An important element of qualitative studies is
trustworthiness. In this section of c. 4, you will describe how you went about
implementing the strategies and plans that you laid out in c. 3. Let's review
the commonly used methods.
Credibility,
which is comparable to internal validity. This is getting at the credibility of
your data, common methods used are triangulation, prolonged contact, member
checks, and saturation. You want to show that your data are as accurate as
possible.
Transferability,
which is comparable to external validity. This is getting at the
generabilizability of your data to other groups. Common methods used are thick
description and a variation in participant selection.
Dependability,
comparable to reliability. You want to show the accuracy of your data methods,
common methods are audit trails and triangulation. Triangulation is
accomplished by asking the same research questions of different study participants
and by collecting data from different sources and by using different methods to
answer those research questions. Member checks occur when the researcher asks
participants to review both the data collected by the interviewer and the
researchers' interpretation of that interview data. Participants are generally
appreciative of the member check process, and knowing that they will have a
chance to verify their statements tends to cause study participants to fill in
any gaps from earlier interviews.
Confirmability, comparable to objectivity. This is
the degree to which the findings are the product of the focus of the study and
not of the biases of the researcher One way to do this is through an audit
trail. An adequate trail (or records) should be left to enable the auditor to
determine if the conclusions, interpretations, and recommendations can be
traced to their sources and if they are supported by the inquiry.
Next time I will post an updated blog index. Do you have an
issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future post? Would
you like to be a guest writer? Send me your ideas!
leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu
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