Combatting Challenges to Establishing Trustworthiness in Qualitative Research

Member checks are widely utilized in qualitative research for soliciting participant insight on research findings. Although they are appraised as the gold standard for establishing trustworthiness, limited description and detail exist regarding how to actually conduct member checks. In light of this gap in the literature, this paper introduces a novel set of concrete strategies to increase the utility of member checks as a viable technique for researchers in establishing trustworthiness. These strategies include: (a) understanding the population, (b) conveying the data analysis process, (c) reconstructing data collection memories and being open to change, (d) comparing themes, and (e) incorporating member checks into the data analysis process. I illustrate each step with an example from a research project that solicited member checks from students. This procedure can be used with a number of different populations, and with a variety of qualitative data.