An agenda for the second generation of qualitative studies

Abstract

An agenda is proposed that calls for investigations of and instruction in the skills and dispositions needed by practitioners of qualitative studies. Qualitative studies re-emerged in the social science and health disciplines in the early years of the 1970s. In the subsequent 30-plus years of the first generation of qualitative studies, there has been a dramatic growth in their use and in attention to their theories and methods. In addition, concerns about the quality of qualitative studies have been expressed. In qualitative studies, researchers themselves serve as the data gathering and analytic instruments. Attention to the development of researcher cognitive and conative skills and researcher virtues is recommended. Key words: Practice, qualitative studies, instruction, virtues, agenda