For qualitative research, judgment about integrity of research process and quality of final product requires different evaluative criteria from quantitative research. Qualitative researchers object to and reject the criteria used by quantitative researchers when evaluating their work. Instead, qualitative researchers have developed alternative criteria in response to their specific research ideals.
This article includes a consideration of the notion of approach and its impact on the subject matter of science; a criterion besides quantification that implicitly underpin all conceptions of science, and entails reframing the notions of internal and external validity and reliability within qualitative research.
The article attempts to show how researchers choose from these alternatives and that the selected criteria should be compatible with the nature of the research in question (its methodology, aims and assumptions).
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