Retaining qualitative validity while gaining quantitative reliability and validity: development of the Transition to...

This article raises issues about the retention of qualitative validity while establishing psychometric estimates of reliability and validity for a scale that was developed from inductively generated concepts to assess and evaluate the learning needs and concerns of expectant parents in the trimester before their baby's birth. A set of practical procedures for pilot testing qualitatively based scales is described. The three procedures, which provide estimates of clarity, apparent internal consistency, and content validity, preserve the assumptions underlying qualitative methods. The ratings from these procedures have provided a base for item and scale revisions and formal quantitative testing.