Losing the So-Called Paradigm War: Does our Confusion, Disarray, and Retreat Contribute to the Advance?

Abstract

In this article, I argue that what is commonly lamented as the decline of qualitative research might be because of our own inability to reveal something true about being-in-the-world. Four problems with qualitative work are identified: making what is obvious inescapable, confusion around what constitutes qualitative research and phenomenology, uniformed and disrespectful mixing of methods, and devolution into “little t” truth. I finish by calling for bold, evocative interpretation, and posing the question: What is the nature of the revolution that hermeneutics can foment?

Keywords

• Qualitative research
• hermeneutics
• phenomenology mixed methods
• bricoleur
• multiple realties
• truth