ABSTRACT
The chapter discusses the various approaches to evaluating research. The chapter describes warrants for social scientific research, interpretive research, and critical-cultural research. What does it mean to be reliable? The chapter address this question and others. Researchers strive for reliable methods and results, however the definition of “reliable” differs considerably depending on a researcher’s paradigm (social scientific, interpretive, critical/cultural). Issues over validity enter the discussion for many researchers. The chapter explores these questions and other aspects of evaluating research. The chapter approaches the questions under the umbrella of research warrants. Warrants are assurances of results. In the case of research, warrants allow scholars to state how their data/evidence reliably supports their arguments/claims. Social scientific warrants consider precision, power (conceptual and methodological), parsimony, reliability (intercoder reliability, alternate forms, test-retest, internal consistency), and validity (content, construct, criterion-related) when evaluating research. The chapter concludes by exploring interpretive warrants and critical/cultural warrants.
