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Table 1 Measures to ensure trustworthiness

From: Stigma and mental health challenges among adolescents living with HIV in selected adolescent-specific antiretroviral therapy clinics in Zomba District, Malawi

STRATEGY

APPLICABILITY

CREDIBILITY

This refers to confidence and accuracy of the data and the researcher’s interpretation of the data [36-43].

â—‹ To ensure the credibility of this study, FGDs were used to obtain information from the participants

â—‹ The questions were rephrased, repeated or expanded on different occasions and probing was done where necessary

â—‹ The primary researcher spent adequate time with the participants in order to understand them better and gain insight into the phenomenon under study and their experiences during data collection

â—‹ Each FGD lasted for about an hour

â—‹ Data saturation was ensured

â—‹ Field notes were taken that noted gesture and other non-verbal cues

CONFIRMABILITY

This is the extent to which data collected from the participants was analyzed objectively such that if another researcher examined the same data, they would get the same results [33–40].

â—‹ FGDs were audio-recorded and transcribed the data verbatim for further analysis to ensure confirmability of the results

â—‹ Illustrative quotes presented in the results to support each theme and sub-theme, or concept also helped the neutrality our findings

DEPENDABILITY

This refers to the stability and consistency of data obtained and the extent to which this data is dependable over time and across conditions [35–42].

â—‹ To ensure this, we have given a comprehensive description of the study methodology such as study setting, study population and methods used

â—‹ The technique for data collection and data analysis have also been presented in this paper

TRANSFERABILITY

This concept refers to the extent to which the findings from the data can be transferred to other settings or groups (research situation elsewhere) [35–42].

â—‹ We have provided sufficient information about the demographic characteristics of the participants, the research setting in order to allow others to assess the transferability of the study findings

â—‹ Accordingly, we have provided a rich description of the setting and context where we conducted the study to make our results transferable to other areas

â—‹ To increase the transparency of the interpretation, coding categories are illustrated with direct quotations in the presentation of the results