reliability and validity in qualitative research

Negative case analysis is a process of analysing ‘cases’, or sets of data collected from a single participant, that do not match the patterns emerging from the rest of the data. Robson, C. (2002). What seems more relevant when discussing qualitative studies is their validity, which very often is being addressed with regard to three common threats to validity in qualitative studies, namely researcher bias, reactivity and respondent bias (Lincoln and Guba, 1985). 2016-10-27T10:46:20-07:00 Reliability and validity should be taken into consideration by qualitative inquirers while designing a study, analyzing results, and judging the quality of the study,30 but for too long, the criteria used for evaluating rigor are applied after a research is completed—a considerably wrong tactic.4 Morse and colleagues4 (2002) argued that, for reliability and validity to be actively attained, strategies for ensuring rigor must be built into the qualitative research process per se not to be proclaimed only at the end of the inquiry. Finally, the notion of keeping an audit trail refers to monitoring and keeping a record of all the research-related activities and data, including the raw interview and journal data, the audio-recordings, the researcher’s diary (see this post about recommended software for researcher’s diary) and the coding book. In Quantitative research, reliability refers to consistency of certain measurements, and validity – to whether these measurements “measure what they are supposed to measure”. I have come to see reliability and validity more as a defence of is the research rigorous, thorough and careful therefore is it morally, ethically and accurately defensible? endobj Guba2 (1981), Guba and Lincoln3 (1982), and Lincoln and Guba1 (1985) refer to trustworthiness as something that evolved from 4 major concerns that relate to it in Following a chapter on objectivity, the authors discuss the role of reliability and validity and the problems that arise when these issues are neglected. There is an argument for using your identity and biases to enrich the research (see my recent blog… researcheridentity.wordpress.com) providing that the researcher seeks to fully comprehend their place in the research and is fully open, honest and clear about that in the write up. All rights reserved. Reliability in qualitative research refers to the stability of responses to multiple coders of data sets. What is Reliability? student presentations, workshops, etc.) or at external conferences (which I strongly suggest that you start attending) will provide you with valuable feedback, criticism and suggestions for improvement. They indicate how well a method , technique or test measures something. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research. 6th Ed. International Journal Of Therapy & Rehabilitation, 21 (12), 560-568. Reliability is about the consistency of a measure, and validity is about the accuracy of a measure. Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research - Ebook written by Jerome Kirk, Marc L. Miller. Don’t forget to look at the resources in the reference list, if you would like to read more on this topic! Member checking, or testing the emerging findings with the research participants, in order to increase the validity of the findings, may take various forms in your study. I am passionate about research and I started Qualitative Researcher to share my knowledge and teach research skills to students and professionals worldwide, Validity and Reliability in Qualitative research, Qualitative Research Methods – Interviews, Free online course on how to develop a research idea, Section 2 – Developing research questions, Free “Qualitative researcher’s toolkit” book, View/Download the book (free registration required), my blog post on the ethics of researching friends, this post about recommended software for researcher’s diary. From this, a single value between 0-1 is generated and the closer the coefficient generated is to 1, the higher the reliability estimate of your instrument/test. London: Sage. Darawsheh, W. (2014). uuid:e87b349a-a434-11b2-0a00-10cc06aefc7f These events are invaluable in helping you to asses the study from a more objective, and critical, perspective and to recognise and address its limitations. In the world of academic research, data is gathered using either quantitative or qualitative techniques. Although validity in qualitative research has been widely reflected upon in the methodological literature (and is still often subject of debate), the link with evaluation research is underexplored. Reactivity, in turn, refers to a possible influence of the researcher himself/herself on the studied situation and people. Reliability in qualitative studies is mostly a matter of “being thorough, careful and honest in carrying out the research” (Robson, 2002: 176). It may be granted, for example, by the duration of the study, or by the researcher belonging to the studied community (e.g. 54, 88-94. Breakwell, G. M. (2000). A review of some of the strategies available for the pursuit of reliability and validity in qualitative research is undertaken. London: Sage. application/pdf In qualitative interviews, this issue relates to a number of practical aspects of the process of interviewing, including the wording of interview questions, establishing rapport with the interviewees and considering ‘power relationship’ between the interviewer and the participant (e.g. 2016-10-27T10:46:20-07:00 Issues of research reliability and validity need to be addressed in methodology chapter in a concise manner.. The … I’m @Nathan_AHT_EDD 2nd Ed. Have a good day ! I strongly believe that we cannot escape our past, including our multiple/present habitus and identities when it comes to qualitative educational research. Reflexivity in research: promoting rigour, reliability and validity in qualitative research. Curtin, M., & Fossey, E. (2007). Reliability in qualitative research is associated with “stability of responses to multiple coders of the data sets” (Creswell & Poth, 2018), “consistent similarity in the quality of the results” (Collingridge & Gantt, 2008), and the researcher approach being consistent (Crewsell, 2014) and accepted by the research community (Collingridge & Gantt, 2008). Respondent bias refers to a situation where respondents do not provide honest responses for any reason, which may include them perceiving a given topic as a threat, or them being willing to ‘please’ the researcher with responses they believe are desirable. Issues are still raised even now in the 21st century by the persistent concern with achieving rigor in qualitative research. 2 0 obj <>stream Naturalistic Inquiry. There is also a continuing debate about the analogous terms reliability and validity in naturalistic inquiries as opposed to quantitative investigations. Miller 1986 Reliability and validity in qualitative research London Sage Martin from BUSINESS 101 at ABC College Guidelines for occupational therapists. Seale20 (1999) asserted that trustworthiness of a research study is based on the concepts of reliability and validity. Triangulation may refer to triangulation of data through utilising different instruments of data collection, methodological triangulation through employing mixed methods approach and theory triangulation through comparing different theories and perspectives with your own developing “theory” or through drawing from a number of different fields of study. 12 0 obj It may, however, pose a threat in the form of researcher bias that stems from your, and the participants’, possible assumptions of similarity and presuppositions about some shared experiences (thus, for example, they will not say something in the interview because they will assume that both of you know it anyway – this way, you may miss some valuable data for your study). 1 0 obj (eds.) Understanding Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research Abstract The use of reliability and validity are common in quantitative research and now it is reconsidered in the qualitative research paradigm. Researcher bias refers to any kind of negative influence of the researcher’s knowledge, or assumptions, of the study, including the influence of his or her assumptions of the design, analysis or, even, sampling strategy. Since reliability and validity are rooted in positivist perspective then they should be redefined for their use in a naturalistic approach. But how do researchers know that the scores actually represent the characteristic, especially when it is a construct like intelligence, self-esteem, depression, or working memory capacity? endobj It may involve, for example, regular contact with the participants throughout the period of the data collection and analysis and verifying certain interpretations and themes resulting from the analysis of the data (Curtin and Fossey, 2007). Silverman, D. (1993) Interpreting Qualitative Data. Breakwell, 2000; Cohen et al., 2007; Silverman, 1993). %PDF-1.7 %���� Identities cannot be taken on and off like a coat, they are, “lived as deeply committed personal projects” (Clegg, 2008: p.336) and so if we embrace them we bring a unique insight into the process and have a genuine investment to make the research meaningful and worthy of notice. London: Routledge. Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research in Nursing Nurses need not rely totally on doctors regarding health care, more so in the separate field of nursing. However, validity in qualitative research might have different terms than in … <>/OCGs[5 0 R]>>/Outlines 6 0 R/Pages 3 0 R/StructTreeRoot 7 0 R/Type/Catalog>> Although you may be tempted to ignore these “cases” in fear of having to do extra work, it should become your habit to explore them in detail, as the strategy of negative case analysis, especially when combined with member checking, is a valuable way of reducing researcher bias. Beyond Checking: Experiences of the Validation Interview. Lincoln, Y. S. & Guba, E. G. (1985). This is definitely something that we should pay more attention to when doing research. <> VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH H.I.L. In Breakwell, G.M., Hammond, S. & Fife-Shaw, C. Secondly, it is common to have a follow-up, “validation interview” that is, in itself, a tool for validating your findings and verifying whether they could be applied to individual participants (Buchbinder, 2011), in order to determine outlying, or negative, cases and to re-evaluate your understanding of a given concept (see further below). It would be interesting to talk some time and exchange opinions, as our research interests seem very closely related. I am an experienced researcher, academic tutor and research consultant who has worked for the universities of Oxford and Edinburgh. Google Play Books app on your PC, android, iOS devices you said here and in your posts and! E. 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