Qualitative Inquiry and the Research Marketplace: Putting Some +s (Pluses) in Our Thinking, and Why This Matters

In a crowded, competitive, research marketplace, association with the latest high-status brands and must-have products is crucial. Have we, and are we, adapting our qualitative inquiry to be associated with these leading brands and products? Addressing this requires adding some connections (+s) to our thinking about our qualitative inquiry and its interfaces with the research marketplace, such as those between funding, methods, publications, promotion, and tenure. Understanding the complexity of these connections enables us to decide which to ignore, negate, or embrace, and works against normalization of adaptive versions of qualitative inquiry shaped by the research marketplace.