Qualitative research approaches: A guide to data collection, analysis, trustworthiness, artificial intelligence, and ethics

The fast-paced development of digital technologies and artificial intelligence in the area of qualitative research is transforming the conventional approaches to qualitative research, posing new methodological, analytical, and ethical issues to the researchers who want to achieve rigor and research credibility. Although the application of AI-based qualitative analysis is increasingly common, there is still doubt about its combination with the traditional methods of thematic analysis, grounded theory, and ethnography, especially in terms of the credibility of the qualitative research process, the transparency of the algorithms, and the ethics of research. This research provides a literature review covering the modern literature on qualitative data collection, qualitative data analysis, computer-assisted qualitative data analysis (CAQDAS), and the new trends in generative AI and natural language processing in the qualitative research. The review discusses methodological innovations in digital qualitative research, such as digital ethnography, reflexive thematic analysis, and post qualitative inquiry and assesses approaches employed to achieve credibility, dependability, and confirmability in qualitative research. The results show that the qualitative research is experiencing a methodological shift, which is defined by the combination of AI-aided qualitative research analysis, automated text transcription, and pattern recognition through computational analysis in the framework of traditional analytical approaches. Although the use of CAQDAS platforms and AI tools increases efficiency and allows exploring qualitative data on large scale, issues of interpretative depth, epistemological congruity, and ethical controls still exist. The review points to a paradigm shift of technologically augmented qualitative inquiry, in which generative AI, natural language processing and sophisticated digital research infrastructures are broadening the qualitative inquiry.