A Dissertation by GRACE HUI-CHIN LIN Submitted to the Office of ...

According to Denzin and Lincoln (1994), member check established the credibility in
qualitative inquiry. “The researcher needs to find a way to allow for the participants
to review the material one way or another” (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994, p. 216).
Therefore, this study conducted the member check by emailing the coded English
transcriptions to the seven respondents. Then, by telephone, the 7 respondents offered
their feedback on reading the interpretations in the coded English transcriptions.
In this study, the member check processes were conducted twice. The first
time, the member check was conducted between the first interview at the end of 5
weeks training and the second interview at the end of 10 weeks training. The first
member check was for ensuring the accuracy of the coded transcriptions of the first
interview. The seven respondents checked the coded data from the first interview and
expanded their previous specific perceptions with more details, which they would
express in the second interview. Holstein and Bubrium (1995) emphasized that the
second round of interviews could be significant because it offered the respondents an
opportunity to recall what they said in earlier interviews, comment on their earlier
responses, and consider their earlier opinions, attitudes, and beliefs in relation to
what they now think and perceive. The first member check provided the seven
individuals an opportunity not only to check the coded data, but also considered how
they would respond in the second interview.
The second member check was concluded three months after the second
interview. In Summer 2006, the researcher asked the seven individuals whether the
coded results interpreted and concluded from the first interview and the second
interview paralleled as their perceptions in Spring 2006, during the 10 weeks of
training. The feedback given by the respondents three months after the last interview
56