Topic Area Workshop
Friday, March 6 | 10:30 AM – Noon ET
New in 2025-2026: Hands-on, skills-focused sessions that go beyond lectures
and panels, but shorter and more targeted than our Short Courses.
Data Technology Topic Area:
On the Limits of Algorithmic Insights: Navigating the Hype and Hazards of Generative AI in Qualitative Data Analysis
This workshop examines the proposed use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools to automate or augment qualitative data analysis. Traditionally, qualitative researchers have been regarded as the research instrument in a qualitative project, with their interpretive and context-sensitive judgements forming the foundation of rigorous analysis. Over time, this human-centred approach has been complemented by technological tools (particularly Computer-Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Software, or CAQDAS) that aimed to support the organization and management of qualitative data. More recently, the turn to technology has intensified with the advent of generative AI and its integration into CAQDAS, along with standalone bespoke GenAI-platforms that promise to automate or augment core analytical practices traditionally understood as inherently human.
To navigate the hype and the hazards, the workshop first examines the enthusiastic uptake of GenAI among management researchers as a means of automating or augmenting qualitative data analysis. This discussion is grounded in a technologically informed assessment of what these tools can and cannot do. The workshop then turns to the foundational principles of qualitative data analysis, encouraging participants to recognize more explicitly the human elements that underpin rigorous analysis. The workshop concludes by examining how these elements can be preserved, and potentially strengthened, inviting participants to rediscover what lies at the core of qualitative inquiry—the act of human interpretation.
Suggested Readings:
- Bechky, B. A., & Davis, G. F. (2024). Resisting the Algorithmic Management of Science: Craft and Community After Generative AI. Administrative Science Quarterly, 70(1), 1-22.
- Jowsey, T., Braun, V., Clarke, V., Lupton, D., & Fine, M. (2025). We reject the use of generative artificial intelligence for reflexive qualitative research. Jowsey, T., Braun, V., Clarke, V., Lupton, D., & Fine, M. (2025). We reject the use of generative artificial intelligence for reflexive qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, 10778004251401851.
- Nguyen, D. C., & Welch, C. (2026). Generative Artificial Intelligence in Qualitative Data Analysis: Analyzing—Or Just Chatting? Organizational Research Methods, 29(1), 3-39. https://doi.org/10.1177/10944281251377154 [doi.org]
- Nguyen, D. C., & Welch, C. (2025). Engaged and Responsible Scholarship: Why Qualitative Researchers Should Not Embrace GenAI. Business & Society, forthcoming.
Dr. Catherine Welch
Biography
Catherine Welch is Chair of Strategic Management at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Aalto University, Finland. Catherine’s research has concentrated on approaches to context in international business research, particularly the use of qualitative research methodology and process approaches to studying internationalization of the firm. Her work has appeared in leading journals in international business and management. She has a track record of launching new disciplinary conversations and advocating methodological and theoretical pluralism. She was the first author on a paper that won the 2021 Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) Decade Award. She is an Associate Editor of Organizational Research Methods and a founding member of the Academy of International Business (AIB) Research Methods Shared Interest Group (RM-SIG). She is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business.
Biography
Duc Nguyen is Lecturer in International Business at Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, UK. His research interests include qualitative research methods, text analysis, and contextual analysis. His recent work examines the intersection of technology and methodology, particularly the limitations and ethical implications of using generative AI in qualitative data analysis.
Dr. Duc Nguyen
