Weaknesses of Qualitative Research - Coursework Example

Credibility and Dependability Issues Introduction Validity entails the truthfulness and accuracy of scientific findings while reliability refers to the capacity of a research method to generate the same results over repeated testing periods. Validity and reliability are essential aspects of all kinds of research. Thorough attention to these two aspects can result in the difference between poor research and good research (Mason, 2006). Further, validity and reliability can assure scientist’s acceptance of the credibility and trustworthy of findings. Validity and reliability are most important in qualitative work where the subjectivity of the researcher can easily cloud data interpretation, and where the scientific community views findings of the research with a lot of doubts. Therefore, scientists pursuing qualitative studies should be sensitive to validity and reliability issues in their projects. The paper identifies several factors posing a risk to the validity and reliability of the qualitative research and suggests strategies that researchers can implement to make this research more credible. Further, the paper discusses how a researcher’s philosophical stance influences their establishment of credibility and dependability in research design, data collection as well as data analysis. Factors Limiting Qualitative Research There are a number of factors that are limiting this research. The researcher poses a risk to the validity and reliability of qualitative research. In a qualitative study, the researcher is the instrument that most often gathers data. In the event that researcher competency and researcher bias fails to be checked, there are high chances that data trustworthiness will be influenced (Haverkamp et al., 2007). The mere presence of the researcher may influence the validity of data provided by subjects. There are expectations of reactive effects upon the introduction of a new member in an interaction. These people may try to either reveal themselves in a good way or distort some information. The presence of the researcher creates a behavior in people that normally would have not occurred. In addition, researcher bias can be introduced by a researcher’s tendency to observe subjects and interpret findings concerning their personal values. The trend to selectively observe and record some given data at the expense of other data. The participating subject also poses risks to validity and reliability. The truthfulness of responses is a critical concern in the event of obtaining data through interviews and questionnaire. Because of certain characteristics and responses of informants, there is the likelihood of introduction of bias. Informants may attempt to make things look either worse or better than they are. Equally, informants may attempt to delight the researcher by responding the way they believe he expects. Informants may also fear placement in a devalued position by the researcher if they give negative responses. Further, factors within the subjects like anxiety or motivation, fatigue, mood, state of health, attention span, duration of recall and pain can introduce informant bias. Finally, elite bias is also another informant bias cited as being a problem in qualitative research. Elite bias entails the overweighting of data provided by well-informed, articulate, and high-status informants and the under-representation of data from lower status and less articulate informants. The social context equally poses a risk to validity and reliability in qualitative research. The social context of data collection is a key consideration in the establishment of the validity and reliability of data. People tend to behave differently in varied social circumstances. For instance, when informants are alone with the researcher, they may provide different information than when they are in groups. Equally, patients may provide dissimilar information within the context of healthcare than they would have revealed in their home neighborhood. There are equally risks to validity and reliability pertaining to the collection and analysis of data. Since validity and reliability rely on the ability of researchers to reconstruct strategies original strategies, researchers who present vague accounts of their design puts themselves at risk of being accused of unreliable and invalid findings. Strategies that can increase the credibility of qualitative research In order to make qualitative research more credible, researchers can increase the validity of responses by ensuring that informants are very clear about the research’s nature. For instance, the researcher should let the informants know why he is there, what kind of studies he is conducting, how he intends to collect data and what he will do with these data. Further, the researcher should stay in that setting a long period to build a trust relationship with the subjects. The researcher should also interview one informant on many occasions and observe more than once, the researcher should then compare the results with other available observable evidence. In addition, the researcher can increase the validity of research by confirming analysis and findings with the informant. However, this can present the danger of sensitization of subjects to the inferences of the researcher and thus providing answers that support the point of the researcher. In order to avoid to risks to validity and reliability resulting due to data collection and analysis, researchers should attempt to present their methods clearly. Researchers should precisely identify and thoroughly describe all the strategies they applied in the collection of data. Further, they should carefully document their field notes in the context of the event that was observed to allow other researchers to come up with valid judgments. In qualitative research, the selection of the sample is based on the capacity of the subject to avail data