Welfare State Classification: The Development of Central Eastern European Welfare
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| 4.3 Reliability and validity The data used in this study will be collected from secondary sources such as reports of the OECD, the World Bank and the European Union, but also by an analysis of the literature concerning the development of CEE welfare states. Much has been written about reforms of aspects of the particular welfare states by domestic scholars. With respect to the reliability of secondary literature and sources one can expect that scientific literature and reports by well known international organizations and institutions can be considered to be good. Much of the used literature and sources has been published in international scientific magazines with good reputations. Hence, the reliability of this study is guaranteed. Concerning validity of this research one can should make some remarks. Firstly, the external validity of this study, thus the fact that the results of this study can be generalized for the unit of analysis, can be considered to be fair. The unit of analysis, namely CEE welfare states, has been studied significantly in the literature. This research is based on those studies and can be considered to be a case study of the two welfare states. The developments in both Poland and Slovakia are analyzed; based on the findings of the analysis conclusions are drawn whether divergence or convergence of social policy is taking place. Again, these conclusions can be generalized, also because the literature (Cerami 2005 & 2006; Deacon 1993) shows that developments of CEE welfare states can be considered to be in line in all countries. So, if one can show that in Poland and Slovakia are developing towards hybrid systems, one can assume that in other Vizegrad countries this process is taking place as well. Secondly, the construct validity can be considered to be correct. In the literature, much attention is paid to the aspects of the welfare state which are analyzed in this research. 25 |