HLT1RAE Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: La Trobe University
Document Summary
As the aim of qualitative research is to provide a rich description of the meanings people give to their experiences, it is not interested in measurement validity, or threats to internal and external validity. It is not important for research of this kind to establish a causal link between two or more variables, or to generalise findings to the broader population. Instead qualitative researchers would argue qualitative research has its own validity, as researchers become immersed in the real world of their participants, rather than attempting to measure something through artificial means. Thus qualitative researchers view validity differently from quantitative researchers, and prefer to use the term rigour instead of validity" and reliability". Qualitative research has established rigorous methods to ensure faithful representation of the stories and experiences of participants. For example, qualitative researchers keep detailed field notes, and where possible use audio and video recordings to ensure accurate records of data are kept.
