Understanding and Validity in Qualitative Research Maxwell, J. (1992)

Descriptive

Also called reportage or primary understanding

Capturing the activites, actions and behaviors as they occur instead of the meaning these have for the actors.

Secondary Validity

Includes inferences about the physical observation

Reliability - a kind of threat to validity

Different observes or methods produce different descriptions of the same phenomenon

Solved if observers agree on their descriptive accuracy

solved by acerting the differeces were due to obsever's different pespectives and purposes

Not independent from theory

Includes the numerical description of the object under study- like descriptive stats

Interpretive

understands phenomena from a emic rather than etic perspective. - meaning given by the actors

Grounded on the accounts of people under study - rely on people's words and concepts

Theorethical

Accoung functions as an explanation as well as description and interpretation of the phenomena

Macthes the idea of construct validity

Generazability or external validity

Different from quantitative research. It is meant to theory building.

Two aspects

Generalizing within the community. groups, or institutions studied to persons, events and settings that were not directly observed or interviwed.

Generalizing to other communities. groups or institutions

Internal validity is more important

Evaluative Valididy

Grounded on positivistic assumptions

the world is made up of observable and measurable facts

Validity

Goals: Determine whether the research measures what it was designed for or how truthfull the results are.

Reliability

Results are consistent over time or if the results could be reprocuded under a similar methodology

3 types

Measure administered repetedly remain the same

Using test -retest methods at different times

Goal: Produces findings arrived from real world enviroment where phenomena unfolds slowly . Seek understanding,ilumination, and extrapolation to similar situations

Similarity of measurement within a given time period

Stability of measurement over time

Seeks to understand"Naturalistic" phenomena in its real world settings

Reliability

Examination of trustworthiness crucila

Validity

The researcher is the instrument

Other adopted concepts

Quality

Rigor

Trustwealthiness

Triangulation

Proven method to improve validity and reliability of research

Engaging multiple methods of data collection and analysis: Observations, interviews, recordings,