researched by giving accurate description toward the phenomena and presenting accurate data which supported the description.
In order to raise the degree of internal validity, the questionnaire and interview were conducted under the same environmental conditions,
using the same instruments, and by the same researchers. The instruments used were also generated from trustworthy source, that the questionnaire
were taken from Oxford‘s SILL 1990 that had been used time after time, whilst t
he interview questions were derived from Oxford‘s concepts of learning strategies and based on questionnaire itself.
b. External validity
Newman and Benz 1998: 33 further define external validity as the extent to which the results of the research study can be generalized to
other settings or groups. Cohen 2000: 109 mentions that external validity refers to the degree to which the results can be generalized to the wider
population, cases, or situations. Based on these claims above, external validity was the extent in which the result of the research could be
generalized over broader field where the subjects of the research were addressed.
As the main goal of this study was to present information about freshmen students‘ learning strategies, the result of this study was
expected to represent how freshmen students of English department of State University of Yogyakarta used learning strategies on their learning.
2. Validity in Qualitative Research
This part would discussed the validity for qualitative research in order to raise the degree of validity itself. Maxwell in Cohen
et al
. 2000:107 proposes five kinds of validity in qualitative methods, they are:
1 descriptive validity, 2 interpretative validity, 3 theoretical validity, 4 generalizability and, 5 evaluative validity.
a. Descriptive validity
Maxwell in Cohen
et al
. 2000:107 argues descriptive validity is the factual accuracy of the account, which is not made up, selective or
distorted. On the other hand, it is akin to what actually happened objectively factual.
In order to reach descriptive validity, there would be no change from the questionnaire that had been collected. There would also be no
change from the interview‘s result. The data would be presented as they are without any change. There was no setting to the population. This study
would only present how things work as they were and without placing any neither setting nor adjustment. By describing things that happened as they
were in the process of collecting data, it was expected that the descriptive validity would be reached.
b. Interpretative validity
Maxwell in Cohen
et al
. 2000:107 argues interpretative validity as the ability of the research to catch the meaning, interpretations, terms,
intentions that situations and events have for the participantssubjects themselves, in their terms.
