Trustworthiness in Qualitative Research Dr. Eti Poncorini Pamungkasari, dr., MPd Public Health Department; Medical Education Unit Faculty of Medicine Universitas Sebelas Maret Surakarta

Validity? Reliability? Rigour? Trustworthiness?

Validity Does the instrument or measurement strategy actually measure what evaluator purpots to measure?

Reliability The consistency or dependability of the instrument or measurement strategy

Need to be conceptualised differently Rigour The concepts of validity and reliability are important in qualitative research Need to be conceptualised differently

Rigorous qualitative studies are more trustworthy and useful Also attempts to provide information that is related to events

Rigour Credibility (truth value) Transferability (applicability) Dependability (trustworthiness) Confirmability (Neutrality)

Credibility: the confidence that can be placed in the truth of the research findings Prolonged and varied field experience Reflexivity (field journal) Triangulation Member checking Peer examination Interview technique

Transferability: to the degree to which the results of qualitative research can be transferred to other contexts with other respondents Purposive sampling Provide thick description

Dependability: “the stability of findings over time” Audit trail A code-recode strategy Stepwise replication Triangulation peer examination or iterator comparisons

Confirmability: the degree to which the results of an inquiry could be confirmed or corroborated by other researchers Audit trial Reflexive journal Triangulation

Techniques for ensuring rigour Theoretical rigour Methodological rigour Interpretative rigour Evaluative rigour

Theoretical rigour Theory and concept The research strategy Research goals

How to assess theoretical rigour? Publication (peer review) Triangulation theory

Methodological or procedural rigour Qualitative research should provide an explicit account of how the research was conducted by the researcher Example: how the data was collected and recorded? The method of data coding and analysis?

Interpretative rigour and inter rater reliability To demonstrated clearly how the interpretation was achieved Participant feedback Citation

Evaluative rigour: ethics and politics Obtaining ethical approval

Prolonged engagement in field or research site: the researcher’s extended time in the field improves the trust of the respondents and provides a greater understanding of participants’ culture and context Use of peer debriefing: seek support from other professionals willing to provide scholarly guidance, such a members of academic staff, the postgraduate dissertation committee and the department.

Triangulation: the use of multiple methods Using a combination of methods, researcher, data sources and theories Allows the research to develop a complex picture of the phenomenon being studies

Types of triangulation Data source triangulation Methods triangulation Researcher triangulation Theory triangulation

Member check: the analyzed and interpreted data is sent back to the participants for them to evaluate the interpretation made by the inquirer and to suggest changes if they are unhappy with it or because they had been misreported. An audit trail: an examination of the inquiry process and product to validate the data, whereby a researcher accounts for all the research decisions and activities to show how the data were collected, recorded and analyzed

Stepwise replication: Stepwise replication is a qualitative research data evaluation procedure where two or more researchers analyze the same data separately and compare the results Code-recode strategy: the researcher codingthe same data twice, giving one or two weeks’ gestation period between each coding. The results from the two codingsare compared to see if the results are the same or different

References Rice Pl, Ezzy D, 1999. Qualitative Research Methods. Oxford University Press: South Melbourne Golafshani, N. (2003). Understanding Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research.The Qualitative Report, 8(4), 597-606. Noble, H, Smith, J. Issues of validity and reliability in qualitative research. Evid Based Nurs. Vol 18 (2)