Triangulation (social sciences)

Triangulation, a method used in social research, to ensure better quality of research and to reduce measurement error. It involves gathering data using two or more methods (such as observation with a survey or content analysis) and then compare and combine results. It can also mean combining qualitative and quantitative methods.

Triangulation can be considered as an alternative to traditional research quality criteria (such as reliability and relevance), especially in qualitative research.

Different methods allow you to test the same hypothesis and reduce the error load due to the limitations and drawbacks of the various methods. If the results are similar, they are considered more trustworthy and less error-prone.

Triangulation can also be used to deepen research, and in particular to broaden knowledge about the context of the study being investigated. Types of triangulation

Norman Denzin treated the triangulation more broadly, distinguishing four of them: Triangulation in ethnomethodology

Triangulation also means the method used in ethnomethodology developed by Aaron Cicourel and his colleagues.

Triangulation refers to the procedure of rewriting and explaining social interactions (in particular, verbal communication by their participants and researchers.) The communication process is first recorded (eg recorded) and then asked by the participants to comment on it (giving explanations of individual statements and This method is intended to reveal the reflectivity of the actors involved and the indexability of the meaning (the contextual nature of the communication).

This process can be repeated many times over the same communication, which is referred to as continuous triangulation. The researcher and the participants are creating different versions of the description, aiming at an increasingly perceptible sense of communication.

wiki