception, Romanyshyn (2010), there is no way to step outside the work of
cognition, and action that is crucial to the holistic well-being of the interpretation and no way to stand apart from it:
human system. Ashby and Powers claimed that these essential/ The researcher is an encircled researcher . . . [and] enters into
intrinsic variables need to be maintained at optimum levels – or the circle with his or her prejudices. . . . [which] are the way
at least, maintained within non-lethal limits required for efficient into the text where they are challenged, transformed and lead
operation and survival. to a different understanding of the text, a circular process that
is on-going within an infinite horizon of possibilities (p. 317).
Criticism of Social Constructivism As contextualised by Marton and Booth (1997) and
Sandberg (1996), it is interpretative awareness that is embodied
in a bracketed reduction of personal experience, enabling the
Critics of social construction have claimed that it rejects
researcher to avoid generation of description that is beyond
criticism, is too subjective, and avoids conflict (Ratner, 2005). evidence generated by participants. With the locus of inquiry
However, in addressing such criticism, Gergen (1999/2009) being to profile distinctive patterns of constructing meaning within
postulated the notion that the major question within a framework a defined social context, participant sampling is ideally oriented
of construction is not one of objectivity; but one of utility. towards enabling the most comprehensive and valid profiling of
Gergen also referenced the need for the researcher to take a relevant data, while portraying a holistic snapshot of individual
critical stance towards taken-for-granted knowledge in favour of rather than universal reality.
generating understanding of people’s lives and appreciating the
challenges that people confront. Through the sharing of first- In Conclusion
hand experience, people are encouraged to tell their story in
their own terms – a story of reality as it is lived: from moment to Constructivism offers a paradigm of thinking whereby the
moment, day to day, week to week, year to year. researcher journeys with participants into a space of interpreted

Copyright © 2019 32 Australian Counselling Research Journal | www.acrjournal.com.au

