Depth in Qualitative Inquiry: Deep Depth or Depth That Turns Deep
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: What is the meaning of depth in qualitative inquiry? How does some writing penetrate beneath surface-level meanings and reveal the deep mystery of qualis , yet other writing drifts into cliché or paltry abstraction? How is it that some qualitative texts not only stay with us but also allow us to settle into them, as if the depth they offer is a space to enter, to inhabit, or even to dwell in? In this article, we draw on phenomenology as a way to contemplate these questions and to explore the experiential and transcendental dimensions of the notion of depth. Here, we find depth is not solely a matter of deepness and profundity; it also has to do with our existential position and condition, and with questions of the beyond and immeasurableness in the qualis sense of hiddenness.
Source: Qualitative Inquiry
Authors: Michael van Manen, Malene Beck
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,900
OpenAlex ID: W7165015433