Justify the validity and reliability of your research in your thesis

Why is justifying validity and reliability so important?

Studies should be representative of the target group or population you have researched. By discussing reliability and validity, you demonstrate how you ensure this. This helps to effectively measure the problem you are investigating using your chosen research methods.

In the research methods section, describe how you ensure validity and reliability. During your discussion, indicate to what extent your chosen research method measured what you intended to measure (validity) and to what extent the results would be consistent if the research were conducted in the same manner (reliability).

Validity and reliability are closely connected as they both indicate the quality of the research. For example, a measurement can be considered reliable if the same result is obtained upon repeated measurements. However, this does not necessarily mean that the measurement is valid, as it may not have provided the expected insights in your research. Ideally, one should always aim for research that is both valid and reliable.

What is validity?

Validity refers to assessing the accuracy of the results in your thesis and determining if reliable conclusions can be derived. In valid research, the obtained results are consistent with the actual characteristics, phenomena, and disparities present in the physical and social world. Validity revolves around determining whether the methods and instruments utilized in your study effectively measure what they aim to measure.

Internal or external validity?

• Internal validity refers to the extent to which you can have confidence in establishing a cause-effect relationship (causal link) that is not influenced by external factors.
• External validity, on the other hand, refers to the degree to which your findings can be generalized to different populations or contexts.

What is reliability?

Reliability refers to the consistency of a method in providing the same results. If you were to repeat the same measurement or study in the same manner, you would expect to obtain identical outcomes. It is crucial to understand that reliability alone does not guarantee research accuracy. Even though a measurement is reliable, it can still generate incorrect results, which would ultimately invalidate the study.

How do you justify validity and reliability in your thesis?

When drafting your research proposal, it is crucial to ensure that your study is both valid and reliable. This means that your research design must be well-considered.

Ensuring validity in your research design

• Choose appropriate methods to investigate your topic.
• Clearly define the scope of your research and ensure that your methods are suitable for fully assessing your problem. This will help ensure internal validity.
• Collect a sufficiently large sample, study enough cases, or conduct enough measurements to ensure that your results can be applied beyond your study (external validity).

Ensuring reliability during your research execution

• Ensure that methods are consistently applied, for example, by conducting interviews in a standardized environment.
• Give all respondents the same information prior to asking questions. This practice guarantees consistency and improves the reliability of the results.

Where to discuss reliability and validity in your thesis?

You usually discuss the reliability and validity of your research in different sections of your thesis. This shows that you have taken into account these factors in both the design and interpretation of your results, which enhances the honesty, credibility, and replicability of your research.

• Literature Review: Describe the methods used and developed by other researchers that are reliable and valid for investigating your problem.
• Methodology: Explain how you designed your research to ensure reliability and validity. Discuss sample size, preparation, external factors, and measurement methods.
• Results: Present key findings regarding the measured validity and reliability of your research.
• Discussion: Analyze the reliability and validity of your results. Discuss whether the results are consistent and accurately represent reality. If not, explain why.
• Conclusion: If there were issues with the reliability and validity of your results, explain how this prevented drawing definitive conclusions about your research problem.

By addressing reliability and validity in each of these chapters, you demonstrate thorough and meticulous research conduct.

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