ABSTRACT
Naturalistic inquiry begins with a number of paradigmatic assumptions that distinguish it from traditional positivistic inquiry. A broad-ranging, diverse picture of an institution provided by a naturalistic evaluation can provide college and university decision-makers with a context for understanding their institution in a more complete way, and with the basis for making effective decisions. If the results of research or evaluation are to be taken seriously, they must meet certain quality criteria. But if naturalistic inquiry is to be used for any practical purposes, it must demonstrate that it is trustworthy. Credibility attempts to do the equivalent of what internal validity attempts to do for the positivistic researcher. Naturalistic inquiry seeks to meet the applicability criterion by providing for transferability. For decades positivistic researchers were able to take necessary measures to meet validity, reliability, and objectivity. Fairness requires that the views of all stakeholders have equal access to the research process.
