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Chapter 3 Research Framework
Yin (2009) stated that no matter which analytical strategy is chosen, the researcher
must do everything to make sure that the analysis is of the highest quality. The next
section will first outline rigour in relation to qualitative research.This will be
followed by an outline of rigour in relation to quantitative research.
3.10.1 Rigour in Qualitative Research
According to Parahoo (2006), all research involves the systematic and rigourous
collection and analysis of data, and qualitative research is no exception. Rigour in
research is defined as thoroughness and competence (Holloway and Wheeler, 2010).
Speziale and Carpenter (2003) acknowledge that much debate has taken place in the
literature about how qualitative researchers can demonstrate rigour or goodness in
their research. The ultimate goal is to accurately represent research participants’
experiences (Speziale and Carpenter, 2003). This includes ensuring that the research
is credible, which means that researcher subjectivity has been acknowledged,
multiple realities have been recognised, and reports of the perspectives of
participants are as clear as possible.
Several researchers have outlined the criteria necessary for qualitative research to
demonstrate its quality (Burns and Grove, 2010; Holloway and Wheller, 2010;
Lincoln and Guba, 1985; Patton, 2002; Speziale and Carpenter, 2003). Holloway
and Wheller (2010) discuss what they call the “traditional” criteria established by
Lincoln and Guba (1985). These criteria (Table 3.1) are considered the “gold
standard” and are referred to as rigour in quantitative research or trustworthiness in
qualitative research, reliability in quantitative research or dependability in qualitative
research, validity in quantitative research or credibility in qualitative research,
generalisability in quantitative research or transferability in qualitative research, and
objectivity in quantitative research or confirmability in qualitative research.
Confirmability is achieved by providing an audit trail, the object of which is to
illustrate as clearly as possible that all of the evidence has been attended to and that
the thought processes throughout the research led to accurate conclusions.
Dependability of the research asks how dependable is the research? It is closely
linked to credibility. Finally, transferability refers to the potential of the research to