Practical Theology and Qualitative Research Methods

by John Swinton, Harriet Mowat

Practical Theology used to be a subject where students were left to fend for themselves, using what they had learnt from their scholarly studies in history, biblical and systematic theology and applying it where they could. Things have moved on however and practical theology is a growing discipline in its own right, and the latest thinking in practical theology; of how to use theological learning in practical situations, is fully explored in this textbook. This text examines methodologies of the social sciences and questions how they can enable the task of theological reflection. They begin by tracing the development of practical theology as a discipline and comment on current methodological practices, and trace the movement from practical theology as applied theology, ie a discipline which simply takes data from the other theological disciplines (historical, systematic and biblical theology) towards a model which understands the practical theological task in terms of the theology of practice. The authors examine the relationship between qualitative and quantitative methods and highlight the significance of both for the task of practical theology. They also take the reader through the actual process of developing and carrying out a research project using the author's own research as case study examples. Case studies the rise in spirituality; the decline in church attendance, evidence-based medicine compared to needs-led assessments, the growth in chaplaincy and how it is understood as separate from parish ministry.

Genres: Theology

290 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

John Swinton (born 1957) is a Scottish theologian. He is the Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the School of Divinity, History, and Philosophy, University of Aberdeen. He is founder of the university's Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability. He is an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland and Master of Christ’s College, the university's theological college. Swinton is a major figure in the development of disability theology.

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful primer on Practical Theology and Qualitative Research, helpful in opening up pertinent issues whilst preparing my DMin proposal.

[Candy Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I made an assumption from the title that the book would be boring. After all, it was about research. It was academic, to be sure, but it was quite interesting, giving chapter after chapter about case studies. Great work!!

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource for my ongoing research...

[Sara Best · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very useful book that has gotten me thinking on the next step for my dissertation.

[Roman Purshaga · Rating 4 out of 5]

This work explores the connection between practical theology and the social sciences projected in the task of a qualitative approach. The commonalities between seemingly unrelated fields are spelled out in a way that leaves a reader without any doubt that a qualitative research project is a perfect fit for the inquiries posed by practical theology. The most obvious commonality is the fact that practical theology seeks to explore theological expressions in a particular context, followed by an interpretative and reflective analysis. In the same fashion, some qualitative research cases look at particular phenomena, studying them contextually for the purposes of providing an analysis and interpretation.