Issues of validity and reliability
Castel et al. (2008) argue that qualitative researchers should reclaim responsibility for
reliability and validity by implementing verification strategies for integrity and selfcorrecting
during the conduct of the inquiry itself. Rolfe (2006) states that if there is no
unified qualitative research paradigm then it makes little sense to attempt to establish a
set of generic criteria for making quality judgements about qualitative research study
(Guba & Lincoln 1981). Various researchers such as Denzin and Lincoln (2005), HesseBiber
and Leavy (2004) and Guba et al. (2000) discuss diverse ways of conceptualising
validity in situated research approaches and some authors such as Agar (1986) have
replaced the term validity with creditability, and Guba and Lincoln (1981) and Guba et al.
(2000) similarly refer to credibility and transferability.
Yin (2003a) proposed tests to establish the quality of case study research, which consists
of construct validity, internal validity, external validity, and reliability. For this study,
construct validity was achieved through the use of multiple sources of evidence (Yin
2003a) and the establishment of a chain of evidence that supports an accepted
framework of management (Drucker 1998). The following section discusses the validity
and reliability of this research.