Validity and Reliability

Combining Validity and Reliability

• Although reliability and validity terms are essential to determine the quality of quantitative paradigm, in qualitative paradigms the alternative criteria such as credibility, dependability or consistency, confirmability or neutrality, transferability or applicability are essential to determine the quality (Bhattacherjee, 2012; Jayasekara, 2012). Trustworthiness is essential in ensuring validity and reliability in qualitative research. (Jayasekara, 2012). When conducting a focus group, there are certain factors that contribute to its reliability. These factors include stability, internal consistency, and equivalence. Stability refers to the consistency of the issues discussed over time. If the same group of participants is included on multiple occasions, the absence of some participants might affect stability. Internal consistency can be maintained when the researcher takes overall responsibility for analyzing the data. Equivalence pertains to the consistency of the moderators or coders of the focus group (Jayasekara, 2012). 

• Validity: Barriers to validity include perceived persuasion, cherry-picking or selective short narratives, reductionism, and creating tabular data correctly (Katz-Buonincontro, 2022). Language barriers can be a concern, especially if the translator available is unable to accurately translate verbatim (Zacharia et al., 2021). Give freedom to participants to assert their authentic voice and debrief with other colleagues about information collected for reviewers to see transparent changes (Katz-Buonincontro, 2022). 

• Reliability: To ensure reliability in research projects, it is important to maintain a trustworthiness, consistent and transparent approach throughout the entire process. This includes systematic data collection, analysis, and the ability to accurately predict future outcomes with confidence(Katz-Buonincontro, 2022).