A Dissertation by GRACE HUI-CHIN LIN Submitted to the Office of ...
A Dissertation by GRACE HUI-CHIN LIN Submitted to the Office of ...
A Dissertation by GRACE HUI-CHIN LIN Submitted to the Office of ...
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Trustworthiness<br />
According <strong>to</strong> Lincoln and Guba (1985), “Trustworthiness consists <strong>of</strong> four<br />
components: credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability” (p. 381).<br />
In order <strong>to</strong> demonstrate <strong>the</strong> trustworthiness in this qualitative study, this study was<br />
conducted through qualitative methods <strong>of</strong> triangulation and prolonged engagement.<br />
Triangulation<br />
Denzin (1978a, 1978b) mentioned that <strong>the</strong>re were five types <strong>of</strong> triangulation:<br />
methodological triangulation, data triangulation, investiga<strong>to</strong>r triangulation,<br />
<strong>the</strong>oretical triangulation, and multiple triangulation. Through <strong>the</strong> triangulation<br />
methods <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> case study, open-ended interview, videotaping and data transcribing,<br />
multiple investiga<strong>to</strong>rs, and multiple <strong>the</strong>oretical perspectives, this study established its<br />
trustworthiness.<br />
First, <strong>the</strong> transferability in this study was high because this study was<br />
conducted through case study, which was a type <strong>of</strong> methodological triangulation<br />
according <strong>to</strong> Denzin (1978a, 1978b), case studies typically are based on two or more<br />
methods <strong>of</strong> data collection…, whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> case study is descriptive, explana<strong>to</strong>ry, or is<br />
concerned with rigorous tests <strong>of</strong> received ideas, <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> multiple sources <strong>of</strong><br />
evidence and, very <strong>of</strong>ten, multiple investiga<strong>to</strong>rs makes <strong>the</strong> case study one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most<br />
powerful research designs.<br />
As Tellis (1997) argued, case study was known as a triangulated research<br />
strategy. This study applied multiple qualitative methodologies in order <strong>to</strong> collect<br />
qualitative data, including five open-ended questions, videotaping, face-<strong>to</strong>-face<br />
interview, DVD transformation, data transcribing and coding. These methods<br />
enhanced <strong>the</strong> transferability for this study because <strong>the</strong> data, including <strong>the</strong><br />
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