Confirmation and qualitative evidence-instances: justifying the use of qualitative research methods

Abstract

This article is a preliminary attempt in outlining the directions for a new approach in confirming qualitative research findings. The basic argument is that traditional Confirmation Theory may be applied to establish a firmer epistemological foundation for the acceptance of hypotheses within qualitative-ethnographic research. While all aspects of Confirmation Theory are not applicable to the qualitative case, because the probability calculus is not used in qualitative studies, the basic logical framework of this theory, nevertheless, may be utilized to establish the credibility of qualitative findings. It is argued, therefore, that qualitative research findings, as they bear on the confirmation issue, may be properly considered as a sub-set of traditional Confirmation Theory. To do this, however, requires the development of certain justification rules unique to qualitative research. Some of these rules are developed, and an attempt is made to show how they conform to Hempel's classic development of confirmation.