How do you ensure the validity and reliability of your mixed methods evaluation?

1 Define your purpose and design

The first step to ensure the validity and reliability of your mixed methods evaluation is to define your purpose and design clearly. What are the main questions you want to answer? What are the assumptions and theories behind your program or intervention? How will you integrate and interpret the quantitative and qualitative data? By articulating your purpose and design, you will be able to align your data collection and analysis methods with your evaluation goals and logic.

2 Choose appropriate methods and tools

The next step is to choose appropriate methods and tools for collecting and analyzing your quantitative and qualitative data. Depending on your purpose and design, you may use surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, documents, or other sources of data. You should select methods and tools that are relevant, reliable, and valid for your evaluation context and questions. You should also consider the ethical implications of your data collection and analysis, such as informed consent, confidentiality, and data security.

3 Establish trustworthiness and rigor

The third step is to establish trustworthiness and rigor in your data collection and analysis. Trustworthiness refers to the quality and credibility of your qualitative data, while rigor refers to the accuracy and precision of your quantitative data. To enhance trustworthiness, you can use techniques such as triangulation, member checking, reflexivity, and audit trail. To enhance rigor, you can use techniques such as validity checks, reliability tests, sampling strategies, and statistical procedures.

4 Address integration and inference

The fourth step is to address integration and inference in your data analysis and interpretation. Integration refers to the process of combining and synthesizing your quantitative and qualitative data, while inference refers to the process of drawing conclusions and implications from your data. You should use a clear and transparent approach to integrate and infer from your data, such as a convergent, explanatory, or exploratory design. You should also report and justify how you integrated and inferred from your data, such as using tables, graphs, narratives, or models.

5 Seek feedback and verification

The fifth step is to seek feedback and verification from your stakeholders and peers. Feedback and verification can help you improve the validity and reliability of your mixed methods evaluation by providing different perspectives, insights, and suggestions. You can seek feedback and verification through various methods, such as workshops, presentations, reports, or peer review. You should be open and responsive to feedback and verification, and acknowledge the limitations and strengths of your mixed methods evaluation.