criteria for trustworthiness (verification) are credibility (for internal validity), transferability (external validity), dependability (reliability) and confirmability (objectivity).

Rigor, in qualitative terms, is a way to establish trust or confidence in the findings of a research study. It allows the researcher to establish consistency in the methods used over time. It also provides an accurate representation of the population studied.

Credibility in Qualitative Research Credibility is a measure of the truth value of qualitative research, or whether the study's findings are correct and accurate. To some degree, it relies on the credibility of the researchers themselves, as well as their research methods.

Member checking, also known as participant or respondent validation, is a technique for exploring the credibility of results. Data or results are returned to participants to check for accuracy and resonance with their experiences. Member checking is often mentioned as one in a list of validation techniques.