The authors demonstrate how they attempted to meet one of the more prominent criteria for evaluating qualitative research. In discussing this issue, they give a concise summary of thematic analysis (the method they use) and of the concepts of trustworthiness and credibility as qualitative criteria. Then they outline a step-by-step process of six phases into the data and to trustworthiness as a criterion.

Nowell, L. S., Norris, J. M., White, D. E., and Moules, N. J. (2017) ‘Thematic Analysis: Striving to Meet the Trustworthiness Criteria,’ International Journal of Qualitative Methods. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847

Critical Thinking Questions:

• Can this procedure be translated to other methods than thematic analysis?
• How far does this issue affect your own research?
• Is it a matter of data analysis, of assuring the quality of research or of presenting research and findings?
   

The author discusses the question of how to demonstrate evidence in qualitative research. She addresses the use of quotes from (biographical) interviews. She asks whether single or few quotations may adequately represent a speaker (or here: a participant) so that we can say this is typical for this person and a basis for comparing the person or the person’s statements with other participants and their statements.

Taylor, S. (2012) ‘“One Participant Said …”: The Implications of Quotations from Biographical Talk’, Qualitative Research, 12(4), 388–401, doi 10.1177/1468794111433086

Critical Thinking Questions:

• Is this problem only an issue of representation (of findings in an article) or also a methodological problem (of connecting one person’s data with other people’s data?
• How does the author manage these problems in her own research (as presented in the article as well)?
• Is the problem she discusses only a problem of biographical research or also one of any kind of qualitative research? How about quantitative research – do the problems discussed by the author here exist as well and how are they solved here?
• What does this mean for your own research?
   

This article describes the use of qualitative interviews for analysing a relevant societal problem against a specific public discourse. It illustrates the approach in focusing on two case studies using a process model developed from the data and tables for summarizing various dimensions.

Seidelsohn, K., Flick, U., and Hirseland, A. (2019) ‘Refugees’ Labor Market Integration in the Context of a Polarized Public Discourse,’ Qualitative Inquiry. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800419857097

Critical Thinking Questions:

• How convincing is the approach to illustrate the complex issues and the levels of the problem in cases studies?
• How would you manage the issue of balancing complexity, detailed description and reference to bigger structural problems in your research?