What is trustworthiness in qualitative research and how can you improve reliability accuracy and validity?

“Trustworthiness” is essential for all interactions – we need to have some level of belief in the data or conclusions presented. In qualitative research it may be most affected by the size and types of sampling used. The measures we use to evaluate our data can only give us an estimate of whether they are randomly occurring or not. Even when they appear to be significant great caution should be exercised when making any claims, as what we think we see may not always be the actual relationship.

Reliability and validity can both be enhanced by using very good and consistent sampling practices and analytical tools. Mathematical techniques always result in some number. Whether that number has any relevance to anything at all depends on how it was obtained. Proper definition and use of hypotheses is also critical to obtaining better reliability and validity.

Rk Naresh

Dr Steven Cooke thank you for your contribution to the discussion

Steven Prevette

I will add a real example to illustrate the issue. I was working at a Navy maintenance facility. We were have some reliability issues with a certain system. The "owners" of the system blamed the sailors who maintained it. They constructed a Pareto chart showing the number one issue was errors by sailors. Four failures there versus six different categories of single failures the "owners" were responsible for. Separate categories for engine failure, electronics failure, etc etc. The data were "correct" but by skewing the results using the qualitative categorization of the data, they painted the wrong picture. And many of the sailor's errors were due to poor procedures provided by the "owners".

Pandia Vadivu Pandian

Trustworthiness in Qualitative Research

Trustworthiness in qualitative research refers to the quality, credibility, and reliability of the research findings. It ensures that the research is conducted and reported in a way that is accurate, consistent, and free from bias. Trustworthiness is typically assessed through four key criteria:

Credibility: The confidence in the truth of the findings. It parallels internal validity in quantitative research.

Transferability: The extent to which the findings can be applied in other contexts or with other participants. It parallels external validity or generalizability.

Dependability: The consistency of the findings over time. It parallels reliability in quantitative research.

Confirmability: The degree to which the findings are shaped by the respondents and not researcher bias, motivation, or interest. It parallels objectivity.

Improving Reliability, Accuracy, and Validity in Qualitative Research

CredibilityProlonged Engagement: Spend sufficient time in the field to fully understand the context and build trust with participants. Triangulation: Use multiple sources, methods, investigators, or theories to cross-check data and interpretations. Member Checking: Share findings with participants to verify accuracy and resonance with their experiences. Peer Debriefing: Engage with colleagues to review and challenge the findings and interpretations.

TransferabilityThick Description: Provide detailed descriptions of the research context, participants, and processes to allow others to determine the applicability to other settings. Purposive Sampling: Select participants and settings that are information-rich and relevant to the research questions.

DependabilityAudit Trail: Maintain comprehensive and transparent documentation of the research process, including data collection, analysis, and decision-making. Code-Recode Strategy: Code the data, let it rest for some time, then recode it and compare the results to check for consistency. Peer Review: Involve external experts to review the research process and findings.

ConfirmabilityReflexivity: Reflect on and document the researcher’s biases, assumptions, and influences on the research process and findings. Audit Trail: Similar to dependability, maintaining detailed documentation helps in establishing confirmability. Triangulation: Use multiple data sources and methods to confirm the findings and interpretations.

By rigorously applying these strategies, researchers can enhance the trustworthiness of their qualitative research, ensuring that their findings are credible, transferable, dependable, and confirmable.

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