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Triangulation
Triangulation in qualitative research has come to mean a multimethod approach to data collection and data analysis. The basic idea underpinning the concept of triangulation is that the phenomena under study can be understood best when approached with a variety or a combination of research methods. Triangulation is most commonly used in data collection and analysis techniques, but it also applies to sources of data. It can also be a rationale for multiple investigators in team research. Questions that commonly arise in discussions of triangulation tend to address one of two concerns: the issues of using triangulation as a test of validity of research findings and the practical difficulties of using more than one method to study the same phenomenon.
The concept of triangulation is borrowed from navigational and land surveying techniques that determine a single point in space with the convergence of measurements taken from two other distinct points. The multimethod approach is seen to be a research strategy that can reduce biases or deficiencies caused by using only method of inquiry. Initially, in the 1950s and 1960s, triangulation was put forward as a way to increase the measures of validity or to strengthen the credibility of research findings by comparing the results of different approaches to a single unit of study. In other words, triangulation could measure what was thought to be the same thing by using different methods of investigation. However, the use of triangulation of methods to minimize measurement biases has been critiqued over the years by qualitative researchers for corresponding too closely to positivistic notions of reliability and validity. It is claimed that different approaches can measure different aspects of a research problem, but they also yield different kinds of data.
In qualitative inquiry, researchers tend to use triangulation as a strategy that allows them to identify, explore, and understand different dimensions of the units of study, thereby strengthening their findings and enriching their interpretations. However, there are differences among researchers and commentators on the nature, degree, and utility of comparison of findings garnered from different approaches.
Norman K. Denzin's widely cited work on the theoretical underpinnings and implications of combined methods in sociological qualitative research has popularized the definition of triangulation as a combination of methods used to study the interrelated phenomena from multiple and different angles or perspectives. His formulation of triangulation is still widely used by qualitative researchers and is comprised of four basic types: triangulation of methods of data collection, investigator triangulation, theory triangulation (including methodological variations that account for between-method and within-method approaches), and triangulation of data sources.
Triangulation of Methods
When designing and conducting research, qualitative investigators frequently combine methods such as interviewing, surveys, and observation across variable times and in different places in order to collect data about their research phenomena from multiple perspectives and in different contexts. Researchers may also vary their methods within each type of approach; for example, in order to gain a more complete picture of a participant perspective, the researcher may use a combination of conversational interviewing and structured interview questions, techniques that would elicit different but complementary data. Another way to provide multiple perspectives is to use a combination of sampling methods to collect data from different kinds of informants or from the same people but at different times and in different places. The findings of quantitative methods of data collection may also be triangulated with the results of qualitative methods. For example, statistical measures may be held against the hermeneutic analysis of conversational interviews in order to provide a more complete picture of the research problem.
Investigator Triangulation
Another way that researchers attempt to increase the validity and trustworthiness of their findings is by deploying more than one investigator in the collection and analysis of data. This technique allows for additional insights in the process of making sense of the data as it brings different perspectives and different epistemological assumptions that may inform the research results. Several commentators on investigator triangulation caution against the use of untrained students and unmotivated research assistants (sometimes called the “hired hands”) who may end up damaging the trustworthiness of any research findings through lack of engagement and accountability. It is generally recommended that co-investigators be full research partners through all stages of the research project, not only to guard against the hired-hand syndrome, but also to allow for the full play of competing theories and to provide an ongoing opportunity to deal with researcher biases and conflicts.
Respondent or member validation is a related cross-checking strategy that does not usually extend as far as making people co-investigators, but does invite research participants and other stakeholders in the research project to comment on research findings. Respondents may corroborate or refute the conclusions reached by the investigators by providing alternative perspectives.
Theory Triangulation
Examining the research findings using different theoretical lenses can also aid researchers in overcoming their own personal biases or ideological blinders. Different facets of the research problem can be explored by examining research results using analytical frameworks related to different theories. This kind of triangulation does not normally allow for any kind of integration of results and would not be used to make claims of increased validity: this method of triangulation suggests that different theoretical approaches will undermine the credibility of competing research findings. However, exploring research data using a different theoretical lens can be a particularly useful way to examine dissonant or anomalous data. Theory triangulation can enable a deeper understanding of the research as investigators can explore different ways to make sense of the data. Tensions that might arise between theoretical explanations of the same data may yield new insights into the aspects of the research problem. However, many qualitative researchers disagree with the notion that researchers can stand outside of the epistemological perspectives that they bring to any project, claiming that it is not logical to compare analyses of data that are informed by different theoretical concepts.
Triangulation of Data Sources
Qualitative researchers may increase the credibility of their research findings by drawing from evidence taken from a variety of data sources. For example, to name just a few common sources of data, researchers may gather evidence from interviews, participant observation, written documents, archival and historical documents, public records, personal papers, and photographs. Each type of source of data will yield different evidence that in turns provides different insights regarding the phenomena under study.
Issues in Research
Pragmatic issues of research design must be considered when using methods of triangulation. Triangulation can be impractical for some qualitative research projects due to the inflation of research costs related to multiple methods of inquiry and team investigations. Researchers using strategies of triangulation need increased amounts of time to collect and analyze data. The amount of data collected can pose its own problems as triangulation can result in vast amounts of evidence.
Although there is general consensus among qualitative research commentators that triangulation enables researchers to deepen their understanding of either a single phenomena or of a contextual set of interrelated phenomena, there is some disagreement as to the epistemological foundations of such a research strategy. For example, some commentators suggest that one research method comes with its own assumptions about reality, about what is knowable, and about what counts as evidence such that it is incommensurate with another research method that carries its own epistemological concepts and array of ontological evidence.
There also continues to be debate among qualitative researchers regarding the degree to which triangulation strategies allow for comparison and integration of evidence from multiple methods of data collection and multiple analytical perspectives. Furthermore, the tension between notions of verification and the enrichment of understanding is not resolved; qualitative researchers continue to use methods of triangulation to render a fuller picture of research phenomena as well as to verify and validate the consistency and integrity of research findings.
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