Intended to evoke discussion in the research community about the research trend of the 21st century, this paper provides a broad, general definition of qualitative research that covers the many terms currently used under this heading, and discusses seven issues that the research community should address in some manner: (1) new or fad; (2) too many methodologies; (3) lack of standards for data; (4) questionable samples; (5) contamination of subjects; (6) inability to project findings; and (7) a new philosophy needed. It is noted that the differences in the philosophies of quantitative and qualitative research are great enough to cause open rejection of findings one from the other. The discussion points out that newness or fads are always concepts that attract, but new concepts and fads should be refined and improved upon with use. The paper concludes that a new philosophy of knowledge is perhaps the most important issue, and may well be the last one to be dealt with by researchers. It is suggested that the philosophical approach might be to ask why researchers are asking particular questions, and that the questions themselves may need to be evaluated in qualitative terms. (5 references) (BBM)