Constructing Research Quality: On the Performativity of the COREQ Checklist.

Attention to rigour, from the identification of the problem to the dissemination of the findings, is essential in all qualitative research. In this paper, research carried out in Ghana in 1999 is used to highlight methodological issues in relation to rigour in international qualitative nursing research. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature in relation to rigour in qualitative research, highlight the methodological decisions enhancing rigour during this research project, and describe the criteria used to assess rigour during the research process. A participatory action research design was used to explore the cultural, social, economic, and political factors that influenced Ghanaian women's vulnerability to HIV infection. Collaboration with participants and partnerships with key professionals were integral to the design of the study. Participatory action research provided a flexible, socially, and culturally adaptable framework to guide this international research project. Prior to the initiation of international research it was essential to establish the relevance and feasibility of the proposed project. This international research project posed additional methodological challenges to the establishment of rigour. Patience, flexibility and sensitivity were required of the researcher to overcome these challenges. Collaboration with participants and with culture-specific 'experts' may be key to culturally competent scholarship, particularly in unfamiliar settings.

Introduction: <br/>The credibility of qualitative research has long been debated, with critics emphasizing the lack of rigor and the challenges of demonstrating it. In qualitative research, rigor encompasses explicit, detailed descriptions of various research stages, including problem framing, study design, data collection, analysis, and reporting. The diversity inherent in qualitative research, originating from various beliefs and paradigms, challenges establishing universal guidelines for determining its rigor. Additionally, researchers' often unrecorded thought processes in qualitative studies further complicate the assessment of research quality.<br/><br/>Methods:<br/>To address these concerns, this article builds on the TACT framework, which was developed to teach postgraduate students and those new to qualitative research to identify and apply rigorous principles and indicators in qualitative research. The research reported in this article focuses on creating a scale designed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the TACT framework. This involves analyzing the stability of its dimensions and understanding its effectiveness as a tool for teaching and research.<br/><br/>Results: <br/>The study's findings indicate that the TACT framework, when assessed through the newly developed scale, exhibits stable dimensions consistent with rigorous qualitative research principles. The framework effectively guides postgraduate students and new researchers in assessing the rigor of qualitative research processes and outcomes.<br/><br/>Discussion:<br/>The application of the TACT framework and its evaluation scale reveals several insights. Firstly, it demonstrates the framework's utility in bridging the gap in pedagogical tools for teaching rigor in qualitative research methods. Secondly, it highlights the framework's potential in providing a structured approach to undertaking qualitative research, which is essential given this field's diverse methodologies and paradigms. However, the TACT framework remains a guide to enhancing rigor in qualitative research throughout all the various phases but by no means a measure of rigor.<br/><br/>Conclusion:<br/>In conclusion, the TACT framework and its accompanying evaluative scale represent significant steps toward standardizing and enhancing the rigor of qualitative research, particularly for postgraduate students and early career researchers. While it does not solve all challenges associated with obtaining and demonstrating rigor in qualitative research, it provides a valuable tool for assessing and ensuring research quality, thereby addressing some of the longstanding criticisms of the quality of research obtained through qualitative methods.

Oncology has made significant advances in standardizing how clinical research is conducted and reported. The advancement of such research that improves oncology practice requires an expansion of not only our research questions but also the research methods we deploy to address them. In particular, there is increasing recognition of the value of qualitative research methods to develop more comprehensive understandings of phenomena of interest and to describe and explain underlying motivations and potential causes of specific outcomes. However, qualitative researchers in oncology have lacked guidance to produce and evaluate methodologically rigorous qualitative publications. In this review, we highlight characteristics of high-quality, methodologically rigorous reports of qualitative research, provide criteria for readers and reviewers to appraise such publications critically, and proffer guidance for preparing publications for submission to Journal of Oncology Practice. Namely, the quality of qualitative research in oncology practice is best assessed according to key domains that include fitness of purpose, theoretical framework, methodological rigor, ethical concerns, analytic comprehensives, and the dissemination/application of findings. In particular, determinations of rigor in qualitative research in oncology practice should consider definitions of the appropriateness of qualitative methods for the research objectives against the setting of current literature, use of an appropriate theoretical framework, inclusion of a rigorous and innovative measurement plan, application of appropriate analytic techniques, and clear explanation and dissemination of the research findings.

