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A simple method to assess and report thematic saturation in qualitative research

PloS one, 2020-05, Vol.15 (5), p.e0232076-e0232076 [Peer Reviewed Journal]

COPYRIGHT 2020 Public Library of Science ;COPYRIGHT 2020 Public Library of Science ;2020 Guest et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License. ;2020 Guest et al 2020 Guest et al ;ISSN: 1932-6203 ;EISSN: 1932-6203 ;DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232076 ;PMID: 32369511

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  • Title:
    A simple method to assess and report thematic saturation in qualitative research
  • Author: Guest, Greg ; Namey, Emily ; Chen, Mario
  • Soundy, Andrew
  • Subjects: Adequacy ; Analysis ; Data collection ; Data entry ; Datasets ; Design ; Empirical analysis ; Grounded theory ; Identification methods ; Interviews ; Mathematical models ; Methods ; Physical Sciences ; Population ; Qualitative analysis ; Qualitative research ; Research and Analysis Methods ; Research design ; Researchers ; Saturation ; Size estimation ; Social Sciences ; Statistical analysis ; Statistical models ; Studies ; Theory
  • Is Part Of: PloS one, 2020-05, Vol.15 (5), p.e0232076-e0232076
  • Description: Data saturation is the most commonly employed concept for estimating sample sizes in qualitative research. Over the past 20 years, scholars using both empirical research and mathematical/statistical models have made significant contributions to the question: How many qualitative interviews are enough? This body of work has advanced the evidence base for sample size estimation in qualitative inquiry during the design phase of a study, prior to data collection, but it does not provide qualitative researchers with a simple and reliable way to determine the adequacy of sample sizes during and/or after data collection. Using the principle of saturation as a foundation, we describe and validate a simple-to-apply method for assessing and reporting on saturation in the context of inductive thematic analyses. Following a review of the empirical research on data saturation and sample size estimation in qualitative research, we propose an alternative way to evaluate saturation that overcomes the shortcomings and challenges associated with existing methods identified in our review. Our approach includes three primary elements in its calculation and assessment: Base Size, Run Length, and New Information Threshold. We additionally propose a more flexible approach to reporting saturation. To validate our method, we use a bootstrapping technique on three existing thematically coded qualitative datasets generated from in-depth interviews. Results from this analysis indicate the method we propose to assess and report on saturation is feasible and congruent with findings from earlier studies.
  • Publisher: United States: Public Library of Science
  • Language: English
  • Identifier: ISSN: 1932-6203
    EISSN: 1932-6203
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232076
    PMID: 32369511
  • Source: Open Access: DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals
    Open Access: PubMed Central
    PLoS (Open access)
    Geneva Foundation Free Medical Journals at publisher websites
    AUTh Library subscriptions: ProQuest Central
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