Abstract
As qualitative methods instructors, we recognize the importance of offering clear guidance—both to our students and to the field more broadly—on how to navigate the ambiguous, diffuse terrain of quality in qualitative research. Accordingly, in this paper, we present a set of considerations that qualitative researchers might draw upon as they construct claims of trustworthiness. We first foreground several foundational understandings that inform the notion of trustworthiness, as grappling with these concepts is critical to articulating how trustworthy qualitative research is designed, interpreted, and represented. We then turn to contemporary HRD literature to examine how trustworthiness has typically been described, operationalized, and justified within the field, as this abbreviated review helps to locate and ground the conversation in existing scholarship. Building on this understanding, we translate some conceptual discussions on trustworthiness into practical considerations and offer key considerations for qualitative researchers in HRD to address trustworthiness in their own studies.
Across more than a decade of teaching qualitative research methods to graduate students, we have found that one of the most persistent challenges is helping students determine what counts as
Such debates have ranged from critiques of Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) early conceptions of trustworthiness criteria as being steeped in positivist assumptions (Shenton, 2004) to concerns that “big tent” or universal markers of quality (Tracy, 2010) are not necessarily suitable across the vast array of qualitatve methodologies and methods (Lester & O’Reilly, 2021). More recently, Van Cleave et al. (2025) advanced the idea that “trustworthiness” is not necessarily “an inherent production of high-quality research practices” (p. 1); rather, it is a “writerly accomplishment” (p. 2). That is, they suggested that: “Researchers provide the appearance of trustworthiness in how they represent various aspects of the research process in the writing, including turning people into participants, eliding research events considered ‘irrelevant,’ making decisions about inclusion” (p. 2).
The field of HRD has not been exempted from these broader debates, nor from the range of ways in which trustworthiness in qualitative inquiry has been conceptualized and enacted. As qualitative methods instructors, we recognize the importance of offering clear guidance—both to our students and to the field more broadly—on how to navigate the ambiguous, diffuse terrain of quality in qualitative research. Accordingly, in this paper, we present a set of considerations—or, perhaps more aptly,
Foundations and Evolving Perspectives on Trustworthiness
A longstanding impetus for considering trustworthiness in qualitative research is to ensure that a study’s findings reflect understandable, legible, and transparent conclusions about participants’ experiences or perceptions (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Indeed, when designing qualitative research studies, scholars have often built trustworthiness by employing different practices throughout the research process. These practices have historically included the use of rich, thick description in presenting one’s findings (Geertz, 1973), engaging participants in various forms of member-checking (Birt et al., 2016; McKim, 2023), producing audit trails to describe analytic decisions (Halpern, 1983; Huberman & Miles, 2002), and by intentionally reflecting on the researcher’s subjectivities to take note of how they influenced the research process (Peshkin, 1988), among many others.
In a special issue devoted to quality in qualitative research, Lester and O’Reilly (2021) contended that the production of high-quality qualitative findings depends on methodological specificity; that is, on practices and considerations grounded in the particular qualitative approach rather than on the uncritical application of universal criteria. Quality in this sense can be thought of as conceptually linked to the notion of trustworthy qualitative research. Taken together, practices aimed at establishing trustworthiness—ranging from universal criteria (Tracy, 2010) to methodology-specific approaches (Lester & O’Reilly, 2021) to intra active, writerly enactments of rigor (Van Cleave et al., 2025)—invite readers to evaluate the quality of qualitative claims through the author’s representational practices and interpretive rendering of qualitative data.
Notably, Lincoln and Guba (1985) produced some of the earliest writing on this topic, and introduced five criteria—credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability, and authenticity—to articulate how qualitative researchers might demonstrate the quality of their work. They argued that “the basic issue in relation to qualitative research is one of trustworthiness” (p. 289), proposing a framework of trustworthiness that addressed how qualitative researchers might make claims about quality and rigor. One reason these criteria were developed reflected recognition among early qualitative methodologists that the concepts of reliability and validity, widely associated with quantitative traditions, could not align epistemologically with qualitative inquiry (Goetz & LeCompte, 1984). Rather than attempting to retrofit qualitative work into quantitative evaluative logics, Lincoln and Guba articulated a set of criteria grounded in the philosophical assumptions and methodological commitments of qualitative research. Their effort was not merely defensive but generative, as it helped formalize a language through which qualitative researchers could describe what high-quality qualitative research looks like
Trustworthiness in Qualitative Research as Conceptualized by Lincoln and Guba (1985)
Credibility refers to the “truth” or plausibility of the findings—specifically, whether they offer a compelling and faithful account of participants’ experiences or perspectives. This criterion parallels concerns associated with internal validity, though adapted for qualitative inquiry. One can enhance credibility through prolonged engagement with participants, persistent observation, triangulation (using multiple data sources or methods), member checking, peer debriefing, and negative case analysis.
