Denzin and Lincoln, as well as other authors, state that the issues of validity and reliability are important in qualitative research. However, they are treated in a different manner, as there are no intentions to establish a quantitative measure of validity and reliability (as is the case in quantitative research). Some use the terms "trustworthiness" or "credibility" in qualitative studies, and point to triangulation as a way to back them up. My questions: ¿What are the "equivalent" concepts for validity and reliability in qualitative research? Is it useful to deal with these issues in qualitative research? What are the precise methods or practices for establishing "validity" and "reliability" in a qualitative study?
Validity and reliability are global concerns that must be in all types of good research.
Validity: does it contain evidence that the work is indeed valid? That is, is it well grounded in logic etc?
Reliability: does it contain evidence that it is good research that we can depend on?
In other words, for every step of the way, does the research shout out "Hey! This is good research and therefore we must trust the results?"
Ways to help the above are to ensure that the references are the best for the purpose, that the work is repeatable, triangulation was used, the methods were appropriate, and the argument was not flawed.
One weak link and your reviewers will not trust your work.
i must admit a limited understanding and even more limited experience of qualitative research before stating my view..
while all aspects of planning the study and collection of data are important, the crux of 'trustworthiness' depends how rigorously the analysis has been thought out (since obtaining a perspective regarding the topic of interest is the intent of qualitative study in the first place)..
following two articles may provide a better description of why it is important to asses validity and reliability in qualitative studies, and mention strategies to do so...
Healy M, Perry C. Comprehensive criteria to judge validity and reliability of qualitative research within the realism paradigm. Qualitative market research: An international journal;3(3):118-126. available online from: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=858389&show=abstract
regards, raza
Thank you very much, Ian and Raza! Both your comments have been very helpful. I also appreciate the article on criteria to judge validity and reliability of qualitative research. It has excellent insights on this topic.
To ensure trustworthiness in qualitative research requires that you need to pay attention to coding. You need to code your responses from participants correct to identify themes and subthemes to guide your discussion of your results. In other words you need to allocate a valid code to themes. The more repeats you have for a theme the more it enhance your reliability. You must not just have one interview with your participants but go back to your other participants when new issues come up and determine how they feel about the issues. In this way you actually "test" if all participants have the same views about your themes that occur. When presented with information that you can verify with a person, do so as it enhance the "reliability" of your study. Building trust with your participants also assist in producing trustworthy results.
Thank you very much, Sandra. Very important suggestions. I will take them into account.
Look this article that I presented in University of Dar es Salaam student seminar workshop. It is first draft it is going under review it may help you.
I agree with Sandra's suggestion that interpretations can be effectively checked against participant views. After all, in qualitative studies, we try to accurately bring the voices of participants to the fore. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve a complete bracketing of the researcher's assumptions and experiences which undoubtedly cloud interpretations, and so, member checking allows the participant to verify that interpretations are more or less accurate. I believe it to be the centerpiece of trustworthiness in qualitative studies, though coding is equally important at moving the researcher to examine themes that evidence themselves against all the data. That said, the data collection must be accurately transcribed, either through audio or video recording, for example, so that the nuances of the environment, the response of participants, etc., are retained as accurately as possible.
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