Crossroads and Directions for Qualitative Research: A Researcher’s Perspective

Qualitative research plays a key role in constructing scientific knowledge, as it explores experiences, perceptions, and social contexts, providing a comprehensive and contextualized understanding of the phenomena under study. Despite this, some weaknesses are pointed out in the literature, and it also faces several challenges, from subjectivity to technological integration, which must be analyzed to improve its applicability and credibility. This chapter aims to highlight a few current crossroads associated with qualitative research, exploring its essential characteristics as well as its intrinsic and extrinsic challenges and potential directions. The role of the researcher, the quality of studies, and writing will be analyzed in more detail, seeking to intersect with the current demands placed on researchers regarding time and metrics and the interface with technology. The reader will see that rather than answers, many questions are also raised. The search for answers will be necessary for the scientific knowledge produced through qualitative research.