quantitative research validity and reliability

In the context of this project, however, triangulation is not intended in the quantitative meaning of the word. Moreover, I used more than one research method, to verify one set of data against another, in a process of triangulation.

146) refer to as ‘an audit trail’, which shows accuracy and coherence in the methods chosen. It is the internal coherence mentioned by Sparkes (1992b) that I sought for this project, rather than reliability and validity in a quantitative way.īy recording the steps of my research and analysis, I tried to build what Maykut and Morehouse (1994, p. 366) mentions the ‘absurdity of validity’ and argues that instead, he seeks:Ī quality that points more to identifying critical elements and wringing plausible interpretations from them. Indeed, not everyone agrees on the idea of validity for qualitative research.įor instance, Wolcott (1994, p. Is Validity Possible for Qualitative Research is what we make it to be based upon shared visions and common understandings that are socially constructed’. 31), truth for interpretivists is a matter of coherence, a matter of internal relations within the research process, rather than correspondence with an external reality, which is difficult to verify outside of human subjectivity.

Hence, I cannot adhere to the quantitative idea of truth. Validity and reliability for qualitative research are intended differently from the way they are intended in quantitative research, where ‘facts’ can be measured and researchers hold onto the idea of a truth beyond individual subjectivities.Īs mentioned at the beginning of this chapter (4.2), I adopted a relativist ontology, a constructionist epistemology, and an interpretivist paradigm. if your research is valid, it means that you are observing, identifying or ‘measuring’ what you say you are. Reliability involves the accuracy of your research methods and techniques. The Issue of Generalizability in ResearchĪccording to Mason (2002, p.Is Validity Possible for Qualitative Research.

Quantitative research validity and reliability