that is relevant to the research question (Hatch, 2002). In order to avoid insufficient or inaccurate data, the researcher has to use their judgment based on best available evidence to select subjects who know sufficient, can recall enough, and can respond precisely to questions asked. Further, the researcher should select subjects who are capable of reporting events that are not directly accessible or observable to the investigator. Equally, the researcher should continue to select subjects depending on the findings that emerge in the course of the study. Discussion on influences of Researcher’s Philosophical stance on Credibility and Dependability Research Design The philosophical stance of a researcher affects the way they establish credibility and dependability in research design. The two key philosophical dimensions that need to be distinguished are epistemology and ontology (Flick, 1998). Epistemology relates to the development of knowledge while ontology relates to the nature of knowledge. In relation to social research, ontologically research can perceive the existence of reality as being external and independent of the social actors and their understanding or interpretations of it, an occurrence termed as an objectivist. On the other hand, subjectivist adopter theory believes that reality is dependent on social actors that assume that the individual play a role in social phenomena. The purpose and research questions are the recommended starting points to develop a research design since they provide critical clues about the substance the researcher aims at assessing. A research method facilitating deep analysis of a real-life contemporary phenomenon in its original context is a case study. There are three ideal conditions for carrying out a case study in comparison to the other research methods in social sciences. First, the method of asking a research question is in the method of how or why in the case study. The two remaining conditions are that there is no control needed over behavioral events being studied and that the study focuses on contemporary events. Therefore, a case study should be of a contemporary event rather than a historical event. Ideally, case study research needs to use many case study design involving multi-sites to be studied and using several methods to analyze the collected data. The Underlying rationale of a multiple case study over a single case study is to allow for comparison between the observed practices by subjects studied to obtain a better understanding of these practices. Data Collection Collection of data can either be in the form of primary or secondary data. Primary data is often collected using semi-structured interviews with experts in the observed topic from the case organizations. Qualitative researchers need to be involved in the communication with the practitioners in the organizational face to understand the current state of the world practices. The secondary data entails internal publications availed by participants to the researchers and publicly available data that are essential to the topic under consideration. The method of collecting data from several sources is known as triangulation; it helps researchers to collect more data that is comprehensive but also to cross-check their consistencies to enhance the robustness of findings. The new feature of an interview is to enable the interviewees to share their perspective, experiences, and stories with relation to a given social phenomena that is being observed by the interviewer. Data Analysis Data analysis entails the drawing of conclusions from the raw data. Data analysis can involve multi-methods applied successively. Methodological triangulation are multi-method application involved in carrying out research. Quantitative data analysis is usually applied in the first phase of the study since its aim is to record the current state of events in the case organization. Conducting data analysis on qualitative data entails dismantling, segmenting, and reassembling data to come up with significant findings. These will enable one to draw conclusive inferences. The research aim and the research question need to be applied under the guidance of the process of cutting the texts collected into pieces and then logically recombining them. The transformation from raw data to findings necessitates to the interpretations of empirical data. Qualitative research has the unique goal of enhancing the process of meaning-making among people. The complexity of meaning in people’s lives has something to do with how meaning are related to different objects, life events, and people. The construction of meaning is the duty of qualitative research, and it reflects the specific methods applied in the process of qualitative data analysis. Historically, people were of the opinion that data analysis in qualitative research was an enigmatic metamorphosis. Conclusion In conclusion, the paper identifies the major factors that limit qualitative research. It does this by critically analyzing these factors and then providing strategies that a researcher can use to make qualitative research more credible. Further, the paper discusses how a researcher’s philosophical stance can affect the way they establish credibility and dependability in research design, data collection, and data analysis. The paper identifies the weaknesses of the qualitative research and identifies credibility improvement ways of this kind of research. References Flick, U. (1998). An introduction to qualitative research. London: Sage. Hatch, J.A. (2002). Doing qualitative research in educational settings. New York: State University of NewYork Press. Haverkamp, B. E. & Young, R. A. (2007). Paradigms, purpose, and the role of the literature: Formulating a rationale for qualitative investigations. The Counseling Psychologist, 35(2), 265-294. Mason, J. (2006). Mixing methods in a qualitatively driven way. Qualitative Research, 6(1), 9- 26. Read More