The DOI matches its Crossref record; 8 of the 8 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Does Sample Size Matter in Qualitative Research?: A Review of Qualitative Interviews in is Research
Abstract
This study examines 83 IS qualitative studies in leading IS journals for the following purposes: (a) identifying the extent to which IS qualitative studies employ best practices of justifying sample size; (b) identifying optimal ranges of interviews for various types of qualitative research; and (c) identifying the extent to which cultural factors (such as journal of publication, number of authors, world region) impact sample size of interviews. Little or no rigor for justifying sample size was shown for virtually all of the IS studies in this dataset. Furthermore, the number of interviews conducted for qualitative studies is correlated with cultural factors, implying the subjective nature of sample size in qualitative IS studies. Recommendations are provided for minimally acceptable practices of justifying sample size of interviews in qualitative IS studies.
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“Additionally, in alignment with criteria provided by Marshall, Cardon, Poddar, and Fontenot (2013), saturation was obtained when the coding frame remained constant and analytic memos provided no additional insight.”
From Methodological Deficiencies in the Expert Testimony of Forensic Accountants: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Judicial Statements Pertaining to Daubert Exclusions (2021) · cites this paper as Marshall, Cardon, Poddar, and Fontenot, 2013
Citations
Cites
Handbook of Qualitative Research
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Sample size in qualitative research
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Morse, J. M. (1995) · Qualitative Health Research · doi:10.1177/104973239500500201 · Cited by 2,663
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Forte, A., Larco, V., & Bruckman, A. (2009) · Journal of Management Information Systems · doi:10.2753/mis0742-1222260103 · Cited by 300 · cited 1×
“Fort, Larco, and Bruckman [11] stated, “When themes began arising over and over in these interviews, we followed up by recruiting participants who have been involved in particular issues and policies” (p. 54).”
Background
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Vasileiou, K., Barnett, J., Thorpe, S., & Young, T. (2018) · BMC Medical Research Methodology · doi:10.1186/s12874-018-0594-7 · Cited by 3,115
“Nevertheless, claims of saturation were never substantiated in relation to procedures conducted in the study itself, endorsing similar observations in the literature [25, 30, 47].”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialLakens, D. (2021) · Collabra: Psychology · doi:10.31234/osf.io/9d3yf · Cited by 1,935
“Regrettably, principled approaches to justify sample sizes have not been developed for these alternative philosophies (Marshall, Cardon, Poddar, & Fontenot, 2013).”
Sample size for qualitative research
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Can sample size in qualitative research be determined a priori?
Sim, J., Saunders, B., Waterfield, J., & Kingstone, T. (2018) · International Journal of Social Research Methodology · doi:10.1080/13645579.2018.1454643 · Cited by 745
Metadata
- Authors
- Marshall, B., Cardon, P., Poddar, A., & Fontenot, R.
- Affiliations
- Georgia College & State University (US)
- University of Southern California (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Computer Information Systems
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2013-09
- Volume
- 54
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 11-22
- ISSN
- 0887-4417 (ISSN-L)
- 2380-2057
- OpenAlex
- W124963830
- Cited by
- 1,636
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 125 · 2025: 203 · 2024: 204 · 2023: 168 · 2022: 161 · 2021: 192 · 2020: 128 · 2019: 131 · 2018: 105 · 2017: 52 · 2016: 98 · 2015: 62 · 2014: 7
- FWCI
- 268.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Computer Information Systems (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Qualitative Research Methods and Applications
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
- Keywords
- sample size justification, qualitative interviews, qualitative research rigor, information systems research, number of authors
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