Trustworthiness of the Study

The primary goal of a qualitative study is not on the validity and reliability, but on forming a unique interpretation of specific events. Verification methods are aimed at providing trustworthy representations and authentic information (Creswell, 1994). Lincoln and Guba (1985) recommend four criteria for trustworthiness to improve the likelihood that findings and interpretations from naturalistic inquiry will be credible. These are: credibility, confirmability, dependability and transferability. Each of these will be discussed individually with the strategies used in this study.

Credibility

Credibility refers to the extent to which the findings accurately reflect the views of the participants (Lincoln and Guba, 1985). Through the collection of various kinds of data from interviews, videotapes, journals, observations, questionnaires, and field notes and using multiple methods and sources of information, the reality of the families was represented as accurately as possible. This procedure lends truth value to the findings showing multiple constructions of reality.

Lincoln and Guba (1985) also discuss the use of peer debriefing as "a process of exposing oneself to a disinterested peer in a manner paralleling an analytic session and for the purpose of exploring aspects of the inquiry that might otherwise remain only implicit within the inquirer's mind" (p. 308). My peer debriefer for this study was a fellow doctoral candidate with whom I communicated frequently throughout the course of my study, discussing the framing of the study, methodology, and interpretation of the data.