The Potential of Qualitative Research for Applied Developmental Science in Sub-Saharan Africa

The present chapter addresses how qualitative research can fruitfully contribute to applied developmental science in Sub-Saharan Africa. It starts out by arguing that most research in developmental psychology has been fundamentally flawed by its neglect of the role of culture for our understanding of healthy child development and biased by a Western notion thereof. It suggests that research in the field needs to be able to provide insights into how children’s experiences are constructed within the bounds of geographical, societal and ideological dispositions and constraints, family structures, and parental beliefs about good child care. Meaning-making processes in situated social interactions have a special role in children’s developing sense of self and understanding of the world. They are co-constructed on a moment-by-moment basis as the interaction unfolds and require adequate methodological procedures to be studied. Qualitative methodologies, particularly ethnographically informed discourse analysis, provide such empirical procedures and allow for a culture-sensitive developmental science. Examples from a recent study on mother-infant interactions among Cameroonian farming Nso families serve to illustrate such an approach. The chapter ends by discussing some remaining challenges and by giving a brief outlook on clinical, intervention, and policy implications.