How to Build a Web of Credibility in Qualitative Research
Readers of qualitative research reports need to know that the research was conducted carefully so they can trust the findings. While results interpreted quantitatively from large samples bring a measure of established truth value, faith in findings from a set of interviews or focus groups has to be earned. Qualitative researchers can build a web of credibility by taking care to establish validity and reliability, analyze data and keep biases in check.
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Instructions
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Establish validity. As in quantitative research, you have to prove that you really are investigating the thing you claim to be investigating. Enhance validity by using trust-building interviewing techniques that allow informants to say what they really feel and use questions that draw on knowledge from previous research. Recruit a sample fit for the purpose of research and consider the effects of timing and setting on the answers people give.
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Confirm reliability, which means that your instruments -- battery of questions, interviewing practices and other qualitative techniques -- are dependable and consistent. This is tough in qualitative research, because you encounter different people who give different responses. Maximize reliability by clearly conceptualizing each construct you are measuring. Know precisely what variable you're seeking to learn about with each question you ask. Ask different questions on the same variable to ensure you're getting consistent responses. Pilot your research project with a test sample to be sure your instruments are reliable.
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Triangulate methods, data and investigators. Design your entire research project to use multiple paths of inquiry. In addition to interviewing, conduct focus groups, semi-structured interviews and observations to measure the same phenomenon from different angles. Vary your data sources and interview settings. For example, determine whether you get the same responses when you interview a single person; a small interactive group like a family; or a collective like a large group, community or organization. Triangulate your observers as well, and determine whether different interviewers get the same results.
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Carefully analyze results. Transcribe and index all the data you collect. Code them into categories that will inform the analysis and conclusions you reach. Have a separate investigator code the data to see if she agrees with the choices you made. If your sample was large enough, conduct data analysis on your variables. For example, cite frequency distributions and describe measures of central tendency, such as mode responses.
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Maintain neutrality. Consider your role in the research project at every turn. Because your participants will see you -- your gender, race and demeanor -- they will react to it, making it difficult to completely shut down your influence on some of the results you receive. In "Interviewing for Social Scientists," authors Hilary Arksey and Peter Knight say your goal should be to keep a "check" on subjectivity, not "obliterate" it.
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Tips & Warnings
Leave an audit trail. In your research report, describe how your research was conducted, what steps you took and what decisions you made. Doing so allows your readers to make judgments about the plausibility of your findings.
Be careful with claims of generalizability. Although the "general" may always be present in the "particular," qualitative researchers run into credibility problems when they try to generalize their results beyond the bounds of what their research project could ever support.
References
- "Interviewing for Social Scientists"; Hilary Arksey and Peter Knight; 1999
- "Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, Fifth Edition"; W. Lawrence Neuman; 2003
- "Qualitative Inquiry"; Building Confidence in Qualitative Research: Engaging the Demands of Policy; Harry Torrance; 2008
Resources
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