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Qualitative Research and the Challenges of Complexity

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Computer Supported Qualitative Research (ISQR 2017)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 621))

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Abstract

Will the research agendas of this 21st century be able to handle with rigor the complexity and uncertainty of our world? Will they accommodate the leaps into the unknown of today’s creative and innovative processes? Should we care about it? Our answer is yes, because the social, economic, and political problems we confront today are becoming increasingly complex and nondeterministic. As this happens, and even their formulation becomes elusive, our traditional theories, methods, and instruments fail. We argue that the qualitative approaches inspired by the design disciplines are ideal to handle these situations, provided we carefully take into account some principles of the philosophy of science. We believe that the researchers willing to confront the growing complexity of our day, in all its richness and diversity, will have much advantage in following these approaches.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Engenharia Informática, CISUC, Polo II da Universidade de Coimbra, 3030-290, Coimbra, Portugal

    Antonio Dias de Figueiredo

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  1. Antonio Dias de Figueiredo
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Correspondence to Antonio Dias de Figueiredo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Education and Psychology Department, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    António Pedro Costa

  2. Information Systems Department, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal

    Luís Paulo Reis

  3. Education and Psychology Department, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Francislê Neri de Souza

  4. Education and Psychology Department, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    António Moreira

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de Figueiredo, A.D. (2018). Qualitative Research and the Challenges of Complexity. In: Costa, A., Reis, L., Souza, F., Moreira, A. (eds) Computer Supported Qualitative Research. ISQR 2017. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 621. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61121-1_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61121-1_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-61120-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-61121-1

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