The Concepts of Qualitative Data: Challenges in Neoliberal Times for Qualitative Inquiry

Qualitative inquiry always used various kinds of data for understanding social issues and participants’ perspectives. Research and methodologies were debated for what data are adequate for studying social justice issues. Current challenges for concepts of data are new, for example, virtual and digital data, question traditional data (interviews, ethnography, etc.) in their relevance for understanding current life worlds. New methods produce new and other forms of data (e.g., mobile, virtual data). Neoliberal contexts produce questions about qualitative research and its data. What is an adequate and contemporary understanding of the concept of “data”? These questions are discussed in this special issue.