Lincoln and Guba's Evaluative Criteria
Lincoln and Guba posit that trustworthiness of a research study is important to evaluating its worth. Trustworthiness involves establishing:
- Credibility - confidence in the 'truth' of the findings
- Transferability - showing that the findings have applicablity in other contexts
- Dependability - showing that the findings are consistent and could be repeated
- Confirmability - a degree of neutraility or the extent to which the findings of a study are shaped by the respondents and not researcher bias, motivation, or interest.
Lincoln and Guba describe a series of techniques that can be used to conduct qualitative research that achieves the criteria they outline.
Techniques for establishing credibility
- Prolonged Engagement
- Persistent Observation
- Triangulation
- Peer debriefing
- Negative case analysis
- Referential adequacy
- Member-checking
Techniques for establishing transferability
Techniques for establishing dependability
Techniques for establishing confirmability
Reference
Lincoln, YS. & Guba, EG. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Click here to return to Evaluative Criteria
