Validity, reliability and generalisation in the research process Essay

Validity, reliability and generalisation in the research process - Essay Example In addition, the essay provides recommendations, which include a series of questions that could be incorporated into a questionnaire aimed at finding out why post graduate students choose to study HRM. In management research, validity, reliability and generalisation should be addressed in research with a lot of caution because it is tricky to distinguish them precisely. For instance, validity is defined as the relationship between test results on research with other objectives that the study seeks to achieve or measure (Wainer & Braun, 2013: 40). Therefore, researchers should clearly outline their research objectives. On the other hand, Schensul, LeCompte and Schensul (1999: 271) define reliability as the consistency of research results and the ability of such results to be replicated by other researchers. It is worthy to note that a measure may be reliable, but such a measure’s reliability does not ensure its validity (Rubin & Babbie, 2010: 87). It is imperative that business and management researchers should consider reliability and validity separately. This is because reliability is about consistency while validity is about truthfulness in measures (Jackson, 2013: 90). On the other hand, seeking to ensure reliability in management may distort the purpose of a study. This is because a researcher will design a measurement tool or process that will ensure the results obtained from such a study will be replicated by other researchers. This leads to a researcher’s slight deviation from the original purpose of the study, which may in turn, adversely affect validity. Separately, generalisation may be used in businesses and management research to contribute to theory. Therefore, in consideration of generalisation, management research should be designed so that it is properly conversant with theory to contribute to