Prolonged engagement in the field.
another validity procedure is for researchers to stay at the research site for prolonged period of time. Fetterman (1989) contends that "working with people day in and day out for long periods of time is what gives ethnographic research its validity and vitality" (p. 46). During repeated observation, the researchers build trust with participants, find gatekeepers to allow access to people and sites establish rapport so that participants are comfortable disclosing information. and reciprocate by giving back to people being studied. This lens is focused on gaining a credible account by building a tight and holistic case.
Being in the field over time solidifies evidence because researchers can check out the data and their hunches and compare interview data with observational data. It is not process that is systematically established, but constructivists recognize that the longer they stay in the field, the more the pluralistic perspectives will be heard from participants and the better the understanding of the context of participant views. In practice, prolonged engagement in the field has no set duration, but ethnographers, for example, spend from 4 months to a year at a site.