Australian Counselling Research Journal | www.acrjournal.com.au Copyright © 2019

reality that is as personal and individual as is each person in UK: Penguin Books. (Original work published 1966).
the collective sampling and as diverse as the collective of lived Boyland, J. (2018). A holistic snapshot of the impact of caring
experiences that are profiled. Constructivist research demands for a loved one who has Alzheimer’s disease: The collective
a fluidity that requires the researcher to adopt a view that each reality from onset to end of life and beyond. (Doctoral thesis.)
participant constructs reality differently. These differences stem Sippy Downs, AU: University Sunshine Coast. Retrieved from
from the various ways individual participants acquire, select,
http://research.usc.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/
interpret, and organise the knowledge that they bear and the
usc:27234
information that they are willing to share in the telling of a story
Braud, W. (1998). An expanded view of validity. In W. Braud &
that identifies as a world of personal reality.
Participant sampling is oriented towards enabling the R. Anderson (Eds.), Transpersonal research methods for the
most comprehensive and valid profiling of relevant data while social sciences: Honouring human experience (pp. 213-237).
portraying a holistic snapshot of individual rather than universal Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
reality. The social constructivist researcher positions the dialogical Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in
self of I, the researcher,5 so as to provide each participant with psychology. Qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
opportunity to reconceptualise, reframe, re-construct, understand Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/ 147808706qp063 oa
and make meaning of the reality that is his/her lived experience. Cottone, R. (2001). A social constructive model of ethical decision
Such is the position that best serves the need of the individual making in counseling. Journal of counseling and development”
participant to capture what Shotter and Gergen (1994) described JCD. [Winter 2001], 79(1), 39-45. Retrieved from http://search.
as a knowing from within expressed as conversational knowing.
proquest.com/docview/219021948?accountid =28745
By intertwining speaking, listening, hearing reflexively and seeing
Creswell, J. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design:
within a process of dialogic interchange, living dialogue emerges
Choosing among five approaches. (2nd edition). Thousand
into conscious awareness.
There is also acknowledgment that emotion is integral Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Retrieved from http://
to the process and that Self states are dynamically organised www.ceil-conicet.gov.ar/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/
and reorganised from moment to moment in a unified sense of CRESWELLQualitative-Inquary-and-Research-Design-Creswell.
Being and presence which as defined by Heidegger (1927/1962), pdf
is about Being-present-at-hand or Being-present-in-the-world. Denzin, N., & Lincoln, Y. (2011). The discipline and practice of
In that presence, Heidegger suggests that one is concernfully qualitative research. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage
absorbed with that which may be akin to what Murray (2005, handbook of qualitative research (4th ed.). (pp. 1-19). Thousand
2016) refers to as the world that is. It is Being-there, concernfully Oaks, CA: Sage.
present with Other – be that another individual person, multiple
Finn, C. (2002). Social reality. In Taylor & Francis e-Library. The
other persons, or the unconscious states of Self. The emerging
problems in philosophy. London, England: Routledge. Retrieved
hypothesis suggests that the way of Being-in-the-world is
from http://web.b.ebscohost. com.exproxy.usc.edu.au:2048/
incomprehensible in isolation from knowing about the world
ehost/detail/detawil?sid=99SaSc97-a728-411d-9771-3e527bf
and doing what needs to be done so as to survive the lived
experience of being in the world. In essence, Being is about 2149f%40sessionmgr110&hid=116&bdata=JnNpdGU0ZWhvc
Being-there. Thus, it is implied that understanding the way of 3QtbG12ZQ%3d%3d#AN
Being-there or Being-in-the-world or Being-present-in-the world Gergen, K. (2009). An invitation to social construction. (2nd ed.).
is also incomprehensible in isolation from an insight into the world London, UK: Sage. (Original work published 1999)
where the participant is concernfully absorbed (Boyland, 2018). Hammersley, M. (1990). What’s wrong with ethnography? The
From a constructivist perspective, data gathering myth of theoretical description. Sociology, November 1990,
and data analysis processes seek to elicit an understanding 24(4), 597-615. doi:10.1177/00380385 90024004003
of how persons create their knowledge constructs and how Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and Time. J. Macquarrie & E.
these constructs contribute to understanding social influences
Robinson, (1962 Trans.). New York, NY: Harper & Row. Retrieved
and individual thought processes. When the locus of inquiry
from http://pdf-objects.com/files/Heidegger-Martin-Being-and-
is to profile distinctive patterns of constructing meaning within
Time-trans.-Macquarrie-Robinson-Blackwell-1962.pdf (Original
a specifically defined social context without the presumption
of universality, a constructivist methodology is ideally suited work published 1927)
for engaging with a target demographic that encompasses Hermans, H. (2001). The dialogical self: Toward a theory
constituencies with a focus on individuals, families, workers, of personal and cultural positioning. Culture & Psychology,
students, children, parents, adolescents, caregivers, professional 7(3), 243-281. Retrieved from https://www. researchgate.
associates, recreational/sporting organisations, cultural/religious/ net/ptofile/Hubert_Hermans/publications/257029677_
gender groups, and multiple other social constructs within the Hermans_dialological_self_in_Cu;ture_Psychology_2001/
community of human experience. links/0deec5243e31109a27000000/Hermans-dialogical-self-in-
Culture-Psychology-2001.pdf
References Hermans, H. (2012). Dialogical Self Theory and the increasing
multiplicity of I-positions in a Globalizing society: An introduction.
Ashby, R. (1952). Design for a brain: The Origin of adaptive In H.J.M. Hermans (Ed.), Applications of Dialogical Self Theory.
behaviour. New York, NY: Wiley. New directions for child and adolescent development (pp. 1-21).
Berger, P., & Luckmann, T. (1991). The social construction of doi:10.1002/cad.20014
reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. Harmondsworth, Husserl, E. (1982). Cartesian meditations: An introduction

Copyright © 2019 33 Australian Counselling Research Journal | www.acrjournal.com.au

