EBL 101


 


Research Methods: Triangulation 


 


Virginia
Wilson 


Director,
Centre for Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (C-EBLIP) 


University
Library 


University
of Saskatchewan 


Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan, Canada 


Email:
virginia.wilson@usask.ca


 


Received: 11
Feb. 2014   Accepted: 16 Feb. 2014


 


 


 2014 Wilson. This is an Open Access article
distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons-Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike License 2.5 Canada (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ca/), which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly attributed, not used for commercial purposes, and, if transformed, the
resulting work is redistributed under the same or similar license to this one.




 





 











Triangulation refers to using more than one
particular approach when doing research in order to get richer, fuller data
and/or to help confirm the results of the research. Denzin via Flick (2002)
points out four different types of triangulation:


 


	Data triangulation: using different
     sources of data. This includes different times for data collection,
     difference places from which to collect the data, and different people who
     could be involved in the research study. Flick (2002) indicates that “the
     starting point is to purposively and systematically involve personas and
     study groups, local and temporal settings in the study” (p. 226).
	Investigator triangulation: using several
     people (or at least more than one) in the data gathering and data analysis
     processes. This would be a “systematic comparison of different
     researchers’ influences on the issue and the results of the research”
     (Flick, 2002, p. 226).
	Theory triangulation: approaching the
     data with multiple theories or perspectives in mind to “extend the
     possibilities for producing knowledge” (Flick, 2002, p. 227).
	Methodological triangulation: two
     subtypes are noted – within-method and between-method. Using more than one
     method to gather data. 



 


Triangulation initially was undertaken as a
way to increase the validity of research results. However, Flick (2002) states
that “triangulation is less a strategy for validating results and procedures
than an alternative to validation which increases scope, depth and consistency
in methodological proceedings” (p. 227). Triangulation can be used in
quantitative and qualitative research and it even seems as though triangulation
is just another term for mixed-methods research. The Journal of Mixed Methods Research has a special issue devoted to
analyzing and exploring the various ways triangulation is used in mixed-methods
research, obviously differentiating the two terms. This topic was chosen for
the special issue “based on the claims made by many scholars in the field that
triangulation provides a justification for the use of mixed methods” (Mertens
& Hesse-Biber, 2012, p. 76). 


 


Triangulation has been taken to task on a
couple of occasions. Given the philosophical and epistemological nature of the
various positions taken regarding triangulation, it is too complex to delve
into in this relatively brief column. In brief, triangulation has been
criticized for “subscribing to a naive realism that implies that there can be a
single definitive account of the social world” as well as for assuming that
“sets of data deriving from different research methods can be unambiguously
compared and regarded as equivalent” (Bryman, 2004, p. 3). Despite possible
controversies, triangulation in whatever form it takes (although the most
common is probably methodological triangulation), has become a staple in social
science research.


 


Examples of studies using triangulation:


 


Wahl, D., Avery, B., & Henry, L. (2013). Studying distance
students: Methods, findings, actions. Journal of Library & Information Services
in Distance Learning7 (1-2), 183-209. doi: 10.1080/1533290X.2012.705656


 


Zuze, H. & Weideman, M. (2013). Keyword stuffing and the big three search engines. Online Information Review37(2),268-286. doi: 10.1108/OIR-11-2011-0193


 


Bitso, C. & Fourie, I. (2012). An
investigation of information-seeking behaviour of geography teachers for an
information service intervention: The case of Lesotho. Information Research17(4). Retrieved 23 Feb. 2014 from http://www.informationr.net/ir/17-4/paper549.html#.Uwo1i-ZFDIU
 


 


Resources:


 


O’Cathain,
A., Murphy, E., & Nicholl,J. (2010). Three techniques for integrating data
in mixed methods studies. BMJ 341 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c4587
(Published 17 September 2010). 


 


Denzin, N. K. (19708). Strategies of
multiple triangulation. In N. K. Denzin (Ed.), The research act: A theoretical introduction to sociological methods.
(pp.). Chicago, IL: Aldine.


 


 


References


 


Bryman, A. (2004). Triangulation and measurement. Retrieved 11 Feb.
20134 from http://www.referenceworld.com/sage/socialscience/triangulation.pdf



 


Flick, U. (2002). An
introduction to qualitative research (2nd ed.). London: Sage Publications.


 


Mertens, D. M. & Hesse-Biber, S. (2012). Triangulation and mixed
methods research: Provocative positions. Journal
of Mixed Methods Research 6(2), 75-79. doi:10.1177/1558689812437100