A simple method to assess and report thematic saturation in qualitative research
A simple method to assess and report thematic saturation in qualitative research
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pone.0232076
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发表时间：
2020-05-05
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Chen, Mario
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Guest, Greg;Namey, Emily;Chen, Mario
数据饱和度是定性研究中估计样本量最常用的概念。在过去的20年里，使用实证研究和数学/统计模型的学者们在这个问题上做出了重大贡献：多少定性访谈才够？这项工作在数据收集之前的研究设计阶段为定性调查的样本量估计提供了证据基础，但它没有为定性研究人员提供一种简单可靠的方法来确定数据收集期间和(或)数据收集后样本量的充分性。以饱和度原理为基础，我们描述并验证了一种在归纳主题分析的背景下评估和报告饱和度的简单实用的方法。在回顾了定性研究中关于数据饱和度和样本量估计的实证研究之后，我们提出了一种替代方法来评估饱和度，该方法克服了我们在回顾中发现的与现有方法相关的缺点和挑战。我们的方法在其计算和评估中包括三个主要元素：基数大小、运行长度和新信息阈值。此外，我们还提出了一种更灵活的报告饱和度的方法。为了验证我们的方法，我们在三个现有的主题编码定性数据集上使用了自举技术，这些数据集是从深度访谈中产生的。分析结果表明，我们提出的评估和报告饱和度的方法是可行的，并与早期研究的结果一致。
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.