chapter 3 striving for integrity in the research process zina oleary

Chapter 3Striving for Integrity in the Research Process

Zina O’Leary

The Importance of Integrity

Responsibility and integrity should be paramount in research considerations. This includes integrity in the production of knowledge and integrity in dealing with research participants.

Zina O’Leary (2009) The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project. London: Sage

Assessing Credibility

Rather than selecting indicators strictly by paradigm, researchers should consider underlying challenges and critically determine appropriate indicators.


Assessing Credibility

Good questions for assessing

credibility are:• have subjectivities been

managed?• are methods approached with

consistency? • has ‘true essence’ been

captured? • are findings applicable outside

the immediate frame of reference?

• can the research be verified?


Managing SubjectivitiesRecognizing and balancingsubjectivities is central to integrity in knowledgeproduction.

If this is not done, researchers risk conducting:• ‘self-centric’ analysis• being insensitive to issues of race,

class, or gender• hearing only the dominant voice.


Managing Subjectivities• Objectivity - conclusions based on

observable phenomena; not influenced by emotions, personal prejudices, or subjectivities

• Neutrality - subjectivities recognized and negotiated in a manner that attempts to avoid biasing results / conclusions

• Subjectivity with transparency - acceptance and disclosure of subjective positioning and how it might impact the research process, including conclusions drawn.


Consistency in Methods

• Reliability - concerned with internal consistency, that is, whether data / results collected, measured, or generated are the same under repeated trials

• Dependability - accepts that reliability in studies of the social may not be possible, but attests that methods that are systematic, well documented, and designed to account for research subjectivities.


Capturing True Essence

‘The truth is out there’Fox Mulder

vs.

‘There are no facts, only interpretations’

Nietzsche


Capturing True Essence• Validity - concerned with truth

value, that is, whether conclusions are ‘correct’. Also considers whether methods, approaches and techniques actually relate what you are exploring

• Authenticity - concerned with truth value while recognizing that multiple truths may exist. Also concerned with describing the deep structure of experience/ phenomenon in a manner that is ‘true’ to the experience.


Applicability of Findings• Generalizability - whether findings

and/ or conclusions from a sample, setting, or group are directly applicable to a larger population, a different setting, or to another group

• Transferability - whether findings and/ or conclusions from a sample, setting, or group lead to lessons learned that may be germane to a larger population, a different setting, or to an other group.


Verifying Research• Reproducibility - concerned with

whether results/ conclusions would be supported if the same methodology was used in a different study with the same/ similar context

• Auditability - accepts the importance of the research context and therefore seeks full explication of methods to allow others to see how and why the researchers arrived at their conclusions.


Integrity and the Researched Integrity and the

researched refers to responsibility for the dignity and welfare of research participants.


Integrity and the Researched• Legal obligations - include the

design of studies not in breach of the law. Researchers must also consider their obligation to report illegal activities

• Moral obligations - relate to societal norms that protect research participants. These include conscientious decision making, equity and honesty through full disclosure.


Research Ethics• Ethical obligations - refers to

professional ‘codes of practice’ designed to protect the researched from an unethical process, and in turn protect the researcher from legal liabilities. Key issues include informed consent, causing no harm and a right to privacy

• Official ethics approval - will ensure integrity, promote responsibility towards participants, and protect both the researcher and the granting institution from legal ramifications.


chapter 3 striving for integrity in the research process zina oleary

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