Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Member Checking

2016; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 26; Issue: 13 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/1049732316654870

1552-7557

Linda Birt, Suzanne E. Scott, Debbie Cavers, Christine Campbell, Fiona M Walter,

Participatory Visual Research Methods

The trustworthiness of results is the bedrock of high quality qualitative research. Member checking, also known as participant or respondent validation, is a technique for exploring the credibility of results. Data or results are returned to participants to check for accuracy and resonance with their experiences. Member checking is often mentioned as one in a list of validation techniques. This simplistic reporting might not acknowledge the value of using the method, nor its juxtaposition with the interpretative stance of qualitative research. In this commentary, we critique how member checking has been used in published research, before describing and evaluating an innovative in-depth member checking technique, Synthesized Member Checking. The method was used in a study with patients diagnosed with melanoma. Synthesized Member Checking addresses the co-constructed nature of knowledge by providing participants with the opportunity to engage with, and add to, interview and interpreted data, several months after their semi-structured interview.