Is 10 respondents enough to conduct a qualitative research? | 5 Answers from Research papers (2024)

FAQs

Is 10 respondents enough to conduct a qualitative research? | 5 Answers from Research papers? ›

Yes, qualitative research often requires smaller but focused samples, so 10 respondents can be sufficient to conduct a qualitative study, focusing on in-depth understanding rather than large samples.

While there are no hard and fast rules around how many people you should involve in your research, some researchers estimate between 10 and 50 participants as being sufficient depending on your type of research and research question (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).

Instead of stat significance the methodological principle used is 'saturation'. The standard in qualitative research is that it takes 12-13 responses to reach saturation -- meaning whether you survey 13 or 130 people, the number of insights/themes you get is the same.

However, a sample size of 5 may not provide sufficient data to support the research question or generate rich and detailed findings. It is recommended to have a larger sample size (10-12) to ensure that the findings are generalizable and can be used to draw broader conclusions.

It's often a good idea (for qualitative research methods like interviews and usability tests) to start with 5 participants and then scale up by a further 5 based on how complicated the subject matter is.

according to Guest et al. (2006) 6-12 interviews are enough for one qualitative research project.

In qualitative research, the number of questions typically ranges from 6 to 12, focusing on depth rather than breadth. These questions are open-ended to allow for detailed responses. - Interview Guide: Usually 6 to 12 main questions, with follow-up probes.

Determining adequate sample size in qualitative research is ultimately a matter of judgment and experience in evaluating the quality of the information collected against the uses to which it will be put, the particular research method and purposeful sampling strategy employed, and the research product intended.

If you don't have enough participants, you are not likely to get an accurate representation of the population you're interested in. If you have too many participants, while you are more likely to obtain more accurate results this raises concerns about how practical it is to collect data from a very large group.

Article Summary: In quantitative research, sample sizes are much higher than in qualitative studies, where researchers are not relying on statistics. Sample sizes in qualitative research can be considerably lower, even as low as 8-15 participants per segment.

Why is sample size small in qualitative research? ›

Samples in qualitative research tend to be small in order to support the depth of case-oriented analysis that is fundamental to this mode of inquiry [5].

Limitations of Qualitative Research

The volume of data makes analysis and interpretation time consuming. The researcher's presence during data gathering, which is often unavoidable in qualitative research, can affect the subjects' responses.

The average duration for interviewing in qualitative research varies but is commonly around 80 minutes, with a range typically between 50 to 180 minutes .

Therefore, while 15 respondents may be sufficient for some studies, a larger sample size like 40 respondents can provide more robust and generalizable results in quantitative research.

If the research has a relational survey design, the sample size should not be less than 30. Causal-comparative and experimental studies require more than 50 samples. In survey research, 100 samples should be identified for each major sub-group in the population and between 20 to 50 samples for each minor sub-group.

Qualitative Research: Target Population, Sampling Frame, and Sample. The target population is the population that the sample will be drawn from. It is all individuals who possess the desired characteristics (inclusion criteria) to participate in the doctoral project or dissertation-in-practice.

How Many Participants for Quantitative Usability Studies: A Summary of Sample-Size Recommendations. Summary: 40 participants is an appropriate number for most quantitative studies, but there are cases where you can recruit fewer users.