Condiciones de riesgo para una adecuada utilización biológica de los alimentos:

The following sections address matters of validity, reliability and trustworthiness as portrayed in the literature and how these issues relate to this study.

4.3.5.1 Validity

An overall definition of validity is an indication of how sound one’s research is. According to Welman et al., (2005:142) validity is explained to be “the extent to which the research findings accurately represent what is really happening in a situation”. Determining validity is crucial to the integrity of a research study, especially if conclusions are to be drawn and recommendations made. More specifically, validity applies to both the design and the methods of one’s research. In data collection, validity means that the findings truly represent the phenomenon one is claiming to measure. Validity is explained to be one of the main concerns of research. “Any research can be affected by different kinds of factors which, while extraneous to the concerns of the research, can invalidate the findings” (Seliger & Shohamy 1989: 95). Controlling all possible factors that threaten the validity of the research is a primary responsibility of every good researcher. Factors that threaten the validity of the research include faulty research procedures, poor samples and inaccurate or misleading measurement (Welman et al., 2005:142). It is important to note that these factors are beyond the control of the research, including factors such as history, spontaneous change and other variables. Welman et al. (2005:106) explain that there are various requirements to be met for research to be considered valid. One major requirement is that the chosen research design should enable the researcher

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to answer the research question and therefore serve the purpose for which the research is being conducted.

Throughout this study every effort was made to ensure that the validity of this study was not compromised. Relevant and up-to-date literature was used to support a real issue experienced at EATI. There was minimal interference with the data-collection process. Plowright’s (2011) idea on ecological validity was deemed fit for this study, which concerns the degree of naturalness of the research location and situation. The intention of the research is to give accurate portrayals of the realities of social situations in their own terms and in their natural or conventional settings. The level of ecological validity was high because neither were activities disrupted nor was the situation contrived or created just for the purpose of the research.

The research question for this study was relevant to the context and situation, the participants were the real students and staff of the institution and the data would therefore be expected to reflect the perceptions of students and staff of academic factors that influence student performance at a particular point in time at the institution. The study results could not be generalised, as the research was confined to one institution and a particular group of students and staff. A similar study may however be conducted at another institution where different variables may apply.

4.3.5.2 Trustworthiness

Babbie and Mouton (2001) refer to trustworthiness in research as relating to whether the findings of the study are worth taking into account. Shenton (2004:63) quotes Guba when mentioning four criteria researchers must consider for research to be trustworthy, namely credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. Each of these criteria is briefly discussed to demonstrate the trustworthiness of this study.

Credibility is an evaluation of whether or not the research findings represent a credible conceptual interpretation of the data drawn from the participants’ original data. It refers to the researcher’s ability to present a true reflection of the issue being scrutinised (Shenton, 2004). In this study, the questionnaires and interviews were set in such a way that the research question could be answered on several instances for reassurance of the answers. To ensure credibility, the development of an early familiarity with the culture is important. Because I was a lecturer at EATI for six years, I could consult a variety of documentation even before the study

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commenced; I was actively involved at the institution and was sufficiently engaged with the participants to make assumptions. Therefore, prolonged engagement was established between me and the institution and consequently a relationship of trust was established. Triangulation was another strategy used to make this study credible. It involves the use of different methods, especially observation and interviews. The use of different methods ensured a variety of details of the subjects that were investigated and also substantiated information.

Transferability is the degree to which the findings of the inquiry can be applied or transferred beyond the bounds of the project. It requires the researcher to provide an adequate context of the fieldwork in order for the readers of the research to determine whether the environment pertaining to the study is similar to another situation and whether the findings can justifiably be applied to another setting (Shenton, 2004).

Dependability is an assessment of the quality of the integrated processes of data collection, data analysis and theory generation. It is concerned with the ability of future researchers to repeat the same study in a different setting. At least some effort should be made by the researcher to enable such repetition (Shenton, 2004).

Finally, confirmability is a measure of how well the findings of the inquiry are supported by the data collected (Shenton, 2004).

For this study, in terms of credibility, the empirical data were generated from the real students and staff of EATI and the data would therefore be expected to reflect the true nature of the institution. Concerning transferability, Chapter 2 contains information on the research location that may inform the readers of the research of the research environment, enabling them to determine whether the findings of the study may apply to a similar, but different setting. Regarding dependability, in my opinion, in essence this study could be repeated in future by other researchers, but the methods of data generation may differ pertaining to the size and scope of the institution and population. This would also lead to different means of data analysis. Finally, in terms of confirmability, the findings produced and reported in Chapter 5 of this study were based solely on the data generated and how they compared to the literature perspectives provided in Chapter 3, with similarities noted and conclusions drawn in Chapter 4. This study may therefore be considered trustworthy in terms of the particular context, the

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group of students and staff as well as the issue under investigation. The next section addresses the ethical considerations that were taken into account during this study.