He further concludes that because of the assumptions underlying naturalistic enquiry the traditional concerns for objectivity, validity and reliability have little relevance for the design of the research. The validity of the findings is related to the careful recording and continual verification of the data that the researcher undertakes during the investigative practice. Judgments on what may be significant to the study is deferred until the orienting phase of the field study is completed. Confirmability is only one of four factors that establish trustworthiness for Talbot, however, the other factors being credibility, transferability, and dependability. This definition leans far too heavily on quantitative means in calling for a representation of empirical reality but is explicitly written and comprehensive in description in all other respects.
Credibility depends on how accurately the subject is identified and described.
Transferability is noted to be impossible from the stance of external validity, but is greatly assisted by providing the greatest possible range of information, and thick descriptive data. The applicability of one set of findings to another setting rests more with the later researcher making the transfer than the original researcher. The authors point out that dependability is difficult to predict in a changing social world. In establishing dependability, the researcher attempts to account for changing conditions in the phenomenon chosen for study as well as changes in the design created by increasingly refined understanding of the setting. The research question in grounded theory is a statement that identifies the phenomenon to be studied.