dissertation in pdf-format - Aalto-yliopisto

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3 Research methodology
In one of the few studies on the topic of validity or quality criteria in
mixed research, Teddlie and Tashakkori (2003) pointed out that inferences
are made whether the associated interpretation is deductive or inductive in
nature. These authors contended that the concept of inference transcends
quantitative and qualitative research and they recommended that
interference quality should be used as the term for validity in mixed
research. They conceptualize inference quality as being associated with two
research components: design quality and interpretative rigour. According to
their integrative model of inference quality, design quality comprises:
1. Within-design consistency
2. Design suitability
3. Design fidelity
4. Analytic adequacy
Within-design consistency refers to standards used for evaluating the
methodological rigour of mixed method studies. Design suitability refers to
whether the methods used are appropriate for addressing the research
question(s) and the design is consistent with them. Design fidelity refers to
whether procedures: are implemented with rigour and quality; are capable
of capturing meaning, associations and/or effects; and the sampling and
data collection procedures are implemented adequately. Analytic adequacy
refers to the appropriateness of applied data analysis techniques for
addressing the research question(s) (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 2006).
Interpretive rigour pertains to the overall standards for evaluating the
validity of conclusions of the study. It consists of interpretative agreement,
distinctiveness, interpretative consistency and theoretical consistency.
Interpretative agreement means that people agree about interpretations,
i.e. there is consistency of interpretations across people. Interpretative
distinctiveness is the degree to which the inferences are distinctively
different from other possible interpretations of the results, and rival
explanations are ruled out. Interpretive and theoretical consistencies are
connected to the inferences that closely follow from relevant findings in
terms of type, intensity, scope, and multiplicity. Interpretive consistency
refers to whether the inferences are consistent with each other, and
theoretical consistency to whether the inferences are consistent with theory
and current knowledge in the field, and whether meta-inferences
adequately incorporate the inferences from quantitative and qualitative
phases of the study (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 2006).
Onwuegbuzie and Johnson (2006) extended the model proposed by
Tashakkori and Teddlie (2006) of the validity of mixed methods. They