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HowTriangulationStrengthensActionResearch

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writtenby:JoMurphyeditedby:LauriePatsalidesupdated:5/23/2011
Triangulationinresearchincreasesthecredibilityoftheresearchbydrawingonmultipleviewpoints.
Teachersfeelconfidentthattheymaybemovingtowardaccuracyandreliabilityastheytapintoavarietyof
sourcesofinformation,confirmation,individualsandprocessesofdatacollection.

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ViewsabouttheUsefulnessof
Triangulation
Researcherstriangulateamongdifferentsourcesof
datatoenhanceaccuracyoftheirstudy(Creswell
2008).Howeverthisdescriptionisfairlysimplistic.
GorardandTaylorputforwardamorecomplexidea
thatthedesiredoutcomefromtriangulationin
researchisfornewmaterialtosynergizefromthe
triangulatedmaterial(2004,p4243).

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Creswell'sSimpleViewofTriangulation
Creswellexplainstheideaofdatavalidationby
sayingthattriangulationistheprocessof
corroboratingevidencefrom
differentindividualssuchasparents,studentsandteachersinaschoolsetting

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UsingtheCaseStudyMethodinPhD
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typesofdatasuchasfieldnotes,andcasestudies
methodsofdatacollectionsuchasdocumentsandinterviews

Thisallculminatesindescriptionsandthemesinqualitativeresearch.
Onthisaccountoftriangulationinresearch,theresearchertriestodrawonmultipleviewpointstodrawouta
theme.Thesituationisthatsimple.Bydrawingonmultipleviewpoints,theresearchersfeelconfidentthat
theymaybemovingtowardsaccuracyandcredibilityastheytapintoavarietyofsourcesofinformation,
confirmation,individualsandprocessesofdatacollection.
GoradandTaylor'sExplanationoftheComplexityofTriangulation
GoradandTaylorexploreapopularideathatsomepeopleholdabouttriangulation.Onthisaccount
triangulatedresearchemploysdatacollectedfromatleastthreesources.Theysaythatthefourthsynergy
comesfromthetriangulatedspacecreatedbytheencapsulationofthethreepointsofview,orvantage
points.
Anotherviewoftriangulatedresearchclaims
researchersneedonlydrawupontwosourcesof
dataandthatthesynergyfromthesetwo
viewpointscreatesthethirdaxis.
AnotherpointofcontentionwithinthisconfusingdefinitionarguesaboutwhetherActionResearchdatamust
bedrawnfromasingleinvestigationorwhetherdatafromanotherinvestigationcanbeattractedintoa
secondinquiry.

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HowTriangulationStrengthensAction
Research
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TriangulationEnablesaMoreHolisticViewoftheProblem
BlindMenandtheElephant
Thesimplestoryoftheblindpeopleandtheelephantillustratesamoreholisticviewoftheproblem.Blind
peoplerestrictedtoexperiencingtheelephantfromjustoneattribute,labeledtheelephantmanydifferent
things.Itisonlywhenthewholecanbeperceivedatoncethatthetruestoryof'whatthisthingis'canbe
told.

Soasimpledefinitionoftriangulatedresearchtechniquesis'usingmorethanonesourceofdatato
strengthenthevalidityofresearchbytellingamorecomprehensivestoryofthethingtobeexamined.'On
thisaccount,researchAisnotvalidatedbyresearchB.Rather,whenresearchAandBcombine,they
synergizeanewunderstandingofphenomenonwhichiscalledC.Casanunderstandingwouldn'texist
withouteitherAorB,butisnotactuallyavalidationofAorBseparately.
Teacherswhoresearchaspartoftheirprofessionalpracticehaveaccesstodatafromdifferentplaces,
spacesandsources.Theycanalsoaskthesamequestionofcommunitymembersinavarietyofways.In
thestoryofFridayAfternoonAmbianceforexample,studentscouldhavetalkedabouthowtheyfeltina
communityforum.Butwouldtheyhavebeenhonestinfrontoftheirpeers?Perhapsnot!
PercythePrinciplemightsetouttofindanotherwaytoaddvaliditytotheinquiry.Overthecourseofthree
weeks,differentkindsofactivitiescouldberunonFridayafternoonandafterwardthesestudentscouldvote
inaballot.Optionscouldbebetweenthethreeactivities,backtomoviesortointroduceasuggestionof
theirown.Thissecondsourceofinformationcouldaddsubstancetowhatmighthaveotherwisebeena
skewedrepresentationofwhatstudentsreallythoughtshouldbedoneonaFridayafternoon.Onthis
accountsomethingentirelynewmaysynergizefromthedispiritviewpointswithintheresearchdesign.