Transferability concerns the extent to which findings apply to other contexts or groups. It is often conceptualized as
Dependability addresses the consistency or stability of the research process. In practice, one demonstrates this through transparent documentation of the key decisions made throughout the study—often referred to as an audit trail. Akkerman et al. (2008) formalized an audit procedure to guide both the researcher’s record-keeping and the auditor’s review, emphasizing the importance of linking final interpretations back to the data at each analytic step. The research procedure builds on earlier recommendations to systematically document connections between data, analysis, and interpretation (Halpern, 1983; Schwandt & Halpern, 1988).
Confirmability concerns the degree to which findings reflect participants rather than researcher bias. Achieving confirmability requires reflexivity and transparency in analytic processes (Finlay, 2002). Reflexivity asks researchers to examine how their own subjectivities, positionalities, and contexts shape the inquiry (Olmos-Vega et al., 2022). Through reflexive practice and clear documentation, researchers demonstrate how they arrived at interpretations and how their perspectives influenced the analytic process.
Authenticity refers to the fair and faithful representation of the range of realities and perspectives present in a study. It involves ensuring that participants’ voices, experiences, and viewpoints have sufficient depth, nuance, and respect. Scholars achieve authenticity through practices such as member checking and reflexive writing, which help ensure that interpretations do justice to participants’ accounts and acknowledge the researcher’s influence in shaping them.
Taken together, we suggest that these five criteria continue to offer useful vocabulary for articulating practices of trustworthiness, particularly as related to concerns about quality and rigor in qualitative research. At the same time, as subsequent scholarship has made clear, trustworthiness is not established through the mechanical application of criteria alone but through situated, interpretive, and methodologically aligned research practices. In this sense, Lincoln and Guba’s framework provides an important conceptual foundation. At the same time, contemporary approaches invite researchers to consider how particular qualitative traditions and analytic contexts influence the enactment of trustworthiness.
Definitions of Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness Practices in HRD Research
Trustworthiness Practices in Qualitative Studies in HRDQ
Given the diverse definitions and practices for establishing trustworthiness in qualitative research, we see a need to articulate what trustworthiness means, the key considerations commonly invoked, and the practical practices researchers might employ to construct it. We ground our discussion in HRD research as a starting point, while recognizing that these issues extend well beyond the field. Importantly, we do not present a fixed or exhaustive set of criteria or practices; instead, we offer a set of starting points that reflect an evolving landscape and that can (and should) be adapted, expanded, and reinterpreted across qualitative traditions.
Key Considerations for Trustworthiness
Key Questions for Conducting Trustworthy Qualitative HRD Research
First and foremost, establishing trustworthiness requires that a qualitative researcher make explicit how they conceptualize trustworthiness and why. This practice requires careful attention to the historical and contemporary literature on trustworthiness in qualitative research, as well as related concepts such as quality, rigor, and validity. This reflective positioning is essential and, we argue, results in more intentional, grounded, and rigorous qualitative work. As highlighted in Table 2, scholars might conceptualize trustworthiness in a variety of ways, which indeed reflect their own positionality, methodological orientation, and engagement within particular qualitative traditions. Hence, it is essential that, when designing and conducting a qualitative study, a researcher spends time reflecting on the core question: What does it mean to produce a trustworthy qualitative study?
Second and closely related to the first consideration, a qualitative researcher must attend to the practices that may be unique to a given qualitative methodology. The landscape of qualitative research is vast, and within it lies a wide range of epistemologically unique methodological and analytic traditions. Within such traditions, unique understandings of how to produce trustworthy findings are often articulated. While one can rely on universal criteria (e.g., Tracy, 2010) and a plethora of checklists (e.g., COREQ) to justify claims of a trustworthy qualitative study, we view this approach as insufficient. Simply checking practices off a list is insufficient and potentially problematic, as mechanistic approaches risk obscuring the epistemological commitments and analytic logics that distinguish one qualitative methodology from another.
