Advancing the research audit trail: A ten year retrospective

Abstract

Advancing the merits of qualitative research remains an issue of ongoing debate and investigation. The reconceptualisation of the positivist canons of validity, reliability, and generalisability to issues such as credibility, dependability, and transferability is emphasised by qualitative researchers who focus on the trustworthiness of their research outcomes. Carcary (2009) proposed trustworthiness in qualitative inquiry could be established through developing a physical and intellectual research audit trail - a strategy that involves maintaining an audit of all key stages and theoretical, methodological, and analytical decisions, as well as documenting how a researcher's thinking evolves throughout a research project. Since 2009, this publication has been cited in greater than 480 studies. The current paper provides a ten year retrospective on the use and value of the research audit trail. It discusses the author's application of the research audit trail across diverse research projects in the field of Information Systems management. Based on a critical reflection on insights gained through these projects, this paper advances existing guidelines for developing and applying the research audit trail in practice. As such, this paper demonstrates commitment to rigor in qualitative research. It provides a practical contribution in terms of advancing guidelines for ensuring the quality and transparency of theoretical, methodological, and analytical processes in qualitative inquiry. Embedding these guidelines throughout the research process will promote self-questioning and reflection among researchers across all stages of qualitative research and, in tracing through the researcher's logic, will provide the basis for enabling other researchers to independently assess whether the research findings can serve as a platform for further investigation.