Saturation
Justify sufficiency in relation to the analysis
Saturation describes a judgement that additional data no longer develops a specified aspect of the analysis. Code saturation concerns identifying issues; meaning saturation concerns understanding their dimensions; theoretical saturation concerns developed grounded theory categories and relationships. These are not interchangeable stopping rules. Some interpretive approaches, including reflexive thematic analysis, question saturation as an appropriate universal quality criterion.
Use when the chosen qualitative tradition supports saturation and the research team can document how additional data affect codes, meanings or theoretical categories as collection proceeds.
Strengths
- Connects sampling decisions to analytical progress
- Makes distinctions between breadth and depth explicit
Limitations
- Retrospective claims can be unsupported or circular
- A narrow recruitment pool can appear saturated while missing other perspectives
Know the boundary
Repeated topics are not automatically theoretical saturation or proof of a complete account.