Attending to trustworthiness, therefore, requires methodological sensitivity rather than uncritical application of universal standards (Lester & O’Reilly, 2021). For example, Williamson et al. (2025) introduced “practices of trustworthiness” in ethnomethodology and conversation analysis (EMCA) research, including unique adequacy, next-turn proof, and data sessions, among others. Braun and Clarke (2019) similarly provided a methodology-specific articulation of quality and rigor in reflexive thematic analysis, foregrounding reflexivity and analytic coherence. While there is certainly overlap in some of the ideas these authors introduced, there is also specificity linked to the underlying assumptions of the unique qualitative methodology, as in conversation analysis versus reflexive thematic analysis. Methodologically specific considerations include a range of design decisions, from the preferred size of a data set to the appropriate type of data (e.g., interviews, conversational data, visual data) to analytic practices. These methodologically specific considerations are central to building a case for the trustworthiness of one’s study. Thus, a qualitative researcher must attend to the core question: What practices and analytic commitments are needed to establish trustworthiness within the
Third, while generic checklists risk reducing trustworthiness to a technical exercise, we contend that some trustworthiness practices nonetheless span qualitative perspectives. These considerations do not override methodological specificity; instead, they offer flexible practices through which one can enact trustworthiness across diverse qualitative traditions. As such, a key question to consider is: What are some of the general and commonly enacted practices of trustworthiness that might be useful within a qualitative study? We point to several such practices here, recognizing that this is not comprehensive rendering but instead highlights those we have found particularly generative in our own qualitative work, including:
Reflexivity
Practicing reflexivity is central to producing trustworthy qualitative research. A researcher’s interpretations are always situated and shaped by their subjectivities (Peshkin, 1988), as “texts do not simply and transparently report an independent order of reality” (Atkinson, 1990, p. 6). Scholars can enact reflexivity in multiple ways, including memo writing, journaling, and the systematic documentation of analytic and theoretical decisions. Through these practices, researchers can work toward creating a transparent audit trail that allows others to review and make sense of decision-making processes that informed the analysis. We encourage preserving data and analytic records in ways that allow readers and other researchers to verify that “data exist … and that the interpretations have been made in ways consistent with the available data” (Guba, 1981, p. 88).
Carefully Select Data Excerpts
Closely related, trustworthy qualitative research requires that scholars support their interpretations with detailed and well-integrated evidence. Rather than simply asserting findings, researchers should include carefully select data excerpts (e.g., direct block quotes) and clearly demonstrate how interpretations are grounded in the data. At the same time, we caution against indiscriminate “data dumping” and instead advocate for the thoughtful inclusion of evidence that meaningfully advances analytic claims. Notably, how one presents evidence requires attending to the specific standards of the methodology. For instance, a conversation analysis study would present findings in a way quite distinct from an autoethnographic study, given that the underlying epistemological assumptions and focus of each would be unique and reflected in a researcher’s
Thick, Rich Descriptions
Regardless, detailed and thorough representational practices enable
Member-checking
Finally, while not all qualitative methodologies emphasize
Commonly Enacted Trustworthiness Practices Defined and Linked to HRD Studies
Conclusion
Trustworthiness is a multidimensional practice within qualitative research. Novice scholars, students, and those new to the qualitative research tradition have an opportunity to strengthen their research by attending to these different perspectives and approaches, and this requires grounding their work in a clear definition of trustworthiness suitable to their qualitative approach. Further, addressing issues of trustworthiness might involve adopting trustworthiness practices that reflect the tradition of their research rather than the templates of standardized checklists. Finally, achieving trustworthiness in qualitative HRD research requires researchers to engage reflexively in making decisions about their study’s design, data collection methods, analysis, and interpretation, and to commit to making their decision-making processes visible to others (e.g., readers, reviewers) for evaluation. By addressing the range of considerations central to designing trustworthy qualitative research, HRD scholars can overcome the anxieties associated with it and thereby make meaningful contributions to the field.
Footnotes
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
