Member checking: A tool to enhance trustworthiness or merely a nod to validation?

Birt, Linda, Scott, Suzanne, Cavers, Debbie, Campbell, Christine and Walter, Fiona (2016) Member checking: A tool to enhance trustworthiness or merely a nod to validation? Qualitative Health Research, 26 (13). pp. 1802-1811. ISSN 1049-7323

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Abstract

The trustworthiness of results is the bedrock of high-quality qualitative research. Member checking, also known as participant or respondent validation, is a technique for exploring the credibility of results. Data or results are returned to participants to check for accuracy and resonance with their experiences. Member checking is often mentioned as one in a list of validation techniques. This simplistic reporting might not acknowledge the value of using the method, nor its juxtaposition with the interpretative stance of qualitative research. In this commentary we critique how member checking has been used in published research, before describing and evaluating an innovative in-depth member checking technique, Synthesised Member Checking. The method was used in a study with patients diagnosed with melanoma. Synthesised Member Checking addresses the co-constructed nature of knowledge by providing participants with the opportunity to engage with, and add to, interview and interpreted data, several months after their semi-structured interview.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	member checking,trustworthiness,respondent validation,participant validation,melanoma,credibility,qualitative method,united kingdom
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Dementia & Complexity in Later Life
Related URLs:	http://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/en/p...
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	27 Jun 2016 11:00
Last Modified:	21 Oct 2022 05:35
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/59602
DOI:	10.1177/1049732316654870

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