Qualitative research in occupational therapy has been flourishing for approximately three decades. Qualitative researchers in the profession are asked to take an informed, critical view of the literature to move it from the first to the second generation. The authors present a history of the three main qualitative traditions (ethnography, phenomenology, and grounded theory), focusing on key issues related to naturalism and interpretation, especially since philosophy's mid-20th century “linguistic turn.” They offer guidelines for the second generation, including more engagement with social theory, more sophisticated approaches to language, deeper immersion in contexts, more attention to observation, and greater participation in scholarly debates in and out of the profession.
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