Do you agree with the approach on

Qualitative Validity

or what would you do different?

Qualitative Validity

One way to ensure that qualitative research is valid is to make sure the researcher knows what they are doing and can sit their opinions to the side.  The researcher must be objective.  According to Patton (as stated by Shenton, 2004), “the difficulty of ensuring real objectivity, since, as even tests and questionnaires are designed by humans, the intrusion of the researcher’s biases is inevitable (p. 72).”  It is good to get employers that does not have a stake in what is being research, that way their research can be more valid.

A second way to ensure that qualitative research is valid is to have a good sample or group to be researched.  When you have a good group, they are trustworthy.  Validity is generally understood by educational researchers as “the trustworthiness of inferences drawn from data” (Freeman, et al., 2007, p. 27).  According to Shenton (2004) “In particular, each person who is approached should be given opportunities to refuse to participate in the project so as to ensure that the data collection sessions involve only those who are genuinely willing to take part and prepared to offer data freely (p.66).”   By doing this it gives the researchers the chance to just walk away if they know they are not going to be honest. 

Lastly the way to ensure that qualitative research is valid is to be able to explain research results.  Analyzing the data is essential when it comes to drawing conclusion and making theoretical sound decisions on the research. According to Patton (as stated by Shenton, 2004, 68), the credibility of the researcher is especially important in qualitative research as it is the person who is the major instrument of data collection and analysis.”  This is the person that hold the key to all the answers and questions of the research. 

The results of the article chosen was recorded based on the answer given to the questions provided.  Due to the fact the article was looking at the impact of pregnancy was based on how the participants identified based on race, pregnancy, and whether they had a child or not.  “Validation techniques for the qualitative data were established through various means, including contingent validity through the use of diverse participant perspectives; descriptive validity through the use of verbatim responses; and interpretive validity through letting the themes of the study emerge directly from the data (McMahon et al. 2015; as stated by Dippel et al., 2017, p. 1451-1452).”  The authors did a good job of establishing validity due to the methods in which the research was measured.