Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: Reflecting on Qualitative Research’s Past and Forecasting Its Future

Twenty-five years ago we started The Qualitative Report (TQR) in a world much different than what we see today in education, business, and technology; and in our lives in general. The degree to which qualitative research was practiced, published, and appreciated was in distinct contrast to its wider distribution, acceptance, and popularity today. How this quarter century of expansion and proliferation predicts the next twenty-five years for qualitative research is debatable, but we at TQR want to explore this topic in a year-long inquiry into yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We start the process in earnest today at the sixth The Qualitative Report Annual Conference when we explore some of the main trends of qualitative inquiry, product, and training from the 1980's to 2015 and suggested some possible new and novel trajectories for 2015 and beyond. We then will outline the activities the TQR community will sponsor all 2015 culminating in the 2016 TQR conference with its theme, "The Futures of Qualitative Inquiries."