Introduction: Case studies in transparent qualitative research

The discipline of political science has been engaged in vibrant debate about research transparency for more than three decades. Over the last ten years, scholars who generate, collect, interpret, and analyze qualitative data have become increasingly involved in these discussions. The debate has played out across conference panels, coordinated efforts such as the Qualitative Transparency Deliberations (Büthe et al. 2021), articles in a range of journals, and symposia in outlets such as PS: Political Science and Politics, Security Studies, the newsletter of the Comparative Politics section of the American Political Science Association (APSA), and, indeed, QMMR. Until recently, much of the dialogue has been conducted in the abstract. Scholars have thoroughly considered the questions of whether political scientists who generate and employ qualitative data and methods can and should seek to make their work more transparent, what information they should share about data generation and analysis, and which (if any) data they should make accessible in pursuit of transparency (see Jacobs et al. 2021).