5.4. Rigor & trustworthiness
In addition to the thick, rich description (Merriam, 1998) presented in the findings, three strategies were used to ensure the trustworthiness and rigor within this study. Member checks (Merriam, 1998) were managed by verifying the interview transcripts with each of the participants and requesting edits and additions. Peer debriefing (Patton, 2002) was conducted with the second author during the analysis, where categories and themes were questioned, justified, and verified. Finally, an audit trail was used to document how the data were collected; how codes, patterns, categories, and themes were derived; and how decisions were made throughout the study (Merriam, 1998).