Auditing validity

Reporting on the audit procedure

In the 26 papers we reviewed, the amount of information available about the audit procedure varied considerably

The audit procedure is meant to increase the validity of a qualitative study, but this can only be the case when it is clear how the audit procedure was performed

In an audit environment, reliability of data means that data are applicable for audit purpose and are sufficiently complete and accurate

Applicability for audit purpose refers to whether the data, as collected, are valid measures of the underlying concepts being addressed in the audit’s research objectives

Relevance also bears upon the audit criteria, audit finding and the purpose of the audit procedure

The more an audit objective is judgement-based (like in performance audits), the more likely the audit evidence available is to be persuasive ("points towards the conclusion that