Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research (Qualitative Research Methods)

Kirk and Miller define what is -- and what is not -- qualitative research. They suggest that the use of numbers in the process of recording and analyzing observations is less important than that the research should involve sustained interaction with the people being studied, in their own language and in their own surroundings. 'Qualitative research conducted as science should complement nonqualitative science,' they observe. 'Understanding the workings of scientific endeavour, whether it is of the natural or social variety, entails an appreciation of its objectivity . . . By this convention, the objectivity of a piece of qualititative research is evaluated in terms of the reliability and validity of its observations on culture.' After an introductory chapter on objectivity, the authors discuss the role of reliability and validity in the unfolding of science, and the problems that may arise when these two issues are neglected. They present a paradigm for the qualitative research process that makes it possible to pursue validity without neglecting reliability.