Dealing with Validity, Reliability, and Ethics
Respond to one of the following questions and reply to at least one other student’s post.
a. Lichtman (2013) elucidated “personal criteria” for “a good piece of qualitative research”, which include being explicit about the researcher’s role and his or her relationship to those studied, making a case that the topic of the study is important, being clear about how the study was done, and making a convincing presentation of the findings of the study. Based on the work you have done in this course, what would be your personal criteria?
b. Patton uses the term “preponderance of evidence” to describe the “best fit” between the data a researcher gathers and the patterns and conclusions he or she draws. This is a term borrowed from courtroom procedure, where it is the standard of proof used in noncriminal cases. In the legal context, a judge or jury must find that a given fact is proven if, based on the evidence provided. it is more likely than not (or to “>50% likely”) to be true. In your opinion, is this an appropriate standard for the validation of qualitative research? (Note that in both the QR and legal contexts, “preponderance” implies a quantifiable amount.)
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Q2:please see the upload file for the Q2 to answer.
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the chapter we read is
Chapter Nine
Dealing with Validity, Reliability, and Ethics
All research is concerned with producing valid and reliable knowledge in an ethical manner. Being able to trust research results is especially important to professionals in applied fields because practitioners intervene in people’s lives. Research results are trustworthy to the extent that there has been some rigor in carrying out the study. Ensuring validity and reliability in qualitative research involves conducting the investigation in an ethical manner.
I. Validity and Reliability
Validity and reliability in a qualitative study are about providing information and rationale for the study’s processes and adequate evidence so that readers can determine the results are trustworthy. The applied nature of most social science inquiry makes it imperative that researchers and others have enough confidence in the conduct of the investigation and in the results of any particular study that they may trust themselves in acting on the study’s implications or constructing social policy or legislation based on them. Lichtman’s four criteria for good qualitative research are that it (1) be explicit about the researcher’s role relationship to those studied, (2) make a case that the topic of the study is important, (3) be clear about how the study was done, (4) and make a convincing presentation of the findings of the study. Exhibit 9.1 is a list of sample questions often asked of qualitative researchers that touch on validity and reliability.
II. Internal Validity or Credibility
Internal validity deals with the question of how research findings match reality. Internal validity in all research thus hinges on the meaning of reality. One of the assumptions underlying qualitative research is that reality is holistic, multidimensional, and ever changing. Validity must be assessed in terms of whether the findings are credible given the data presented. Additionally, validity has to be assessed in relationship to the purposes and circumstances of the research, rather than as a context-independent property of methods or conclusions. Because human beings are the primary instrument of data collection and analysis in qualitative research, interpretations of reality are accessed directly through participants’ observations and interviews