This commentary re-examines recent proposals to define quality in qualitative research through a singular unifying framework, situating them alongside historical and ongoing debates in qualitative methodology. By juxtaposing different traditions, this piece highlights areas of tension between procedural notions of rigour and interpretive approaches that emphasise the co-constructed, context-bound nature of meaning. The discussion argues that quality in qualitative research cannot be captured by a single metric or universal rule. Reflexive approaches resist rigid frameworks, instead favouring a situational and evolving engagement with meaning. While efforts to promote transparency and accountability in qualitative research are valuable, researchers should adopt methodological criteria aligned with their epistemological commitments. We argue that qualitative research can be considered rigorous insofar as it is deeply reflective, explicitly contextualised and transparent about its interpretive manoeuvres.

Qualitative research has an important place within evidence-based health care (EBHC), contributing to policy on patient safety and quality of care, supporting understanding of the impact of chronic illness, and...

Issues are still raised even now in the 21st century by the persistent concern with achieving rigor in qualitative research. There is also a continuing debate about the analogous terms reliability and validity in naturalistic inquiries as opposed to quantitative investigations. This article presents the concept of rigor in qualitative research using a phenomenological study as an exemplar to further illustrate the process. Elaborating on epistemological and theoretical conceptualizations by Lincoln and Guba, strategies congruent with qualitative perspective for ensuring validity to establish the credibility of the study are described. A synthesis of the historical development of validity criteria evident in the literature during the years is explored. Recommendations are made for use of the term rigor instead of trustworthiness and the reconceptualization and renewed use of the concept of reliability and validity in qualitative research, that strategies for ensuring rigor must be built into the qualitative research process rather than evaluated only after the inquiry, and that qualitative researchers and students alike must be proactive and take responsibility in ensuring the rigor of a research study. The insights garnered here will move novice researchers and doctoral students to a better conceptual grasp of the complexity of reliability and validity and its ramifications for qualitative inquiry.

Scholars emphasize the need for additional rigor in qualitative research. This inadvertently encourages formulaic and standardized approaches that undermine the benefits of theorizing from rich data. Our study extends debate by emphasizing the importance of sound qualitative public administration research that blends rigor with richness and thereby facilitates effective theorization. Evidence from a narrative review of 31 qualitative studies published within six leading public administration journals demonstrates that effective theorizing is linked to transparency in research design, analytic approach, and theoretical contribution. In-depth interrogation of four studies that illustrate “inductive theorizing” and “abductive theorizing” identifies plurality in the balance struck between rigor and richness. We derive a broad set of principles that enable researchers to make a convincing “conceptual leap” between data, analysis, and contribution. We also emphasize the need to accommodate pluralistic approaches to theorizing by nuancing requirements for essential aspects of qualitative reporting, versus those amenable to variation.&#13;\n&#13;\n

Thoughts on the Conduct and Dissemination of Qualitative Research

The dichotomous debate between objectivity and subjectivity in Social Sciences and the differences between qualitative and quantitative approaches in research are related to the strong demand for validation and accreditation of studies. Thus, the main objective of this paper is to discuss quality in qualitative research, through a systematic analysis of the typologies of triangulation strategy, highlighting the following quality dimensions in research: reliability, credibility, transferability and confirmability. There is a considerable amount of research about quality in qualitative research, as well as about triangulation. However, the main differentiator of this paper is the systematic presentation of triangulation typologies, which allow for the improvement of quality in qualitative research. The authors believe that the focus on "how to" improve quality, and not quality itself, makes this paper original. Among the main findings, it can be highlighted the effort to systematize and present guidelines in order to improve credibility in qualitative research, by means of the triangulation strategy presented in a framework that will allow the reader to have a better understanding of the proposals in this work. The authors understand that the main implication of this paper is mainly in providing guidance to researchers, particularly those dealing with qualitative research, on how they could improve the quality of their research.

PurposeIn this paper, the authors investigate and celebrate the contributions that qualitative research has made to Career Development International (CDI) and careers scholarship over the past 25 years. The authors highlight the positive impact of understanding the “lived/emic experiences” of individual career actors using qualitative research designs and identify areas for future research.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ multiple approaches in their investigation. The authors’ enquiry is part conceptual, part critical analysis and part bibliometric visualisation of qualitative papers published in CDI.FindingsThe authors identify the underlying ontological and epistemological assumptions of qualitative research, and the key tenets and contributions of qualitative research published in CDI. Their bibliometric analysis shows the interrelatedness and frequency of topics addressed by qualitative research and published in CDI, revealing areas for further research. While identifying some of the key criteria for rigor in qualitative research, the authors also engage with emerging calls to avoid rigid templates in how qualitative research is designed and implemented. In this regard, authors echo calls for “methodological bricolage” as an approach to qualitative research in the study of careers.Originality/valueThis is the first bibliographic and visual analysis of qualitative research published in a single journal. The authors offer this investigation as a way of looking back and as an invitation looking forward, encouraging further qualitative research in anticipation of future theoretical developments in career scholarship.

