RESEARCH METHOD COHEN ok

136 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
using mechanical means to record, store and
retrieve data.
In ethnographic, qualitative research there are
several overriding kinds of internal validity
(LeCompte and Preissle 1993: 323–4):
confidence in the data
the authenticity of the data (the ability of the
research to report a situation through the eyes
of the participants)
the cogency of the data
the soundness of the research design
the credibility of the data
the auditability of the data
the dependability of the data
the confirmability of the data.
LeCompte and Preissle (1993) provide greater
detail on the issue of authenticity, arguing for the
following:
Fairness: there should be a complete and
balanced representation of the multiple
realities in, and constructions of, a situation.
Ontological authenticity: the research should
provide a fresh and more sophisticated
understanding of a situation, e.g. making
the familiar strange, a significant feature in
reducing ‘cultural blindness’ in a researcher,
a problem which might be encountered in
moving from being a participant to being an
observer (Brock-Utne 1996: 610).
Educative authenticity: the research should
generate a new appreciation of these
understandings.
Catalytic authenticity: the research gives rise to
specific courses of action.
Tactical authenticity: the research should bring
benefit to all involved – the ethical issue of
‘beneficence’.
Hammersley (1992: 71) suggests that internal
validity for qualitative data requires attention to
plausibility and credibility
the kinds and amounts of evidence required
(such that the greater the claim that is being
made, the more convincing the evidence has
to be for that claim)
clarity on the kinds of claim made from
the research (e.g. definitional, descriptive,
explanatory, theory generative).
Lincoln and Guba (1985: 219, 301) suggest that
credibility in naturalistic inquiry can be addressed
by
Prolonged engagement in the field.
Persistent observation: inordertoestablishthe
relevance of the characteristics for the focus.
Triangulation: ofmethods,sources,investigators
and theories.
Peer debriefing: exposing oneself to a disinterested
peer in a manner akin to
cross-examination, in order to test honesty,
working hypotheses and to identify the next
steps in the research.
Negative case analysis: inordertoestablisha
theory that fits every case, revising hypotheses
retrospectively.
Member checking: respondent validation, to
assess intentionality, to correct factual errors,
to offer respondents the opportunity to add
further information or to put information on
record; to provide summaries and to check the
adequacy of the analysis.
Whereas in positivist research history and
maturation are viewed as threats to the validity
of the research, ethnographic research simply
assumes that this will happen; ethnographic
research allows for change over time – it builds
it in. Internal validity in ethnographic research
is also addressed by the reduction of observer
effects by having the observers sample both widely
and staying in the situation for such a long
time that their presence is taken for granted.
Further, by tracking and storing information
clearly, it is possible for the ethnographer
to eliminate rival explanations of events and
situations.
External validity
External validity refers to the degree to which
the results can be generalized to the wider
population, cases or situations. The issue of