Collecting qualitative data, for example through open-ended diary entries or interviews, could increase validity because it allows participants to express their thoughts and feelings in their own words. This provides a much richer and more detailed insight into their personal experience of mental well-being, which might be missed by a restrictive quantitative scale. It reflects a truer picture of their feelings, thus increasing the validity.
Validity refers to the extent to which a research method measures what it intends to measure. Mental well-being is a complex and subjective concept. While a quantitative rating scale (like the one in the study) is quick and easy to analyse, it can be reductionist. It forces a complex experience into a single number, potentially losing important nuances. Qualitative data, such as asking a firefighter to describe their day in a diary, allows for a much deeper and more authentic representation of their experience. This richness and depth mean the data is likely to be a more accurate reflection of their true mental state, thereby increasing its validity.
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