Quality Research Criteria

(The Reading Wars: Time for a Truce?)

Quality research meets certain criteria. It should be:

• ethical (all aspects of the research process are objective, honest and accountable; the purpose of the study is not for commercial or financial gain)
• relevant (investigates an important question)
• replicable and reproducible (other studies show consistent results … builds on previous research and identifies suggestions for future research)
• generalisable (results can be applied or generalised to a broader population)
• high external validity (findings can be generalised across a broader context)
• transparent (thorough detailing of research process, including data collection and analysis)
• clear about limitations (acknowledgement of factors limiting or impeding the findings, e.g., sample size or demographic, limited studies on the specific topic, research question too broad, data needs to be generalised to a different context)

Publication in a reputable industry journal promotes accountability and enables the study to be peer reviewed.

As a reader and user of research, it is important to examine the:

• methodology applied (systematic procedures to ensure the results are both valid and reliable … qualitative/quantitative/both)
• participant pool (the subject group within the study matches the target group outside the study)
• report of findings (clear, logical conclusion based on the results)
• study meets the criteria for quality research listed above.