RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY

LOUIS COHEN, LAWRENCE MANION

& KEITH MORRISON

STRUCTURE OF THE CHAPTER

Defining validity
Validity in quantitative research
Validity in qualitative research
Types of validity
Triangulation
Validity in mixed methods research
Ensuring validity
Reliability
Reliability in quantitative research
Reliability in qualitative research

STRUCTURE OF THE CHAPTER

Validity and reliability in interviews

Validity and reliability in experiments
Validity and reliability in questionnaires
Validity and reliability in observations
Validity and reliability in tests
Validity and reliability in life histories

BASES OF VALIDITY IN
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Controllability

BASES OF VALIDITY IN
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Natural

Isolation, control, manipulation of

Variables
Replicability
Predictability

Thick description

Generalizability
Context-freedom
Fragmentation and atomization

Uniqueness
Context-boundedness
Holism

Randomization of samples

Purposive sample/no sampling

Neutrality

Value-ladenness of observations

Objectivity
Observability
Inference

Confirmability
Observable and non-observable
meanings/ intentions
Description, inference, explanation

Etic research
Observations

Emic research
Meanings

Uniqueness
Emergence, unpredictability

BASES OF RELIABILITY IN
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Reliability

BASES OF RELIABILITY IN
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Dependability

Demonstrability
Stability and replicability
Parallel forms
Context-freedom
Objectivity
Coverage of domain
Verification of data and analysis
Answering research questions
Meaningfulness to the research
Parsimony
Internal consistency
Generalizability
Inter-rater reliability & triangulation
Accuracy and precision
Neutrality
Consistency
Alternative forms (equivalence)
Split-half and inter-item correlation

Trustworthiness
Stability and replicability
Parallel forms
Context-specificity
Authenticity and confirmability
Comprehensiveness of situation
Honesty and candour
Depth of response
Meaningfulness to respondents
Richness
Credibility
Transferability
Inter-rater reliability and triangulation
Accuracy and comprehensiveness
Multiple interests represented
Consistency

VALIDITY IN QUANTITATIVE AND

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Validity in quantitative research often
concerns: objectivity, generalizability,
replicability, predictability, controllability,
nomothetic statements.
Validity in qualitative research often concerns:
honesty, richness, authenticity, depth, scope,
subjectivity, strength of feeling, catching
uniqueness, idiographic statements.

TYPES OF VALIDITY

Catalytic
Concurrent
Consequential
Construct
Content
Criterion-related
Convergent & discriminant
Cross-cultural
Cultural validity
Descriptive

Ecological
Evaluative
External
Face
Internal
Interpretive
Jury
Predictive
Systemic
Theoretical

VALIDITY IN QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

Concurrent
Construct
Content
Criterion-related
Convergent & discriminant
Cross-cultural

Evaluative
External
Face
Internal
Jury
Predictive
Theoretical

VALIDITY IN MIXED METHODS

RESEARCH

Representation
Legitimation
Sample integration
Inside-outside
Weakness minimization
Sequential
Conversion
Paradigmatic mixing
Commensurability
Multiple validities
Political
Integration (of methods)

HISTORY

MATURATION
TESTING

DIRECTION
OF CAUSALITY

TYPE 1 AND
TYPE 2
ERRORS

INSTRUMENTATION

THREATS TO
VALIDITY AND
RELIABILITY

EXPERIMENTAL
MORTALITY
OPERATIONALIZATION
CONTAMINATION

REACTIVITY

ESTABLISHING VALIDITY IN
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Prolonged engagement in the field

Persistent observation
Triangulation
Leaving an audit trail
Respondent validation
Weighting the evidence (giving priority)
Checking for representativeness
Checking for researcher effects
Making contrast/comparisons
Theoretical sampling
Checking the meaning of outliers
Using extreme cases

ESTABLISHING VALIDITY IN
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Ruling out spurious relations

Replicating a finding
Referential adequacy
Following up surprises
Structural relationships
Peer debriefing
Rich and thick description
Looking for possible sources of invalidity
Assessing rival explanations
Negative case analysis
Confirmatory data analysis
Effect sizes

THREATS TO VALIDITY IN
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

History
Maturation
Statistical regression
Testing
Instrumentation
Selection Bias
Experimental mortality
Instrument reactivity
Selection-maturation interaction
Type I and Type II errors

VALIDITY PROBLEMS IN
CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH
Failure to operationalize elements of cultures
Whose construction of culture to adopt: emic/etic
False attribution of causality to cultural factors rather than noncultural factors
Directions of causality
Ecological fallacy
Sampling and instrumentation
Convergent and discriminant validity
Response bias and preparation of participants
Language problems
Problems of equivalence (conceptual, psychological, meaning,
instrument, understanding, significance, relevance,
measurement, linguistic)

