Blog post 4.2: What could go possibly go wrong?

Originally posted to eBridge, 17 February 2013

 

Validity, Reliability, Objectivity = language for quantitative researchers

Credibility, Dependability, Confirmability = language for qualitative researchers

The classic research effects noted by Newby (2010, p.120-3) are of interest to me – I will be researching from a very participatory standpoint, as I am actually trying to influence people’s behaviour through my interventions. The best way to balance out this out would seem to be by adopting approaches such as triangulation to give more credibility to findings. As a learning & development practitioner working within an online community, am I actually moving more into the realm of critical research perhaps?

Reading through Colquhoon (2006), I’m struck by the similarity between the language used for reliability and validity, compared to the discussion of reliability and validity in the context of assessment, as referred to by Race (2010, Ch.4) and Crisp (2007, Ch.19). The pre-occupation of most educational institutions has been with stability of a bank of testable items for norm-referenced assessment. However, one has to consider how long this state of affairs can continue with the economy so unstable and all our assumptions about learning and education being questioned? (Wheeler, 2013)

References:

• Colquhoon, D. (2006). Research Methods in Education Contexts. University of Hull
• Crisp, G. (2007). The e-Assessment Handbook. Continuum
• Newby, P. (2010). Research Methods for Education. Pearson Education Limited.
• Race, P. (2010). Making Learning Happen: A Guide for Post-Compulsory Education. 2nd ed. Sage.
• Wheeler, S. (2013). Learning is changing. Learning with e’s [blog] 17 February. Available at: <http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/learning-is-changing.html> [Accessed February 2013]