Lighten up: the citation dilemma in qualitative research.

The balance between what we learn from research and what others have said about similar topics can pose dilemmas for qualitative researchers. How many citations are enough? How much allegiance do we owe to other scholars and how much to informants' lived experiences, our theoretical analyses, and the lessons we draw about methods and methodologies from our own experience as researchers? The various reasons we use or do not use citations in writing up results and writing about methods are the topics of this article.