Developing Validity and Reliability Criteria for Assessments in Innovation and Design Research Studies

The past 15 years have seen increasing freedom for educational researchers to develop and pursue innovative research methods. While there have been, in my opinion, some retrograde moves in the acceptance of alternative research methods (e.g., Kelly, 2008a), a welcome consensus has begun to emerge that the “paradigm wars” (Gage, 1989) between qualitative and quantitative are counterproductive. There is a growing acceptance of mixed methods, especially in complex educational settings (e.g., Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004).