To What Extent Can Findings Be Generalized from Qualitative Studies?

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To what extent can findings be generalized from qualitative studies? Scientists usually want their findings to apply to other people outside of the study. Generalizing findings of a study means that the results are relevant outside the context of the study itself. Some qualitative researchers argue that a study can be useful and generalized outside of the study itself, while others find it irrelevant. There are three ways in which a study can be generalized, according to Richie and Lewis (2003). The first type of generalization is representational representation. This means that the findings of one qualitative study can be applied to populations outside the population of the study. Qualitative research normally involves small samples that are not selected to be statistically representative,and non standard methods may be used. This makes it hard to generalize the findings. However, Hammersley (1992) argues that if evidence from other studies confirms the findings, generalization is possible. This is under the criterion that the population being generalized to is under similar conditions to the population in the study The second type of generalization is inferential generalization. This type of generalization means that the findings of the study can be applied to settings outside the setting of the study. It is also called external validity, or transferability. Whether or not the findings can be transferred to another setting will depend on the depth of the description of the research context and phenomenon. Finally, the third type of generalization is called theoretical generalization. This type means that theoretical concepts derived from the study can be used to develop further theory. In other words, data may be used to generate a theory or to confirm one. If patterns found in the single study can be replicated by others then the theory derived from the
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