Abstract
Although problems of reliability and validity have been explored thoroughly by experimenters and other quantitative researchers, their treatment by ethnographers has been sporadic and haphazard. This article analyzes these constructs as defined and addressed by ethnographers. Issues of reliability and validity in ethnographic design are compared to their counterparts in experimental design. Threats to the credibility of ethnographic research are summarized and categorized from field study methodology. Strategies intended to enhance credibility are incorporated throughout the investigative process: study design, data collection, data analysis, and presentation of findings. Common approaches to resolving various categories of contamination are illustrated from the current literature in educational ethnography.
Keywords
CredibilityEthnographyReliability (semiconductor)ValidityResearch designData collectionPresentation (obstetrics)PsychologyField (mathematics)Management scienceApplied psychologyComputer scienceSociologySocial scienceEpistemologyPsychometricsEngineeringMedicineDevelopmental psychologyPower (physics)Mathematics
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Publication Info
- Year
- 1982
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 52
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 31-60
- Citations
- 1630
- Access
- Closed
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Cite This
Margaret D. LeCompte,
Judith Goetz
(1982).
Problems of Reliability and Validity in Ethnographic Research.
Review of Educational Research
, 52
(1)
, 31-60.
https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543052001031
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.3102/00346543052001031