Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research

Author(s): Kirk, J; Miller, ML | Abstract: Vol I in the Qualitative Research Methods series, in 6 Chpts, with a series Introduction, an editors' Introduction, a a Glossary, discusses the scientific status of field data a offers a practical guide for participant-observation fieldwork. (1) Objectivity in Qualitative Research -- examines the concept of objectivity a outlines the plan of the book. (2) Reliability and Validity -- discusses the positivist view a analyzes the components of objectivity. (3) The Problem of Validity -- describes an approach to checking validity, illustrated by concrete examples from fieldwork in Peru a Sri Lanka. (4) Toward Theoretical Validity -- briefly reviews the work of nineteenth-century anthropologists, a of Franz Boas, Bronislaw Malinowski, a the Chicago School. (5) The Problem of Reliability -- offers illustrations of reliability checks, especially in the method of taking fieldnotes. (6) Ethnographic Decision Making: The Four Phases of Qualitative Research -- presents a process model for fieldwork. 2 Figures, 117 References.