Validity Procedures

Validity refers to knowledge which is well grounded and sound (most applicable), with as much objectivity as possible (least bias). These are promoted by fullest involvement in all types of knowledge or types of knowing and by questioning uncritical subjectivity. (Heron, 1996, pp. 57-61)

Promoting fullest involvement in research process.

• Commitment and Presence: An overall approach of committed to a full engagement in the cycle of inquiry and being present with feel empathy for the presence of other people and of the world.
  
  
• Imaginal openness; to be open and receptive to the inherent meanings which emerge through the inquiry process.
  
  
• Bracketing; to set aside our preconceived classifications which we often impose onto our perceptions so that we can be more open to the ‘meaning’ of events.
  
  
• Reframing; to try out alternative classification systems and mental constructions with the intent to see how these can reveal broader conceptions of people and the world.
  
  
• Dynamic congruence; to be aware of bodily behaviour while acting and how this is congruent (or not) with the strategy, norms, purpose, and values of the action.
  
  
• Emotional competence; to identify and manage emotional states so that action is free from influence of “unprocessed distress of earlier years” and “inappropriate conventions acquired by social conditioning”.
  
  
• Non attachment; to be committed to the planned actions without being attached, fixated, or “investing one’s identity and emotional security in the action”.
  
  
• Self transcending intentionality; while participating in one form of action to simultaneously have in mind other alternative actions and consider how these might also be relevant to the total situation.
  

• Research cycling; to research the topic through several cycles of reflection and action so that these progressively refine each other.
  
  
• Divergence and convergence; to allow the co-researchers to diverge over different areas of the research topic at some times, and to converge onto the same area of the topic at other times so that the entire research topic is explored more fully.
  
  
• Reflection and action; to maintain an equal balance between the reflection and action phases in the cycle of inquiry.
  
  
• Aspects of reflection; to maintain a balance among components of the reflection phase, so there is a balance between propositional (verbal/intellectual) and presentational (expressive/artistic) knowledge.
  
  
• Challenging uncritical subjectivity; Any of the participants should be authorised to question the inquiry group at any time about whether a form of uncritical subjectivity is occurring. These include
  
  • Not noticing or not mentioning aspects of experience which reveal the limitations of the conceptual model or programme of action being explored;
    
  • An unaware fixation on false assumptions which are implicit in the conceptual model or programme of action;
    
  • Unaware projections which distort the inquiry process;
    
  • A lack of rigour in method or in applying validity procedures.
    
    
• Chaos and order; Maintain an attitude of acceptance for inquiry phases which might tend to be confused and disorientated. These tend to gradually convert into new levels of order, but since there is no guarantee of this, they may feel risky. “Tidying them up prematurely out of anxiety leads to pseudo knowledge.”
  
  
• Managing unaware projections; The inquiry group “adopts some regular method for surfacing and processing repressed templates of past emotional trauma” (eg. in small groups or pairs, everyone reports on emotions which are accompanying the inquiry process) since these might be triggered by the research process and can distort thoughts, perceptions, and actions.
  
  
• Authentic collaboration; All members of the inquiry group should be “fully expressive, fully heard, and fully influential in decision making” so that everyone functions as equals.
  
  
• Variability in practice; Explore the research topic in as many environments and with as many different people as possible so that the research findings are widely applicable rather than narrowly explored.