trustworthiness in quantitative research

Graneheim and Lundman (2004) expressed a view that “text always involves multiple meanings and there is always some degree of interpretation when approaching a text” (p. When you consider the complexities of communication held within such forms of text, you can probably understand why we need standards of rigor when it comes to their analysis in qualitative research. Although we most commonly think of text as language-based content, things like pictures, objects, or symbols can also be considered text. Existing documents such as legal proceedings or news articles can also be used as text-based data in qualitative studies. In contrast to approaches that use statistical analysis of numbers-based data like survey answers or test scores, qualitative research and analysis is focused around various forms of text, which might be derived through deliberate means such as interviews or observations. Whatever the topic of interest, though, the naturalistic researcher is always concerned with understanding existing phenomena (e.g., thoughts, feelings, experiences). These phenomena might be behavioral patterns one can observe or perspectives that a researcher can learn about through interviews. Naturalistic research is concerned with phenomena as they exist in their natural settings, and qualitative research methods are perfectly suited for exploring such phenomena. Trustworthiness is often described as the equivalent of reliability and validity within the naturalistic research arena (Lincoln & Guba, 1986).

But, these quality benchmarks do not apply in qualitative research, so how is it that we create rigor in qualitative studies? If you’re thinking about a qualitative research method for your study, then you will need to understand both the concept of trustworthiness and the associated procedures that should be written into your methods chapter. Many of our dissertation consulting clients have shared the feeling of being completely unprepared to take on the challenge of creating a rigorous study for the first time, but we’ve found that breaking the process down into steps can be very helpful.įor those who are conducting studies in the quantitative paradigm, your priorities in this arena are to take measures to promote reliability and validity. If you find the prospect of creating scientific rigor a bit intimidating, you’re not alone. On top of all of this, your methods need to be constructed such that your study can truly be considered sufficiently rigorous.

Trustworthiness in quantitative research