Evaluating Qualitative Research

An important consideration in the design of a research study is being able to evaluate its quality. Essentially, this deals with establishing the trustworthiness of a study, or “demonstrating to the audience that the findings are worth paying attention to” (Lincoln & Guba, 1985, p.290).

The traditional labels associated with evaluating more positivistic or quantitative research studies, such as validity and reliability are not seen as compatible with the researcher’s worldview within this study. As an alternative, Lincoln and Guba (1985) put forward alternative criteria and terminology for evaluating research; ‘credibility, transferability, dependability, and conformability’. Below, each of the four shall be considered in order to demonstrate the trustworthiness of the study’s findings.

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3.3.5.1. Credibility

The notion of credibility concerns itself with the question: ‘are the findings credible given the information presented?’ Lincoln and Guba (1985, p.301) suggest a number of different techniques to establish the credibility of a research’s findings, two of which are prolonged engagement and triangulation. Prolonged engagement involves the immersion into the site of study, in order to ensure that the context is “thoroughly appreciated and understood”, and so that any distortions are taken into account which may “creep into the data” (Lincoln & Guba, 1985 p.302). The study’s research timetable (Figure 3.4.) outlined above illustrates how data collection became spread out over a number of years and not just at one specific point in time.

Different modes of triangulation have also been suggested to increase the credibility of a study’s findings. Within qualitative research, data can be collected from an array of sources and in a multiplicity of ways so as to enable the researcher to make sense of a complex phenomenon (Patton, 2002). With case study research, there is a clear rationale for using multiple sources of evidence. Yin (2009) believes that the most important benefit of using a number of data collection techniques (interviews, focus groups and questionnaires) is that it allows for the development of converging lines of inquiry, and a process of ‘methodological triangulation’ which can strengthen the case and the findings of the research. As parents and school personnel occupy such a crucial role in the lives on the young people, these cohorts were also included as a source of ‘data triangulation’ (i.e. collecting information from multiple sources but aimed at collaborating the same fact or phenomena) in order to increase the credibility of the findings (Patton, 1980). By examining different sources of evidence, one can “build a coherent justification for the themes which are presented” (Creswell, 2003, p.196). If the themes put forward are based on several converging perspectives and data sources one can improve the probability that the findings will be regarded as credible. The use of different participant

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groups (current students, previous students, parents, and guidance counsellors) and methods (questionnaires, interviews and focus groups) were all used as a technique of triangulation and in order to strengthen the study’s findings (see Figure 3.3).

3.3.5.2. Transferability

The transferability of a study is the degree to which the results of the study can be applied to different contexts. Such an outcome was not an aim for the researcher per se. Even so, the onus is on the researcher to provide a “thick description” of the phenomena occurring so that the reader can determine its relevance and transferability. “It is the reader, not the researcher, who determines what can apply to his or her context” (Merriam, 2009 p.51).

Yet, with this said, this study aims to generate an in-depth and comprehensive account of the Aiming High case so that aspects of the initiative may be transferred or replicated into other settings or different contexts if suitable and desired.

3.3.5.3. Dependability and Conformability

Dependability relates to the extent which research findings can be replicated with similar subjects in a similar context with conformability being the degree to which the findings can be confirmed or collaborated by others. Due to a range of unpredictable factors within qualitative research, gaining the same findings under the same circumstances can be considered virtually impossible. As qualitative research does not aim to be replicated, in order to address the dependability issue more directly, the processes within the study should be reported in detail, thereby enabling a future researcher to repeat the work, if not necessarily to gain the same results.

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In relation to conformability, Lincoln and Guba (1985) suggest that the major technique for establishing conformability is through the creation of an “audit trail”, in which an observer can trace the course of the research via the decisions made and procedures described. The case study database explained above became the strategy chosen to help establish conformability and to establish rigour within the study (Yin, 2009).

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3.4. Conclusion

This chapter aims to give an overview of the research design which shapes this study. The chapter is largely guided by using a model put forward by Denzin and Lincoln (2011). This model assists in providing structure to the various elements of how the research study was designed. Specifically, and in relation to this study, an interpretivist worldview overarches the conduct of the research. A qualitative case study encompasses the research strategy which guided the collection of data. Data was collected from four sets of research participants and by using three types of data collection tools. The data was analysed using the constant comparative method, and the research was evaluated using the components suggested by Lincoln and Guba (1985). In essence, the chapter intended to lay the foundation and to provide the reader with the information as to how the research was conducted. The chosen methodology of case study recognises the importance of the contextual landscape in which the case lies; the next chapter will consider ‘the Context of the Case’ in detail.

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Chapter 4- The Context of the Case