The global medical and nursing research community has increasingly embraced qualitative research approaches, recognizing the additional benefits they provide to the investigation process. Qualitative research explores the intricate details of human behavior, attitudes, and experiences, emphasizing the exploration of nuances and context. Ensuring trustworthiness is crucial in establishing the credibility and reliability of qualitative findings. This includes elements such as credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. Several papers have discussed concerns regarding the rigor of qualitative health services research and have provided guidelines and checklists for publishing and conducting qualitative research. The key criteria for ensuring the quality of qualitative research include credibility, achieved through extended involvement, persistent observation, and triangulation; transferability, achieved through comprehensive and detailed explanations; dependability, achieved through rigorous documentation and the creation of an audit trail; and confirmability, achieved through peer debriefing, member checking, and reflexive journaling. Establishing reliability in qualitative research is crucial for influencing future research paths and advancing cumulative knowledge. Trustworthy qualitative research findings are also important for informing policy decisions and improving the provision of services in various fields. While qualitative research has limitations, such as subjectivity and resource constraints, the methodical application of measures to ensure trustworthiness greatly enhances the precision and reliability of qualitative research. These measures also encourage transparency and critical evaluation by the scholarly community.

Qualitative research is widely used as a means of understanding and analysing a range of health and care issues. Qualitative researchers are a diverse group who use interpretive approaches to...

Rigorous qualitative research in behavioral science guides the understanding of the intricacies of human behavior, motivations, and experiences. It transcends mere observation, and delves into the depths of individual experiences and socio-cultural nuances. Through replicable research design, transparent data collection processes, and systematic analysis, rigorous qualitative research endeavors to unearth rich insights that quantitative and experimental approaches alone cannot capture. It offers a profound understanding of our world, contributing to the advancement of theory and practice within behavioral science. When applied in behavioral science, qualitative research provides a meaningful richness of insights, an approach we call qualitative behavioral science. Qualitative behavioral science synthesizes the long and deep traditions of qualitative research with the specific insights and goals of applied behavioral science: to understand and make meaningful, measurable changes in people’s lives.

Language and communication are the bedrock of qualitative enquiry. Language is a fundamental tool through which qualitative researchers seek to understand human behaviour, social processes and the cultural meanings that inscribe human behaviour. However, when conducting cross-cultural research, issues of language and communication become more complex and often require the assistance of interpreters/translators as “cultural brokers”. Cross-cultural research poses numerous methodological, epistemological and practical challenges, which are rarely debated in qualitative research. This chapter outlines the epistemological approach to language and communication in different research paradigms and demonstrates the implications of this for the rigour of qualitative enquiry. In particular, concepts of transparency, subjectivity and reflexivity, which are indicators of methodological rigour in qualitative research, are typically not applied to language assistants in cross-cultural qualitative research despite the critical role of language assistants in the generation of knowledge and its cultural interpretation. Improving cross-cultural qualitative research involves understanding how language and communication can affect rigour and addressing language and communication issues that underlie the entire research process. Failure to recognise and acknowledge the role of language and communication issues in cross-cultural research may impact on the rigour and reliability of the research.

ABSTRACTQualitative research has grown within sport and exercise psychology and is now widely conducted. The purpose of this review is to discuss three commonly used ways to demonstrate rigor when conducting or judging qualitative research in sport and exercise psychology. These are the method of member checking, the method of inter-rater reliability, and the notion of universal criteria. Problems with each method are first highlighted. Member checking and inter-rater reliability are shown to be ineffective for verification, trustworthiness, or reliability purposes. Next, universal criteria within the context of Tracy’s, heavily drawn on paper within sport and exercise psychology is problematized. Throughout the discussion of each method and universal criteria more suitable possibilities for conducting rigorous qualitative research are offered. The paper concludes that to support high-quality qualitative research, scholars – including journal editors and reviewers – need to change how rigor is developed and judged, rather than perpetuate the problems with how it has been commonly evaluated in the past. Recommendations for developing rigor when conducting and/or judging qualitative research within sport and exercise psychology are also offered.