TRUSTWORTHINESS

The key to establishing the trustworthiness of this study was the presentation of thick descriptions that were triangulated, and underwent a process of member-checking. The thick descriptions ensured that the findings were "transferable between the researcher and those being studied" (Creswell, 1998, p. 197). I would also add that it ensured transferability between the researcher and the reader. Based on the description, can the reader see what I have seen? In addition to the notion of transferability, trustworthiness includes credibility, dependability, and confirmability (Lincoln and Guba, 1985 in Creswell). The credibility of the findings was established through the triangulation of the six data sources. This was done when the resulting data from the six sources were compiled and coded. At this point, data that didn't contribute to the pre–assigned codes, and didn't create a new category that fit into the parameters of the study, were set aside. The data that were not included dealt with student requests and my role as a program administrator, and were not related to the study. Triangulation helped to clarify meanings from multiple perspectives, verified the repeatability of an observation or process, and identified different ways that the phenomenon or process can be seen (Stake, 2000). Emerging issues or themes from one data source were confirmed with other data sources. The dependability and confirmability of the data were established through a member–checking process, in which students and instructors read narratives of their interviews.