Sampling Size: Qualitative Research

The aim of qualitative research is to ensure that the population in question is studied with sufficient rigor and above all sufficient depth to yield meaningful results. "There is a point of diminishing return to a qualitative sample -- as the study goes on more data does not necessarily lead to more information… qualitative research is concerned with meaning and not making generalised hypothesis statements" (Mason 2010:8). The advantage to large sampling sizes is that they are more representative as a whole and are less likely to be thrown off by anomalies: "for qualitative studies, where the goal is to 'reduce the chances of discovery failure,' a large sample size broadens the range of possible data and forms a better picture for analysis" ("The importance of a quality sample size," 2013, Unite for Sight). In the process of qualitative research, when a small sampling size is...
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