Scientific Rigour in Qualitative Data

Question 1

Why is qualitative research accused of lacking scientific rigour?

Answer 1

1) The sample sizes are small
2) Data collection and data analysis lacks clarity
3) Numbers and not used (numbers are associated with science)
4) Qualitative research has no place in the hierarchy of evidence

Question 2

Why are qualitative methods scientific?

Answer 2

If conducted in the right way - they can be systematic and methodological

Question 3

Why can’t you say quantitative research is better than qualitative?

Answer 3

As it is about using the method which is suitable in finding out either a link between IV or DV or to explore a subject/issue

Question 4

Why are words such as reliable or valid not helpful in qualitative research?

Answer 4

Qualitative researchers are not interested in whether the measurement tool measures what it is supposed to measure and qualitative methods can not be repeated because they are context-bound

Question 5

There are words used in quantitative data which shouldn’t be used in qualitative data - what are these and what are they replaced with in qualitative studies?

Answer 5

1) Trustworthiness (instead of Rigour)
2) Dependable (instead of reliable)
3) Credibility (instead of internal validity)
4) Transferability (instead of external validity)
5) Confirmability (instead of objectivity)

Question 6

What is ‘trustworthiness’ concerned with?

Answer 6

Whether the methodology has soundness and adequacy

Question 7

How to check if a methodology has trustworthiness?

Answer 7

1) Member checking
2) Looking for negative cases (pieces of data that do not fit the overall trend) - either revise this piece of data or give a logical explanation for why this piece of data doesn’t fit the trend
3) Peer reviewing (getting other researchers to interpret the data and then check for similarities between the interpretations)
4) Data and method triangulation (looking at the data from a different perspectives - e.g. collecting data with a different group) & (collecting data using a different method e.g. observation or interview or focus group)

Question 8

What is dependability concerned with?

Answer 8

Whether findings are consistent in the same context. In order for qualitative methods to be dependable = the context will need to be described well

Question 9

What can help with discovering whether a qualitative method has dependability?

Answer 9

An Audit Trial

Question 10

What does an audit trial do?

Answer 10

It describes the context to the reader. It includes how the qualitative research was conducted and what decisions were made along the way.
It allows for the dependability of a method to be discovered if the context is described well - similar studies , in the same context, looking at the same issue/subject can see if findings are consistent in the same context.

Question 11

In an audit trial, why is it important to contain big extracts of data?

Answer 11

So the data isn’t extracted from the context.

Question 12

2 reasons why audit trials are useful?

Answer 12

1) Achieves meta-synthesis (through many similar studies being able to be carried out)
2) Reflexivity - Gives a chance for researchers to reflect upon their decisions made throughout the research.

Question 13

What is credibility concerned with?

Answer 13

Being able to justify the researchers interpretations and see how they came to their conclusions

Question 14

Can you fully achieve generalisability in qualitative data?

Answer 14

Never

Question 15

What is transferability concerned with?

Answer 15

Can the findings of qualitative research be transferred to similar contexts

Question 16

What is confirmability concerned with?

Answer 16

Whether the findings of the study are a result of the research being conducted and the issue/subject being explored in depth. Rather than the findings being a result of the researcher’s preconceptions or original ideas about the subject/ issue.

Question 17

What can help with deciding whether a qualitative method has confirmability and how?

Answer 17

An audit trial - because by describing how the researcher came to the desicions will allow readers to see that the findings came about from the decisions rather than preconceptions/original ideas about the subject/issue.

Question 18

What does a CASP tool do?

Answer 18

It will whether a qualitative research study can be critically appraised. It does this by looking at:

1) Trustworthiness
2) Dependability
3) Credibility
4) Transferability
5) Confirmability