Question

When analyzing qualitative data, what are the ways in which trustworthiness can be established? What ethical considerations are unique to qualitative methods?

Answer 1

Trustworthiness consists of the following components:
(a) Credibility;
(b) transferability;
(c); dependability;
(d) confirmability.

Credibility contributes to a belief in the trustworthiness of data through the following attributes:

(a) prolonged engagement;

(b)persistent observations;

(c) triangulation;

(d)referential adequacy;

(e) peer debriefing;

(f) member checks.

Triangulation

Triangulation is accomplished by asking the same research questions of different study participants and by collecting data from different sources and by using different methods to answer these research questions. Member checks occur when the researcher asks participants to review both the data collected by the interviewer and the researchers' interpretation of that interview data. Participants are generally appreciative of the member check process, and knowing that they will have a chance to verify their statements tends to cause study participants to willingly fill in any gaps from earlier interviews. Trust is an important aspect of the member check process.

Transferability

Transferability is the generalization of the study findings to other situations and contexts. Transferability is not considered a viable naturalistic research objective.

The contexts in which qualitative data collection occurs defines the data and contributes to the interpretation of the data. For these reasons, generalization in qualitative research is limited.Purposive sampling can be used to address the issue of transferability since specific information is maximized in relation to the context in which the data collection occurs

Reliability and Trustworthiness

Reliability is dependent upon validity. Therefore, many qualitative researchers believe that if credibility has been demonstrated, it is not necessary to also and separately demonstrate dependability. However, if a researcher permits parsing of the terms, then credibility seems more related to validity and dependability seems more related to reliability.

Sometimes data validity is assessed through the use of a data audit. A data audit can be conducted if the data set is both rich-thick so that an auditor can determine if the research situation applies to their circumstances. Without sufficient details and contextual information, this is not possible. Regardless, it is important to remember that the aim is not to generalize beyond the sample.

Ehtical consideration to qualitative methods are -

in qualitative studies can raise a range of different ethical concerns, and qualitative researchers face dilemmas such as respect for privacy, establishment of honest and open interactions, and avoiding misrepresentations

Some important ethical concerns that should be taken into account while carrying out qualitative research are:

1-anonymity

2-confidentiality

3-nformed consent

confidentiality’ conveys different meanings for health care practitioners and researchers. For health care practitioners, confidentiality means that no personal information is to be revealed except in certain situations. For researchers, however, the duty of confidentiality is less clear and involves elaboration of the form of outcome that might be expected from the study

Informed consent has been recognized as an integral part of ethics in research carried out in different fields. For qualitative researchers, it is of the utmost importance to specify in advance which data will be collected and how they are to be used The principle of informed consent stresses the researcher’s responsibility to completely inform participants of different aspects of the research in comprehensible language. Clarifications need to include the following issues: the nature of the study, the participants’ potential role, the identity of the researcher and the financing body, the objective of the research, and how the results will be published and used