Using Longitudinal Qualitative Interviews to Advance Human Resource Management Scholarship: A Scoping Review

ABSTRACT This article reports a scoping study that identifies how longitudinal qualitative interviews (LQI) have been used as a data collection method in human resource management (HRM) research (2001–2023). Although growing in frequency, LQI usage remains rare. Studies documenting how different groups of employees experience or respond to external events, career transition points, or organization‐driven changes are most common. Researchers have taken advantage of LQIs' flexibility by incorporating emergent themes and extraneous events into their analysis, and by adding longitudinal perspectives to prior cross‐sectional studies. Phenomena that can benefit from LQI studies include HRM‐related changes that evolve unpredictably or impact groups of stakeholders differently, such as AI‐based hiring, diversity, equity and inclusion policies, and remote/virtual work. We also distil ‘good practice’ principles for LQI studies for recruiting, managing, and retaining research participants, maintaining interviewer–interviewee relationships, ensuring ethical practices, and reporting results.