Making WPR Visible
A Worked Example of Operationalising “What’s the Problem Represented to be?”
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19479118 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Merissa Elizabeth Hickman (0000-0003-4157-4361, University of Leicester, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-19 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Qualitative Methods (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1609-4069 • E-ISSN: 1609-4069 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/16094069261436037 |
| OpenAlex | W7140663231 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 22 |
The “What’s the Problem Represented to be?” (WPR) approach, developed by Carol Bacchi, is widely used in qualitative policy analysis for its capacity to interrogate how policy problems are constructed rather than assumed. While WPR’s guiding questions offer a useful framework, published studies often provide limited insight into the interpretive decisions through which those questions are enacted in practice. As a result, the analytical labour involved in operationalising WPR frequently remains implicit, posing challenges for researchers seeking to apply the approach rigorously and reflexively. Drawing on a worked example from doctoral research analysing preconception health policy in England, the paper demonstrates how WPR can be operationalised in ways that preserve its poststructuralist commitments while making analytical judgement visible. Through the use of interpretive decision documentation, reflexive memo-writing, and structured analytical tools, the paper shows how researchers may navigate tensions between guidance and proceduralism, transparency and critical openness. By making visible how analytical choices are made, justified, and constrained, the paper contributes to ongoing debates about methodological rigour, reflexivity, and quality in critical qualitative research. It invites further dialogue on how WPR and other poststructuralist approaches can demonstrate rigour through transparency while retaining their critical intent across diverse empirical contexts
Empirical research · Judgement · Qualitative research · Quality (philosophy) · Reflexivity · Rigour · Transparency (behavior) · Health Policy Implementation Science · Participatory Visual Research Methods · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
What's the Problem Represented to Be?
Using Software in Qualitative Research
A General Critical Discourse Analysis Framework for Educational Research
Are We Asking Too Much of OER? A Conversation on OER from OE Global 2023
Flexible Methodologies
Poststructural Policy Analysis
Why the Qualitative Health Research (QHR) Review Process Does Not Use Checklists
Mapping suicide prevention initiatives targeting Indigenous Sámi in Nordic countries”
Integrating co-analysis and researcher reflexivity into Bacchi’s ‘what is the problem represented to be?’ framework
Introduction to Special Issue Quality in Qualitative Approaches
Representing the Social Problem of Dementia
A critical discourse problematization framework for (disability) policy analysis
The gender pay gap—What's the problem represented to be? Analyzing the discourses of Estonian employers, employees, and state officials on pay equality
For reflexivity as an epistemic criterion of ontological coherence and virtuous social theorizing
What is Wrong with Social Theory
Grounded Theory and Sensitizing Concepts
Short-Term Ethnography
| Highly cited | No |
|---|