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Objectivity and reliability in qualitative analysis: Realist, contextualist and radical constructionist epistemologies
Author(s) -
Madill Anna,
Jordan Abbie,
Shirley Caroline
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1348/000712600161646
Subject(s) - objectivity (philosophy) , strict constructionism , credibility , epistemology , grounded theory , constructionism , psychology , qualitative research , realism , qualitative analysis , social constructionism , sociology , social science , philosophy
The effect of the individual analyst on research findings can create a credibility problem for qualitative approaches from the perspective of evaluative criteria utilized in quantitative psychology. This paper explicates the ways in which objectivity and reliability are understood in qualitative analysis conducted from within three distinct epistemological frameworks: realism, contextual constructionism, and radical constructionism. It is argued that quality criteria utilized in quantitative psychology are appropriate to the evaluation of qualitative analysis only to the extent that it is conducted within a naive or scientific realist framework. The discussion is illustrated with reference to the comparison of two independent grounded theory analyses of identical material. An implication of this illustration is to identify the potential to develop a radical constructionist strand of grounded theory.