ABSTRACT
This chapter is about what many writers in both Europe, particularly the UK, and the USA refer to as quality (see Silverman 2005; Creswell 1998; Flick 2009; Mays and Pope 2000a; 2000b). While we recognize that the term is a value-laden one, we have chosen to use it as it seems to us to be an overarching term that encompasses many different views and perspectives. The literature abounds with debates about what quality is, how to recognize it and what strategies to use to accomplish it when carrying out a study. In this chapter, we attempt not only to acknowledge these but also to cut through some of them to get to the essence of quality. We begin by posing the main questions a researcher should consider when deciding how to ensure and document the quality of a study, and then go on to describe a range of goals, criteria and techniques for answering them. Researchers should not be bound to a specific viewpoint or set of criteria; instead, they should have a range of options through which they may establish and communicate their own perspectives and approaches to naming, knowing, and engaging the quality of a study.
