Cited by 190Qualitative Research Methods and ApplicationsMeta-analysis and systematic reviewsQualitative Research Methods and Ethics

The quality of quality criteria: Replicating the development of the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ)

Buus, Niels, Perron, Amelie·2020·International Journal of Nursing Studies

Abstract

Background Using checklists to critically evaluate and report qualitative research is a common practice in the health sciences and there is currently a plethora of checklists available. One strategy for developing such checklists is to identify and amalgamate items from previous checklists into more comprehensive, consolidated ones.Objective This paper aims to critically review the credibility of a widely endorsed checklist of this type, the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ), by replicating the procedures that led to the consolidation of its 32 items. The original development of COREQ consisted of four phases: 1. A literature search and identification of a sample (n = 22) of references, 2. Data extraction through coding the references, 3. A simplification of an intermediate list of items, and 4. Addition of two items.Design and methods A replication of the four-phased development of COREQ. We used the reported account of the development of COREQ to replicate the procedures and rationale applied in the four phases. However, we were rarely able to replicate them completely because of uncertainty about the actual procedures. The problems with the replication indicated that COREQ's items were not credible because the coding processes were not trustworthy and because they decontextualized original checklist items and significantly distorted their meaning in COREQ's final list of items. We discuss the use of checklists by means of Haraway's figure of the "modest witness", which emphasizes that checklists can de-politicize research and create an illusion of rationality and objectivity.Conclusions Considering that COREQ is widely endorsed by scholarly journals, it is alarming that the checklist's particular technical and a-political approach to achieve more complete reporting of qualitative research and its particular perspective on what constitutes quality in qualitative research remains unchallenged.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2019.103452

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Authors
Buus, N., & Perron, A.
Affiliations
The University of Sydney (AU)
Corresponding author
Buus, Niels
Venue
International Journal of Nursing Studies
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-02
Volume
102
Pages
103452
ISSN
0020-7489 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2981609390
Cited by
190
References
51
Citations by year
2026: 38 · 2025: 39 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 7
FWCI
33.69
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • International Journal of Nursing Studies (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • University of Southern Denmark Research Portal (University of Southern Denmark) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Qualitative Research Methods and Applications
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
Keywords
COREQ, reporting checklist, qualitative research reporting, checklist development
MeSH terms
Delivery of Health Care, Humans, Reproducibility of Results, Qualitative Research, Checklist

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