4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.9 Validity and reliability
Validity and reliability are quality indicators. Although the terminology is associated with quantitative research techniques, the concepts provide useful guidance for qualitative research. Watling (1995, as cited in Simco and Warin, 1997, p. 8) states that “Reliability and validity are tools of an essentially positivist epistemology.” In a
qualitative research project, validity and reliability depend significantly on the skill, training and sensitivity of the researcher (Labuschagne, 2003, p. 101). Put another way, research outcomes are only good as the investigator (Morse et al., 2002, p. 17).
The attempts of verification in qualitative research have been widely discussed over the last decades in literature (Guba and Lincoln, 1981; Morse et al., 2002; and Creswell, 2014). The validity of research findings refers to the extent to which the findings are an accurate representation of the phenomena they are intended to represent. The reliability of a study refers to the reproducibility of the findings. Guba and Lincoln (1981) stressed that although the nature of knowledge within the rationalistic (or quantitative) paradigm is different from the knowledge in naturalistic (qualitative) paradigm, every research should have a sufficient "truth value", "applicability", "consistency", and "neutrality" in order to be considered worthwhile. Therefore, there should be specific criteria for each paradigm in order to address "rigor" (for rationalistic/quantitative paradigm) and "trustworthiness" (for naturalistic/qualitative paradigm).
Morse et al. (2002) defined the nature of verification in qualitative research as; "Verification is the process of checking, confirming, making sure, and being certain. In qualitative research, verification refers to the mechanisms used during the process of research to incrementally contribute to ensuring reliability and validity and, thus, the rigor of a study." (Morse et al., 2002, p. 17)
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Strategies and methods for qualitative research enable researchers address the negative influences on validity and reliability for achieving high degrees of both. For the investigation, the research did not tie validity and reliability to quantitative techniques, but to the theoretical assumptions of the in the investigation as suggested by Baumgarten (2010).
By measuring what the study claims to, and by avoiding logical errors in drawing conclusions from the data, the researcher provides validity. In relation to bias the interviewer is aware of the tendency to present ourselves in a good light. Particularly if respondents are asked to make social or cultural judgments of peers, some responses may contain a “perceived acceptable response, even if not true”. This tendency is
known as “social desirability bias” and this research has attempted to account for it.
The limitation of the approach is the inability to generalise Kuwait-specific cultural factors for the industry-wide project management practices.
For dealing with threats and biases, the researcher defined the content of measurement and dimensionality. Content includes factors that influence project management practices and dimensionality involves avoiding double-headed items such as agree or disagree. The key to determining the validity of the research process and findings, researcher must understand the process itself. Additionally, research, process must use tools that are well established in the qualitative research investigation. The researcher of the present study, as shown in chapter three, has devolved into a full understanding of the research process and the tools employed. The researcher has also ensured that the instruments being used in the present research, such as semi-structured interviews, have met these key principles. Reliability, on the other hand, is in the ability to relate items on the data collection instrument to the phenomenon. The limitation of the approach is the inability to generalise Kuwait-specific cultural factors for the industry-wide project management practices.
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4.10 Summary of the chapter
Informed by constructivist and pragmatic worldviews for research design, the researcher selected case study research as the research design method to answer the proposed questions in Chapter one. Being embedding within the KUCIS, the researcher reviewed IS project management practices in real-life situations to understand the phenomenon. The researcher also used semi-structured interviews with 23 stakeholders (as specified in in tables 4.2 and 4.3) in KU to further investigate Kuwait-specific cultural factors influencing IS project management practices. By looking at the phenomenon from several angles, the researcher endeavours to create a three- dimensional image of the phenomenon. The advantage of the approach is an in-depth analysis, providing the researcher the ability to squeeze out every bit of insight on the phenomenon.
This chapter describes the case study as the selected research methods along with data collection procedures and techniques for this research. It aimed to present the main principles and practicalities of qualitative data analysis, with emphasis on pattern analysis as a chosen qualitative data analysis technique for the present work. This chapter discusses and justifies qualitative data collection techniques, the applied procedures and the evaluation criteria determined by the research methodology. This research focuses on the interpretation of the text as the interviews are recorded and selectively transcribed.
In this chapter a detailed description of the adopted data collection techniques that are mainly used for the case study method. The benefit of field studies along with the data gathered through 23 semi-structured interviews has also been discussed. The secondary data collection source (i.e. archival documents) has also been considered in this chapter.
In addition to this, the different procedures for the gathering and investigation of data have been discussed along with the overall procedure applied by the researcher in collecting and analysing the data for this case study research. The researcher endeavours to provide justification for the decisions taken in the selection of the
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sampling technique, key participants, multiple data collection sources and the choice of thematic analysis as qualitative data analysis approach. The various theoretical approaches to qualitative data analysis and the application of the thematic data analysis have also been discussed.
The following chapter presents in detail a profile of the State of Kuwait, followed by a presentation of the research findings acquired from the case study of the implementation process of the two IS projects in KU.
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CHAPTER FIVE
Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Literature Review Chapter 3: Theoretical Framework Chapter 4: Methodology Chapter 5: Case Study & Findings Chapter 6: Discussion Chapter 7: Conclusion & ContributionPage | 138