"Swimming with Sharks:" Techniques of a Multimethod Approach to Concept Validation

In social research, validation of measurement can best be achieved according to the level of agreement between two or more efforts to measure the same concept through maximally different methods; reliability can be tested through comparison of maximally similar techniques measuring the same phenomenon. The range of techniques which can be brought into play in the various forms of participant observation can be so wide as to provide an excellent basis for measurement validation; also, this breadth of technique can be combined with repetition for reliability assessment. In addition, then, to providing a general context for understanding human behavior, participant observation provides the possibility of effective validation and reliability testing of social measurement.