Documenting debates on GenAI in (reflexive) qualitative research

Abstract

This document, as its title indicates, aims to document what happened on the topic of generative AI (genAI) and qualitative research on social media and now in academic forums. It begins with the event when Jowsey and colleagues published a LinkedIn post introducing their position statement on rejecting genAI in reflexive qualitative research and calling for endorsement from experienced qualitative researchers. I aim to record and present the timeline of related events as they happened. In order to remain relatively objective with my observations, I avoid making my own arguments or reflections on the papers, viewpoints, posts, and responses presented; instead, I present these in a more formal manner (see Friese et al., 2025 and Section 3). Rather, I try to present the diversity and nuance of the viewpoints, which come not only from those supporting or opposing the open letter, but also from those in between, including those who are simply observers or learners. In this documentation, while I try to cover as much as I can, some responses or posts are not included here. Some responses were excluded because they did not add substantial value to the discussions, or because I was not aware of or missed them. I apologize for this.

Keywords: reflexive thematic analysis, reflexivity, qualitative research, generative AI, technologies, research methodologies