Leadership in an Australian Context: Highlighting a Qualitative Investigation with Construct Validity Support

Authors

Nezar Faris, University of South AustraliaFollow

Abstract

This paper highlights how criteria for validity that are usually utilized within quantitative research can be used to provide further validation to fully qualitative research. In this case, the qualitative research utilizes the grounded theory method. This research used the grounded theory to investigate leadership processes in the substantive setting of the Islamic organizations in Australia. The qualitative analysis of qualitative data generated a number of categories that were conceptually unique. Theoretical sampling directed the researcher toward data sources that provided further conceptual uniqueness. The similarity between some of these newly-generated categories and lower-order categories gave cause to claim convergent validity for the findings. Also, the contrast between other newly-generated categories and some lower-order categories gave cause to celebrate discriminant validity. The significant contribution in this paper is bringing convergent validity and discriminant validity to grounded theory research.

Keywords

Grounded Theory, Construct Validity, Theoretical Sampling, Constant Comparison Method

Author Bio(s)

Dr. Nezar Faris is a research fellow at the University of South Australia specialises in leadership and management with a focus on the context of Muslim organisations in the West. He holds a PhD in (Leadership) from Griffith University’s National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies (NCEIS). His research interests include Leadership processes, power procedures and transitions, ethical leadership, sense making and cultural complexity. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: nezar.faris@unisa.edu.au.

Publication Date

5-28-2017

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2756

Recommended APA Citation

Faris, N. (2017). Leadership in an Australian Context: Highlighting a Qualitative Investigation with Construct Validity Support. The Qualitative Report, 22(5), 1420-1438. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2756