Evaluating qualitative research in social geography: establishing 'rigour' in interview analysis

Authors: Baxter J.; Eyles J.

Source: Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Volume 22, Number 4, December 1997 , pp. 505-525(21)

Publisher: Royal Geographical Society

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Abstract:

A review of 31 empirical and eighteen substantive papers by qualitative social geographers mainly using in-depth interviews reveals little explicit reference to the principle(s) adopted to enhance 'rigour' and to ensure meaningful inference. Given the modest explicit discussion of evaluative criteria in these papers, a scheme from evaluation research itself is critically reviewed. A set of evaluation questions derived from this review and their application to an empirical piece of qualitative work frame an argument for a general set of criteria rather than rigid rules for assessing qualitative work. Such criteria can serve as anchor points for qualitative evaluation.

Keywords: methods; qualitative; evaluation; social geography

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 1997-12-01

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