Legitimating Procedures

Legitimation is about establishing the appropriateness, quality and accuracy of adopted procedures to find out the answers to research questions. It is the counterpart nomenclature used for the mixed methods approach that refers to research validation in quantitative and qualitative studies carried out throughout the different phases of the research starting from the philosophy and design and ending with the inferences drawn from the research. Applying a mixed methods approach evokes the sort of validity associated with the quantitative component, validity related to the qualitative strand and any validity issues that might arise that relate to the mixed method approach (Creswell 2009). In that sense, legitimating constitutes the validation of both compartments.

Hence, procedures are to be taken to maintain sound means of validity for each part, although it should be kept in mind that each research has its own set of contextual and procedural limitations which means that in most cases it is not possible to apply and probably achieve research quality in every aspect.

Validity and reliability are the two main criteria to verify the quality of quantitative research. Validity is defined as the ability of the research instrument to demonstrate that it is finding out what it is designed to, i.e. providing answers to research questions using appropriate methods, while reliability refers to the consistency and stability in research findings when used repeatedly (Kumar 2011). Both validity and reliability are concerned with the adequacy of measures and applicability of research outcomes.

Different types of validity can be defined. These include measurement validity which refers to whether the developed measure reflects the concept it is suppose to, and internal validity which is concerned with the soundness of findings that specify the causal connections among research variables. Another type is external validity, which is concerned with the question of whether the results of the study can be generalised ahead of the specific research context. This has to do with the success of sample selection and to what extent it is considered to be representative of the broader population (Bryman 2008).

Two approaches were used to establish the validity and reliability of the research. These were based on either logic that underpins the construction of the research tool; i.e. to

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what extent does the research tool provided the proper reflection of research questions and aims, or statistical evidence that was gathered using information generated through the use of the instrument. Several procedures were applied in that sense. These included:

- Establishing face validity by checking for the logical link between questions and questionnaires, ensuring there was a balanced coverage of the different issues under concern and that each aspect had adequate representation in the questions. This entailed giving careful attention to the format and design of the questionnaire and assessing its different items.

- As the questionnaire was originally drafted in English, there was a need to translate it efficiently into Arabic in order to make it usable. This was evaluated by external native Arabic-speaking colleagues to make sure it functioned well and accurately represented the English version.

- Applying guidelines of effective sampling to reach as reasonable representative sample that helped to achieve a good level of external validity within the limitations of research. It is worth mentioning here that the initial sampling strategy was seen to be better in that sense than the adopted one. This does not mean that the alternative strategy lacked validity and precision. Several considerations were taken to attain a sound degree of confidence with the alternative sample. Such considerations included increasing the size of the sample, covering more geographical areas, retaining the variety of sample units in reference to socio-demographic attributes of sample units and ensuring random selection as much as possible.

- Carrying out different statistical tests and procedures to maintain the significance of the research findings and the attainment of internal validity.

Regarding the qualitative component of research, concepts of validity and reliability cannot be applied in the same way as they are in the quantitative part because of the flexibility and spontaneity in the data collection procedure in such kind of research.

They do not carry the same connotations of stability, representativeness, standardisation and generalisability as is the case in quantitative research. Qualitative validity means that the researcher checks for the accuracy of the findings, while qualitative reliability

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indicates that the researcher’s approach is consistent across different research studies and projects (Creswell 2009). Two alternative sets of criteria were used instead for judging the quality of research in this part; trustworthiness and authenticity.

Trustworthiness is made up of four criteria – credibility, transferability, dependability and conformability. Credibility involves ascertaining that the results of research are feasible and believable from the perspectives of the research participants.

Transferability refers to the extent to which research results can be passed to other contexts. Dependability is the parallel term of reliability which presents the stability and replicable of research. Conformability is about the degree of objectivity and corroboration of research results (Bryman 2008; Kumar 2011). Authenticity is a kind of additive value that contributes towards some sort of practical achievement. It constitutes a number of criteria, two of which were of concern in this research. The first is fairness which means representing different viewpoints fairly and without bias, and the second is ontological authenticity which reflects the role of the research in helping respondents and participants to arrive at a better understanding of the social milieu.

A series of procedures were taken to maintain as much quality and accuracy as possible of the findings from the qualitative component of the research.

These include:

- Avoiding fostering personal thoughts among respondents and during data analysis and interpretation.

- Applying respondent validation technique, by which the researcher got the confirmation and credibility of study members -or at least most of them- concerning the research findings to make sure their ideas and notions were correctly understood and presented.

- Producing rich description to convey the research procedures and findings and make it more transferable.

- Checking transcripts for any obvious mistakes made during transcription.

- Clarifying biases brought to the study by the researcher to ensure open and honest outcomes.

- The use of an external auditor to review findings and provide an objective assessment and feedback.

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