WhyUseTriangulatedDataCollectionMethods?
Triangulatedmethodsofdatacollectionincreasetheconcurrent,convergent,andconstructvalidityof
research.Thisinturnenhancestheresearcher'sabilitytoimplytrustworthinessoftheanalysis.Theaccount
oftheschoolslivedrealitywillbefuller,anditwillbeamoreroundedaccount,whichevidenceslessbias.
Ifthereisaweaknessinonemethodsuchasaskingstudentsinfrontofeachotherthestrengthofthe
othercomplimentarydatacollectionmethodwillbalancethis.Thereisalsoscopeatthispointtotalkwith
studentsaboutpeerpressure.Theymayreflectintheirjournalsabouttheextenttowhichthey"wentalong
withothers"insteadofstandingforwhattheybelieved.
Whentestingaresultinghypothesissuchas"studentsdon'tthinkthereisanythingwrongwithwatching
moviesonFriday."Personalprivatevoiceswillbeprotectedandthedatavalidatedwithinthecomprehensive
researchspiral.
Althoughthesynergizedmaterialwillbeallthemorevalidbecauseofthetriangulatedcollection
methodology,thepointisaboutsynergyratherthanaboutvalidation(Gorard&Taylor2004).Astheresearch
spiralstrengthensthetriangleofdatacollection,methodsmayraisemorequestionsthatneedtobe
answeredinadifferentway.

TriangulationCanIncreaseStrengthandValidityofDataCollectionMethods
Creswellrecommendsmembercheckingasawayofincreasingthevalidityofdatacollection.Inthis
processtheresearcherstaketheiraccount,descriptionsandthemesinqualitativeresearchbacktothe
memberstocheckifthisadequatelyrepresentstheirreality.Theyaskmemberswhetherdescriptionsare
completeandrealisticandwhetherthethemesareaccuratetoinclude.Theywouldalsoascertainwhether
themesandinterpretationsarefairandrepresentative.
Anexternalauditisanotherwaytocheckthevalidityofresearchdesignanddatacollectionmethods.Inthis
instanceanotherindividualfromoutsidetheresearchprojectwouldconductathoroughreviewofthestudy
andreportback.
SchwandtandHalpern(1988)sayauditorswouldtypicallyaskquestionssuchas,
arethefindingsgroundedinthedata
aretheinferenceslogical
arethethemesappropriate
caninquirydecisionsandmethodologicalshiftsbejustified
whatisthedegreeofresearcherbiasand,
whatstrategiesareusedforincreasingcredibility?

AuthorsCreswell,GorardandTaylor,SchwandtandHalpernputforwardinterestingdepictionsoftheways
triangulationinresearchcanvalidateandenhanceActionResearchProjects.Themorecomplextheproject,
themorelikelythattriangulationwillmovetowardasynergisticemphasisratherthanactasjustification
alone.InthearticleComplexitiesofActionResearcharesearchspiralisdescribed,whichfurtherexplains
howthesecomplexitiesreinforceeachother.

References
Creswell,J.W.EducationalResearchPlanning,ConductingandEvaluatingQuantitativeandQualitative
Research.InternationalPearsonMerrilPrenticeHall.2008.
Gorard,S&Taylor,C.CombiningResearchMethodsinEducationalandSocialResearch.BirkshireOpen
UniversityPress.2004.
Schwandt,T.A&Halpern,E.S.LinkingAuditingandMetaEvaluation:EnhancingQualityinAppliedResearch.
NewberryParkSage.1988.

UNDERSTANDINGACTIONRESEARCH
Getagreatunderstandingoftheactionresearchprocesswiththesearticlesforthegraduatestudent.

ActionResearchProjects:StepsintheProcess
StepstoWritinganActionResearchPlan
ComplexitiesInvolvedinParticipatoryActionResearch
HowTriangulationStrengthensActionResearch

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