Reconceptualizing the Member Check Interview

The member check has been heralded as an important component of validation in qualitative research. Traditionally, the member check has been used in order to assess the accuracy with which a researcher has represented a participant's subjectivity. Some theorists, however, have argued that chang...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of qualitative methods Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 168 - 179
Main Author Koelsch, Lori E.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.02.2013
Sage Publications Ltd
SAGE Publishing
Subjects
Participant observation
Qualitative analysis
Qualitative research
Research methods
Research workers
Researcher subject relations
Subjectivity
Theorists
Validity
member check
validity
transformational validity
interview
transactional validity
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Summary:The member check has been heralded as an important component of validation in qualitative research. Traditionally, the member check has been used in order to assess the accuracy with which a researcher has represented a participant's subjectivity. Some theorists, however, have argued that change, rather than representation, should be sought as a primary goal for qualitative research. The difference between using representation or change as a marker of validity has been described as a transactional/transformational divide. I argue that the member check can be utilized to span this divide in order to support a holistic view of validity. In particular, I assert that researchers should not expect participant subjectivities to remain static throughout the research process. Examples of the member check used in this manner are provided.
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ISSN:1609-4069
1609-4069
DOI:10.1177/160940691301200105