Consensual Qualitative Research as a qualitative research method for social sciences, psychology and psychotherapy: Theoretical aspects and practical guidelines
Stefano Blasi, Clara Hill
Consensual Qualitative Research is a rigorous and systematic qualitative research method that aims
to investigate the subjective experience of participants in depth. A few cases are studied in detail.
Data are collected through open-ended interviews. Data are analysed through a three-step (domains,
core ideas, cross analyses) consensual process by a team of approximately three judges along with
auditors who provide feedback at every step. Consensual Qualitative Researchers do not intend to
generalise results but rather to create rich descriptions of experiences that are relevant to the reader
and transferable to other contexts.
Keywords
Consensual Qualitative Research, Empirical research, Subjectivity,
Transferability, Psychotherapy.