Currently reading Nguyen & Welch (2025): “Generative Artificial Intelligence in Qualitative Data Analysis: Analyzing—Or Just Chatting?”

I really enjoyed reading Nguyen and Welch (2025)’s exploration of using GenAI to analyse qualitative data. They come to the same conclusion as Rachel and myself in our article (don’t do it!), but they very comprehensively look at different problematic facets, and explain them in detail.

Many of their warnings are also relevant for working with GenAI more generally, beyond using it to analyse qualitative data. For example, in the context of how different prompts will generate different results and therefore the common focus on prompt engineering (which I see that many students report will be the most important thing for them to learn), they write that “offering prompting as fix not only overstates the capabilities of these models and contributes to overhyped narratives about their potential, but it also obscures their limitations. Moreover, it redirects undue accountability onto users, suggesting that poor results stem from their inability to craft prompts, rather than the technology’s inherent limitations“.

This is a great article (and such a pleasure to read, which is so rare for academic texts!), and you should definitely check it out yourself!

Nguyen, D. C., & Welch, C. (2025). Generative Artificial Intelligence in Qualitative Data Analysis: Analyzing—Or Just Chatting?. Organizational Research Methods, 10944281251377154.

Featured image is from yesterday’s dive. I just love the waves, the light, the colour…