Análisis en Kippo

Validity and reliability are two judgemental criteria for assessing the quality of a research work. They are both very important within quantitative and qualitative research. Reliability poses the question of whether the results of a study are repeatable (Bryman 2004). That is, it helps answer the question of whether a repeated investigation of the same phenomenon will give the same result (Kvale 1989). Kleven (1995:13) defines reliability as “relative absence of haphazard errors of measurement.” He states that validity is more important than reliability and also reliability only has relevance because it is a necessary condition for attaining validity (in Brock-Utne 1996b). This means that one cannot have reliability without having validity. In other words if a researcher is able to prove the validity of his research work, then it also means that the research work is reliable.

According to Patton (2002), validity in quantitative research depends on careful instrument construction to ensure that the instrument measures what it is supposed to measure. In addition the instrument should be administered in an appropriate, standardized manner according to prescribed procedures. The focus is on the measuring instrument like the survey questions. In qualitative research the researcher is the instrument and the credibility of this method depends to a great extent on the skill, competence, and rigor of the person doing fieldwork. In addition it also depends on things going on in a person’s life that might prove a distraction.

Though some researchers apply the concepts of reliability and validity to qualitative research, others do not. Lincoln and Guba (1985) present alternative terms and ways of assessing qualitative research. They propose trustworthiness as a criterion of how good a qualitative study is. Trustworthiness has four aspects which are credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability and each of these features has a parallel with quantitative research criteria. Credibility parallels with internal validity, transferability parallels with

external validity, dependability parallels with reliability and confirmability parallels with objectivity (in Bryman 2004).

According to Kirk and Miller “Asking the wrong questions actually is the source of most validity errors (Kirk and Miller 1986:30 in Brock-Utne 1996b).” Therefore to ensure that my research work has a high validity, I discussed with my advisor all the questions I used in both the questionnaire and the interview guide.

As stated earlier on, skills, competence and rigor of the researcher doing fieldwork is very important in the validity of qualitative research. In this respect I have enough skills and competence in the social phenomenon of this study. This is due to the fact that I have a second degree in Master of Science in Marketing and during the course of my studies I had the chance to interview many people. In addition we had some interview rehearsals in our Advanced course in Qualitative Research Methods class before we went for fieldwork. External validity is related to the question of whether the results of the study can be generalized beyond the specific research context Bryman (2004). The target population in this study is first degree students (excluding foreign, par-time and mature students) at the University of Ghana. The two sampling methods used helped to increase the external validity of my research. Students selected in the purposeful sampling are representative of first degree students at the University of Ghana. They are made up of students from different faculties and departments. Participants selected with the purposeful sampling were students who had rich and lived experience concerning the phenomenon in question. These two methods helped to ensure that the people who participated in the study are representative of the target population.

Ecological Validity is a criterion that is concerned with the question of whether social scientific findings are applicable to people’s everyday, natural social settings (Bryman 2004). In other words it is concerned with the extent to which behaviour observe in one context can be generalized to another (Brock-Utne 1996b). In order to ensure ecological validity, the data was collected in a more natural setting. That is, I used an environment which the participants were familiar with. The questionnaire was handed out in two of the lecture rooms and the interview was conducted in one of the hostel rooms.

Culture blindness is a phenomenon which deals with the fact that one may become blind to what one experience everyday (Brock-Utne 1996b). Being a Ghanaian and also alumni of

The University of Ghana, I had to overcome culture blindness. I was however able to view things and matters from a different perspective since I have been staying in Norway for some years now. In addition, the fact that I am taking a masters degree in Europe, helped me to look at the known phenomena from the perspective of a researcher.

Using both qualitative and quantitative methods in finding the challenges students are facing in financing their higher education also increased the validity of my research as the strength of one approach can compensate for the weaknesses of another. Through the completion of the self-completion questionnaire, students were able to briefly indicate the challenges they were facing while on the other hand the interviews were able to provide in-depth and rich information about the phenomenon under study.

According to Silverman (2000:175):

Unless you can show your audience the procedures you used to ensure that your methods were reliable and your conclusions valid, there is little point in aiming to

conclude a research dissertation.

4.11 CONCLUSION

This chapter has dealt with the research methodology and how the study was conducted. I have discussed the research strategy and design as well as the data collection procedures which are self-completion questionnaire and interview used in the research work. The target population and sampling techniques have also been presented and validity and reliability which are the two important criteria for assessing the quality of a research work have also been talked about.

In the following chapter, I shall have a look at the analysis methods used for the quantitative and qualitative data collected. The whole process of the analysis of the data will be presented including their interpretation and discussion of the research findings.

CHAPTER FIVE: ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION AND

DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS

5.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter deals with the data analysis31 methods used in this research. In addition, the interpretation and discussion of the research findings in this study are also presented. The chapter begins with the method used for analysis of the quantitative data and the method used for the analysis of the qualitative data. The reasons why these methods were selected are explained. They are followed by a presentation of the characteristics of the research participants. Later the results from the analysis of the self-completion questionnaire are presented, followed by the major themes identified and analysed from the interviews. The latter part of this chapter presents interpretation and discussion of major research findings followed by a conclusion part which presents a summary of the whole chapter.

5.2 QUANTITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS AND REASONS