The Lincoln and Guba Criteria

The Lincoln and Guba criteria are a set of standards used to ensure the quality and trustworthiness of qualitative research. They focus on four main aspects: credibility (trustworthiness of findings), transferability (applicability to other contexts), dependability (consistency of results), and confirmability (objectivity and neutrality). Researchers address these by providing clear methods, detailed descriptions, staying true to participants’ perspectives, and checking findings with participants. Together, these criteria help ensure that qualitative studies are reliable and meaningful.