Is it possible to ensure scientific rigour when conducting Essay

Is it possible to ensure scientific rigour when conducting quantitative and qualitative research - Essay Example It is worth noting that the concepts of validity and reliability of qualitative research have in the past not been well codified as in the case of quantitative research. This paper therefore, looks at the possibility of having a scientific rigour when conducting qualitative and quantitative research (Gery & Ryan 2013). The quality and reliability of any research finding depend on the techniques used in collecting data, sample choices, techniques used in the analysis and the illustration of the chosen techniques. Equally, the researcher needs to develop systematic coding patterns to assist detect deviant cases that would otherwise affect reliability. The Techniques for Collecting Qualitative Data In order to have correct inference, the analysed data must be quality data. This means that techniques of collecting data must be well chosen based on the type of research and the judgements made about the contents. Poor selection of techniques is likely to result into wrong deduction (Meyric k 2006). There are approaches and techniques that can assist to improve the validity and reliability of qualitative data and the research reports. To ensure scientific rigour, four data collection techniques can be used. ... Elicitation techniques can also be categorized into types of interviews; structured, semi-structured, unstructured, and mixed elicitation that combines the three. The use of unstructured interviews may be informal or ethnographic. To have control of the results scientific research need to avoid informal interviews but choose the structured and ethnographic techniques, which allows longer questionings and deeper probing (Seale & Silverman 1997). This leads into credibility of the data with ability for proper analysis. This is because the structured and semi-structured interviews are often designed to allow all informants to be examined on a set of similar questions, in order to provide an opportunity of making comparisons of the data across respondents or groups of respondents to improve reliability. In this method, the researcher initiates the interview, asks the specific questions, and determines whether the conversation on a particular topic has meets the research objectives. In th is case, the respondent is guided and restricted to the research questions. Data collected is likely to be reliable if there is a level of correlation across the respondents. Structured interviews are majorly employed when the research intends to measure the magnitude of an occurrence and to assist make more accurate comparisons within and across groups (Seale & Silverman 1997).The validity of such structured interviews is founded on the hypothesis that if a systematic and a set of standardized instrument is administered to a group of individuals, the variances in their responses is majorly as a result of their individual differences, but not the difference in the instrument used. Examples of structured