Triangulation has become increasingly appealing to researchers in nurs
ing as a device to grasp the complexity of human phenomena, operationa
lize the holistic elan of nursing, and to accommodate both qualitative
and quantitative approaches to inquiry. Yet, a misplaced ecumenicism,
definitional drift, and conceptual misappropriation are evident in di
scussions of triangulation, which has become a technique for everythin
g. Moreover, the triangle is somewhat lacking as image and metaphor fo
r qualitative inquiry. As an idea and technique (in)formed by the tria
ngle, triangulation should be used only to refer to a distinctive stra
tegy for confirmation employed within research paradigms in which conv
ergent and consensual validity are valued, and in which it is deemed a
ppropriate to use information from one source to corroborate another.
(C) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.