This article highlights the importance of qualitative research in information systems (IS), emphasizing its role in understanding the complexities of unstructured information systems implementations. The authors note that qualitative research can provide insights into why IS implementations often fail and offer alternative solutions to issues related to politics, social dynamics, and gender in organizations. Challenges in qualitative research include gaining access to organizations and ensuring the validity and generalizability of results. The five papers in this AJIS section were originally presented at the QualIT conference in 2005 and were selected for their impact and significance. The first paper, "Evading technological determinism in ERP implementation: towards a consultative social approach," critiques enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations, highlighting the challenges of implementing ERP in a government-owned corporation. It proposes a new approach to interpret the tension between technological determinism and user perspectives. The second paper, "Demystifying a hermeneutic approach to IS research," discusses the authors' journey in defining and justifying a hermeneutic approach for studying IT governance. The third paper, "Activity theory as a research framework in IS," explores how Activity Theory can be applied to various IS studies, addressing specific challenges in each research example. The fourth paper, "The evolution of a business process theory - the case of a multi-grounded theory," proposes the development of an empirically driven, inductive grounded theory approach by complementing it with a theory-driven analysis of a seven-year qualitative study of business processes. The paper sparked heated discussions at the conference and challenged the traditional definition of grounded theory. It is also an example of a theme paper that provided a forum for discussing challenges in qualitative research in IS.This article highlights the importance of qualitative research in information systems (IS), emphasizing its role in understanding the complexities of unstructured information systems implementations. The authors note that qualitative research can provide insights into why IS implementations often fail and offer alternative solutions to issues related to politics, social dynamics, and gender in organizations. Challenges in qualitative research include gaining access to organizations and ensuring the validity and generalizability of results. The five papers in this AJIS section were originally presented at the QualIT conference in 2005 and were selected for their impact and significance. The first paper, "Evading technological determinism in ERP implementation: towards a consultative social approach," critiques enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations, highlighting the challenges of implementing ERP in a government-owned corporation. It proposes a new approach to interpret the tension between technological determinism and user perspectives. The second paper, "Demystifying a hermeneutic approach to IS research," discusses the authors' journey in defining and justifying a hermeneutic approach for studying IT governance. The third paper, "Activity theory as a research framework in IS," explores how Activity Theory can be applied to various IS studies, addressing specific challenges in each research example. The fourth paper, "The evolution of a business process theory - the case of a multi-grounded theory," proposes the development of an empirically driven, inductive grounded theory approach by complementing it with a theory-driven analysis of a seven-year qualitative study of business processes. The paper sparked heated discussions at the conference and challenged the traditional definition of grounded theory. It is also an example of a theme paper that provided a forum for discussing challenges in qualitative research in IS.