THREATS TO EXTERNAL VALIDITY

IN QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Failure to describe independent variables explicitly
Lack of representativeness of available and target
populations
Hawthorne effect
Inadequate operationalizing of dependent variables
Sensitization/reactivity to experimental/research conditions
Interaction effects of extraneous factors and experimental/
research treatments
Invalidity or unreliability of instruments
Ecological validity
Multiple treatment validity

THE HAWTHORNE EFFECT

Between 1927 and 1932 researchers carried out

experiments at the Western Electric Companys
Hawthorne plant.
Purposes: To examine the effects of changes of
working conditions on output of workers
Sample: Six women, chosen as average workers
Method: Women worked in a test room. Output
measured under different conditions (e.g. no change
change to method of payment introduce two
rest periods introduce six rest periods
changes in lighting conditions, early clocking-off,
five-day working week return to initial conditions
Duration: 15 weeks

THE HAWTHORNE EFFECT

Results: Output rose steadily during test
period and after the test period.
Conclusion: Output did not seem to depend
on test conditions. Increased output seemed
to be due to the fact that the people had been
involved in the experiment itself, i.e. the act of
research had affected the results. The
results were a research of the research itself.
Implications: The act of being involved in
research itself affects the results.

THREATS TO EXTERNAL VALIDITY

IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Selection effects
Setting effects
History effects
Construct effects

ENSURING VALIDITY AT THE

DESIGN STAGE

Choose an appropriate time scale;

Ensure adequate resources for the research
Select appropriate methodology
Select appropriate instruments
Use an appropriate sample
Ensure reliability
Select appropriate foci
Avoid having biased researcher(s)

ENSURING VALIDITY AT THE DATA

COLLECTION STAGE

Reduce the Hawthorne effect

Minimize reactivity
Avoid drop-out rates amongst respondents
Take steps to avoid non-return of questionnaires
Avoid too long or too short an interval between pre-tests
and post-tests
Ensure inter-rater reliability
Match control and experimental groups
Ensure standardized procedures for gathering data
Build on the motivations of respondents
Tailor instruments to situational factors
Address researcher characteristics

ENSURING VALIDITY AT THE DATA

ANALYSIS STAGE

Use respondent validation;

Avoid subjective interpretation of data
Reduce the halo effect
Use appropriate statistical treatments
Recognize extraneous factors which may affect data
Avoid poor coding of qualitative data
Avoid making inferences/generalizations beyond the data
Avoid equating correlations and causes
Avoid selective use of data
Avoid unfair aggregation of data
Avoid degrading the data;
Avoid Type I and/or Type II errors

ENSURING VALIDITY AT THE DATA

REPORTING STAGE
Avoid using data selectively and unrepresentatively
Indicate the context and parameters of the
research
Present the data without misrepresenting the
message
Make claims which are sustainable by the data
Avoid inaccurate or wrong reporting of data
Ensure that the research questions are answered
Release research results neither too soon nor too
late

RELIABILITY IN QUANTITATIVE
AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Reliability in quantitative research:
consistency (stability), accuracy,
predictability, equivalence, replicability,
concurrence, descriptive and causal
potential.
Reliability in qualitative research:
accuracy, fairness, dependability,
comprehensiveness, respondent validation,
checkability, empathy, uniqueness,
explanatory and descriptive potential,
confirmability.

TYPES OF RELIABILITY IN
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Reliability as stability:
Consistency over time and samples;
Reliability as equivalence:
Equivalent forms of same instrument;
Inter-rater reliability;
Reliability as internal consistency:
Split half reliability (e.g. for test items)

TRIANGULATION

Methodologies
Instruments
Researchers
Time
Location
Theories
Samples
Participants
Data

SPLIT-HALF RELIABILITY
(Spearman-Brown)
Reliability =

2r
1 r

r = the actual correlation between the two halves

of the instrument (e.g. 0.85);
Reliability =

2 ( 0.85 )
1 0.85

1.70
185

= 0.919

RELIABILITY IN QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH

Credibility
Neutrality
Confirmability
Dependability
Consistency
Applicability
Trustworthiness
Transferability

RELIABILITY AND REPLICATION

IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Repeat:

The status position of the researcher

The choice of informants/respondents
The social situations and conditions
The analytic constructs used
The methods of data collection and analysis

Address:

Stability of observations
Parallel forms
Inter-rater reliability
Respondent validation

IMPROVING RELIABILITY

Minimise external sources of variation;

Standardise conditions under which
measurement occurs;
Improve researcher consistency;
Broaden the sample of measurement
questions by:
a) adding similar questions to the
instrument;
b) increasing the number of researchers
(triangulation);
c) increasing the number of occasions in
an observational study.
Exclude extreme responses (outliers).

RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY AT ALL

STAGES

Design and methodology

Sampling
Instrumentation
Timing
Data collection
Data analysis
Data reporting