Rigor in Qualitative Social Work Research: A Review of Strategies Used in Published Articles

“All These People Who Can Do Things That I Can’t”: Adolescents’ Reflections on Class, Poverty, and the American Dream

“…Dialogue about the rigor of qualitative research has been ongoing for three decades or more (Barusch, Gringeri, & George, 2011). The notion of rigor in qualitative research has been expanded to build on these concepts and includes eight key strategies articulated by Creswell (as cited by Barusch et al, 2011).…”

“…The notion of rigor in qualitative research has been expanded to build on these concepts and includes eight key strategies articulated by Creswell (as cited by Barusch et al, 2011). Furthermore, Creswell advocated using at least two strategies in each study to improve rigor (as cited by Barusch et al, 2011).…”

Conceptualising a Proposed Support Strategy for Sexually Abused Boys in Middle Childhood

“…The criterion of a worthy topic (Tracy, 2010) was met, as the phenomenon of MCSA is very relevant and significant, because the occurrence of MCSA is a reality and research on MCSA is limited. Qualitative research needs to be conducted with rich rigor including sufficient data and time in the field (Barusch, Gringeri & George, 2011;Tracy, 2010). During Phase 3 data were obtained from two focus groups that included fourteen participants in total.…”

“…During Phase 3 data were obtained from two focus groups that included fourteen participants in total. This was a rich sample and data were collected rigorously until data saturation (Barusch Gringeri & George, 2011Creswell, 2014 occurred. Peer reviews (Gringeri, Barusch & Cambron, 2013;Loh, 2013) were undertaken, where specific descriptions or themes were given to four participants to check for accuracy, comments and recommendations during follow-up interviews; this gave the participants the opportunity to comment on the findings and to assist with the interpretation of the data.…”

Ethical Dilemmas Faced by Hospice Social Workers

“…The small, focused nature of the study allowed researchers to examine ethical dilemmas and their resolution in depth, considering interactions among different elements of practice (e.g., patients, families, colleagues) and taking into account contextual factors (e.g., field setting, residential setting) that meaningfully impacted social workers' decision making. In addition, involving two researchers in data analysis allowed for analyst triangulation (the incorporation of multiple perspectives in data interpretation), a strategy commonly used to support rigor in qualitative social work research (Barusch, Gringeri, & George, 2011). In terms of limitations, as with most qualitative research, the findings of the study are highly context-dependent and are, therefore, not intended to be transferable to other settings which would have their own unique contextual factors.…”