In the last few decades, there has been a proliferation of qualitative methodologies and methods. Within HRD, however, there has been a persistent use of particular kinds of qualitative methodologies and methods, with limited degrees of methodological innovation. In this article, we overview the literature on qualitative methodological innovation and the kinds of innovation that have been engaged within HRD. To move the field forward, we introduce a new design framework, which we suggest is a useful decision-making tool to guide a scholar in making research design choices as they consider innovative research designs.
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