The two criteria for assessing the quality of qualitative research outlines are validity and reliability (Golafshani, N., 2003). Validity in qualitative research is characterized as the “propriety of the instruments, procedures, and information” (Golafshani, N., 2003). In qualitative research, the substance of reliability for qualitative research lies with consistency (Golafshani, N., 2003). As a public policy and administration candidate, it is essential for me to understand that strategies I develop have both positive and negative effects on a population of people. I have an obligation to the people I serve only to allow those people whom I represent influence policy and change. Ethical issues that arise in research to me our culture and media biases. In this day in age, the media controls the American culture. Before conducting a study, the researcher must understand that the media only portrays segments of a situation. Those segments are meant to attract viewers and have those viewers develop an opinion without knowing the truth behind it. Lastly, a researcher has a legal and amenable obligation to provide proof or scientific study to their research. If an analysis is proposed with conclusions to theories that contain false data or unconfirmed sources that researcher may cause direct harm to individuals who may or may not be in need of a serious solution to their issue.

Reference:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4535087/

Golafshani, N. (2003). Understanding Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research. The Qualitative Report, 8(4), 597-606.

Burkholder, G. J., Cox, K. A., & Crawford, L. M. (2016). The scholar-practitioner’s guide to research design. Baltimore, MD: Laureate Publishing.

Chapter 7, “Quality Considerations”

Williams V, Price J, Hardinge M, Tarassenko L, Farmer A. Using a mobile health application to support self-management in COPD: A qualitative study.

DQ2

Credibility establishes that the results of qualitative research are believable and whether it is representative of the participants’ views (Anney, 2014). Credibility is the most important aspect of determining trustworthiness of data and its interpretation (Morrow, 2005). Essentially, the participants of the study are the only ones that decide if the results actually reflect the phenomena being studied and therefore, it is important that participants feel the findings are credible and accurate (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Transferability refers to the degree to which the results of qualitative research can be generalized and transferred to other contexts or settings (Barnes, Conrad, Demont-Heinrich, Graziano, Kowalski, Neufeld, Zamora, & Palmquist, 2012). While studies often target specific contexts or settings, it could be important to provide explanatory theory for the experiences of other individuals who are in comparable situations (Leung, 2015). There can be no transferability without credibility or rather that “the quality of a research is related to generalizability of the result and thereby to the testing and increasing the validity or trustworthiness of the research” (Golafshani, 2003, p. 603).

Protecting respondent confidentiality must be done by all means (Babbie, 2017). Fouka and Mantzorou (2011) state that “Informed consent is one of the means by which a patient’s right to autonomy is protected” (p. 4). Written consent, for example, may be exchanged for audio consent as an alternative in research design as written information could put the subjects at risk (Sanjari, Bahramnezhad, Fomani, Shoghi, & Cheraghi, 2014).

In the search for knowledge, I would say that a research topic is amenable when it can answer the how and what while clearly identifying and formulating the problem (Rajasekar, Philominathan, & Chinnathambi, 2013).

References:

Anney, V. (2014). Ensuring the quality of the findings of qualitative research: looking for trustworthiness criteria. Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies (JETERAPS), 5(2); 272-281.

Babbie, E. (2017). Basics of social research (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Barnes, J., Conrad, K., Demont-Heinrich, C., Graziano, M., Kowalski, D., Neufeld, J., Zamora, J., & Palmquist, M. (2012). Generalizability and Transferability. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University. Retrieved from https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/guide.cfm?guideid=65.

Fouka, G., & Mantzorou, M. (2011). What are the major ethical issues in conducting research? Is there a conflict between the research ethics and the nature of nursing? Health Science Journal, 5(1). Retrieved from http://www.hsj.gr/medicine/what-are-the-major-ethical-issues-in-conducting-research-is-there-a-conflict-between-the-research-ethics-and-the-nature-of-nursing.pdf

Golafshani, N. (2003). Understanding Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research. The Qualitative Report, 8(4), 597-606. Retrieved from https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol8/iss4/6

Leung, L. (2015). Validity, reliability, and generalizability in qualitative research. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 4(3); 324-327. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4535087/

Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Morrow, S. (2005). Quality and trustworthiness in qualitative research in counseling psychology. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52(2), 250-260.

Rajasekar, S., Philominathan, P., & Chinnathambi, V. (2013). Research methodology. Retrieved from https://arxiv.org/pdf/physics/0601009.pdf

Sanjari, M., Bahramnezhad, F., Fomani, F., Shoghi, M., & Cheraghi, M. (2014). Ethical challenges of researchers in qualitative studies: The necessity to develop specific guidelines. Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, (7)14. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4263394/