Validity, reliability, verification, authority, and trustworthiness in research

Running Head : VALIDITY , RELIABILITY , VERIFICATION , AUTHORITY , AND

TRUSTWORTHINESS IN RESEARCH

Validity , Reliability , Verification , Authority , and Trustworthiness in

Qualitative and Quantitative Research Designs

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Validity , Reliability , Verification , Authority , and Trustworthiness in

Qualitative and Quantitative Research Designs

Rigor in the advancement of behavioral /social inquiry is a process /aspiration that requires continuous refinement . For researchers , as for all humans , there is always the possibility that the conceptual categories , subcategories , or measurements of a behavioral /social

inquiry don 't represent reality very well or that the process of applying the categories or measuring instruments to the empirical world is to some degree faulty . Hence , in the social /behavioral scientific process , the examination of these issues is concerned with the degree of clarity , focus , integrity , rigor , utility verifiability , and thus validity , reliability , and precision of qualitative and quantitative investigation

Clarity , focus , integrity , rigor , utility , verifiability , validity reliability , and precision are all central issues in all measurement All of these concern how concrete measures are connected to constructs Clarity , focus , integrity , rigor , utility , verifiability , validity reliability , and precision are salient because constructs in social theory are often ambiguous , diffuse , and not directly observable Perfect clarity , focus , integrity , rigor , utility , verifiability validity , reliability , and precision are virtually impossible to achieve . Rather , they are ideals researchers

strive for . All behavioral /social researchers want their measures to have rigor . This is important in establishing the clarity , focus integrity , utility , verifiability , and thus validity , reliability , and precision of findings . Rigor may also have multiple meanings . Here , they refer to related , desirable aspects of measurement

Reliability means integrity or consistency . It suggests that the same thing is repeated or recurs under the identical or very similar conditions . The opposite of reliability is a measurement that process yields erratic , unstable , or inconsistent results

Validity suggests clarity and focus and refers to the match between a construct , or the way a researcher verify the idea in a conceptual definition , and a measure . It refers to how well an idea about reality fits ' with actual reality . The absence of validity occurs if there is poor fit between the constructs a researcher uses to describe , theorize or analyze the social world and what actually occurs in the social world . In simple terms , validity address the question of how focused the social reality being measured through research matches with the constructs researchers use to understand it

Qualitative and quantitative researchers want reliable and valid measurement , but beyond an agreement on the basic ideas at a general level , each style sees the specifics of reliability and validity in the research process differently

Reliability and Validity in Quantitative Research

Reliability . As just stated , reliability means integrity or consistency It means that the numerical results produced by an indicator do not vary because of characteristics of the measurement process or measurement instrument itself . For example , I get on my bathroom scale and read my weight . I get off and get on again and again . I have a...