Australian Counselling Research Journal | www.acrjournal.com.au Copyright © 2019

to phenomenology. D. Cairns, (1973 Trans.). The Hague, Romanyshyn, R. (2010). The wounded researcher: making a
NL: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Retrieved from http:// place for unconscious dynamics in the research process. The
www.24grammata.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Husserl- Humanistic Psychologist, 38(4), 275-304. doi:10.1080/0887326
Cartesian-Meditations-24grammata.com_.pdf (Original work 7.2010.523282
published 1929. This translation originally published 1960) Sandberg, J. (1996). Are phenomenographic results reliable.
Jung, C. (1991). The archetypes and the collective unconscious. In G. Dall’Alba & B. Hasselogren (Eds.), Reflections on
(2nd new ed.). R. Hull (Trans.) London, UK: Routledge. (Original phenomenography: Toward a methodology (pp. 129-140).
work published 1936)
Göteborg, Sweden: Acta Universitatis Gothenburgensis.
Jung, C. (2001). Modern man in search of a soul. W. S. Dell,
Schwandt, T. (2003). Three epistemological stances for
& C. Baynes (Trans.). London, UK: Routledge. (Original work
qualitative inquiry: Interpretativism, hermeneutics and social
published 1933)
constructionism. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln, (Eds.), The landscape
Khalifa, K. (2010). Social constructivism and the
of qualitative research: Theories and issues (pp. 292-331).
aims of science. Social epistemology, 24(1), 45-61.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
doi:10.1080/02691721003632818
Kukla, A. (2000). Social constructivism and the philosophy of Shotter, J., & Gergen, K. (1994). Social construction: Knowledge,
science. Philosophical issues in science. London, UK: Routledge. self, others, and continuing the conversation. In S. Deetz (Ed.),
[eBook Collection]. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost. Communication yearbook / 17 (pp. 3-33). Thousand Oaks, CA:
com.ezyproxy.USC.edu.au:2048/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/ Sage.
bmxlYmtfXzYnNjlxX19BTg2?sid=Oe670fd3-d2cf-4581-a9d7- Siegel, D. (2012). Pocket guide to interpersonal neurobiology: An
1a5b4b64eb71 @sessionmgr4001&vid=1&format=EB&rid=1 integrative handbook of the mind. New York, NY: W.W. Norton &
Lincoln, Y., & Guba, E. (2000). Paradigmatic controversies, Company.
contradictions, and emerging confluences. In N. Denzin & Y. Vygotsky, l. (1986). Thought and language. A. Kozulin (Ed.
Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research. (2nd ed.). (pp. and Trans.). Cambridge, MA: The Massachusetts Institute of
163-188). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Technology. (Original work published in 1934) Retrieved from
Marton, F., & Booth, S. (1997). Learning and awareness. http://s-f-walker.org.uk/pubsebooks/pdfs/Vygotsky_Thought_
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. and_ Language.pdf
Mertens, D. (2010). Divergence and mixed methods.
Journal of mixed methods research, 4(1), 3-5.
Bio
doi:10.1177/1558689809358406
Murray, J. (2005). A psychology of loss: A potentially integrating
psychology for the future study of adverse life events. In A. Dr Judith Boyland is a professional supervisor, clinical counsellor,
Columbus (Ed.), Advances in psychology research (pp. 15-46). behaviour consultant, and life coach. Judith resides and practises
New York, NY: Nova Science. from Redland Bay, Queensland.
Murray, J. (2016). Understanding loss: A guide for caring for Address all enquiries to Dr Judith R Boyland PhD:
those facing adversity. New York, NY: Routledge. “judy boyland counselling”
Neimeyer, M., & Levitt, H. (2001). Constructivism/Constructionism: Redland Bay, Queensland, Australia
Methodology. In N. Smelser & P. Baites (Eds.), International
encyclopedia of the social and behavioural sciences (pp. 2652- Footnotes
2654). Philadelphia, PD: Elsevier. doi:10.1016/ B0-08-043076-
7/00691-4 1
A hypothetical postulated as a fact (Kukla, 2000, pp. 60-62).
Owen, I. (1995). Social constructionism and the theory, practice 2
All data collected is referenced as the “data corpus”: terminology
and research of psychotherapy: A phenomenological psychology
used by Braun and Clarke (2006) as a tool to define and
manifesto. Boletin de Psicologia, (46), 161-186. Retrieved from
differentiate elements of data in the process of thematic analysis.
http://www.intentionalitymodel. info/pdf/SOCCONST.pdf
3
According to Owen, “individualism” regards human behaviour as
Powers, W. (2005). Behaviour: The control of perception.
the result of personal choices, grounded in the individual’s values
Chicago, IL: Aldine. (Original work published 1973)
Powers, W. (1998). Making sense of behaviour. New Caanan, and unique personal characteristics.
CT: Benchmark.
4
According to Owen, “groupism” holds the view that human
Prosser, J. (2011). Visual methodology: Toward a more seeing behaviour can only be understood within its overall social context
research. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook wherein individuals are influenced by the people around them
of qualitative research. (4th ed.). (pp. 479-495). Thousand Oaks, much more than by their own trait.
CA: Sage. 5
Reflection of Dialogical Self Theory as constructed by Hermans,
Ratner, C. (2005). Epistemological, Social, and Political 2001; 2012.
Conundrums in Social Constructionism. In Forum: Qualitative
Social Research, 7(1), [Article 4, January 2006]. Retrieved
from http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/
view/80/163

Copyright © 2019 34 Australian Counselling Research Journal | www.acrjournal.com.au