The logic of small samples in interview-based qualitative research
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3063786 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mira Crouch (0000-0001-9821-1209, UNSW Sydney, corresponding author), H Mckenzie (0000-0001-9998-6292, The University of Sydney, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 483-499 |
| Publication date | 2006-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Science Information (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0539-0184 • E-ISSN: 1461-7412 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0539018406069584 |
| OpenAlex | W1977543246 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 396 |
| References cited | 32 |
In a qualitative framework, research based on interviews often seeks to penetrate social life beyond appearance and manifest meanings. This requires the researcher to be immersed in the research field, to establish continuing, fruitful relationships with respondents and through theoretical contemplation to address the research problem in depth. Therefore a small number of cases (less than 20, say) will facilitate the researcher's close association with the respondents, and enhance the validity of fine-grained, in-depth inquiry in naturalistic settings. Epistemologically prior to these considerations, however, is the explanatory status of such research. From a realist standpoint, here concept formation through induction and analysis aims to clarify the nature of some specific situations in the social world, to discover what features there are in them and to account, however partially, for those features being as they are. Since such a research project scrutinizes the dynamic qualities of a situation (rather than elucidating the proportionate relationships among its constituents), the issue of sample size - as well as representativeness - has little bearing on the project's basic logic. This article presents this argument in detail, with an example drawn from a study of persons with a past history of cancer diagnosis and treatment
Argument (complex analysis · Contemplation · Epistemology · Naturalism · Naturalistic observation · Qualitative research · Representativeness heuristic · Sample (material · Social science · Sociology · Critical Realism in Sociology · Psychology · Qualitative Research Methods and Applications · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics · Social Psychology
Tracing trajectories
Violent, Revenge and Psychosocial Prison
Processos de Resiliência em Estudantes Universitários com Deficiência
How many interviews are enough? Do qualitative interviews in building energy consumption research produce reliable knowledge?
Reporting and Justifying the Number of Interview Participants in Organization and Workplace Research
When AI speaks
A Call for Cultural Sensitivity
Having Faith in the Sustainable Livelihood Approach
Influences on Covid-19 booster uptake among adults intending to receive a booster
Lived experience of diet-related health education in type 2 diabetes and hypertension comorbidity in The Gambia
TikTok y la caricaturización de la violencia en las relaciones de parejas adolescentes
Meanings of success and career aspirations among adolescent girls in Aceh
Promoting teacher training with digital technologies on pre-service teachers’ digital competence development in India an experimental study
The changing urban mobility and health risks in Africa
Unpacking the Penetration Gap
Tourism and depression
Broadcast Meteorologists and Personal Branding
Addressing challenges, approaches, and outcomes of university accreditation
Subjetividades de genero juveniles
Understanding the Australian Shi'ite Muslim Perspective on Ethics
Sentirsi bene, sentirsi bella
Why do challenges still exist in primary care for patients with spinal cord injury
Is e-business breaking down barriers for Bangladesh’s young female entrepreneurs during the Covid-19 pandemic? A qualitative study
Factors shaping female migrants to informal sector in Bangladesh
Understanding rural local government response during Covid-19-induced lockdown
“Just sort of treading water”
Covid-19 and offshore oil and gas workers
Alcohol Sponsorship and New Zealand Regional Rugby Unions
Ressentiment in the Manosphere
Strategic Flexible Working Arrangement
On-farm diversification strategies and improved welfare of the immiserated rural smallholder farmer
Webcam-use in the Nicu-setting from the perspective of Health Care Professionals and its implication for communication with parents
A Transformative Human-Centered Interdisciplinary Design of Entrepreneurship Education for a Technological Future
A Scoping Review on the Impact of Educational Technology in Agricultural Education
Vulnerabilities shape risk perception and influence adaptive strategies to hydro-meteorological hazards
Exploring Exploitative Practices in Overseas Labour Migration
No Man Is an Island
Distance education under duress
Challenges faced by informal caregivers of patients in a Nigerian hospital and implications for social work
Working conditions and wellbeing in UK social workers
‘If you do hold them to account, are you going to find yourself hitting more brick walls later?’
Climate change and migrant health in thailand
Chinese international doctoral students’ perceptions of publishing
Parental Involvement in early childhood education and care
Cultural and Cognitive Syntheses After Short-Term Music Study Abroad
“If It Bleeds It Leads”
Self-reflective empathy & multiple marginality
A Depth Deficit
The “sneaky vape”
Improving engagement in managing reintroduction conflicts
The representation of freedom in decisions
Gender drag and parody
“They’ll Give You a Second Chance”
The role of agency in social justice education
Understanding English graduates’ experiences entering the workforce
Formalising E-waste in Ghana
Framework for fostering just and equitable seagrass policy, management, and social-ecological outcomes
Taking the burden off
Gendered organisational impacts on women’s educational leadership aspirations in schools
Integrating information ethics into library and information science curriculum at a public university in Malawi
Language visibility in the public space
The Influence of Targeted Facebook Advertising Through Mobile Devices on South African Consumers’ Advertisement Perceptions
An Exploration of the Models of Public Relations
Developing as a post-PhD researcher
Exploring Women’s Experiences and Family Role Shifts Superseding a Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Suggestions for Developing Public Service Logic through a Study of Interactive Value Formation
Expert Perceptions on Anti-bribery and Corruption Policies in Sports Governing Bodies
Trainee engagement with reflection in online portfolios
The Use of Digital Comics in Foreign Language Teaching
Women Decision-Making and Responsibility-Taking of Criminal Lifestyle
Experiencing recent missionary evacuations
Polysemic Interpretations
Contextualized Religious Materials in Cyberspace for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)
‘I can’t feel like an academic’
Stakeholder perspectives on factors influencing the successful implementation of whole-school approaches to mental health
Pre- and post-pandemic attitudes toward participation in community-based initiatives
Of Benevolence and Unity
Between expectations and reality
Incidencia del consumo y marcas en la experiencia de bienestar subjetivo entre jóvenes
Students’ Beliefs on Translation Strategy in Learning German Language
“Everything has to be done in the Polish way”
Legitimizing processes
Outcomes of a community sector model of reintegration for people with complex needs
Care(lessness) in precarious journalism, before and during the pandemic
Twitch spouse
“White is Right”
Experiences of the Sustainable Design Cards
Silence on Social Media
Global Banking and Financial Services to Immigrants in Canada and the US
The reflexivity of innovators from Poland through the lens of critical realism
“Like They’re My Same People. They’ve Probably Been in My Shoes. . .”
Gender and Power
Room with a viewership
Lodging complaints against platform power
‘In this country my children are learning two of the most important languages in Europe’
Serving time
“Our Best Enemy”
What do we believe in? Rumors and processing strategies during the Covid-19 outbreak in China
Understanding the Desistance Journey of Female Drug Offenders in Singapore Through Their Lived Experiences
The Female Voice in Low budget, independent cinema of Australia
Interpreting qualitative data
Basics of qualitative research
What Is a Case?
The Discovery of Grounded Theory
The Quality of Qualitative Research
The Wounded Storyteller
The Discovery of Grounded Theory
Essays in Social Theory
Middle Class Families
The Sociology of Housework
The Quest for Universals in Sociological Research
The Sociological Imagination
Knowledge from What? Theories and Methods in Social Research
Counter-Predictive Research Outcomes
The burden of rheumatoid arthritis
Consequences of Realism for Sociological Theory‐Building
Sociological Practice
The sociological imagination
The Logical Structure of Analytic Induction
Family and Class in a London Suburb
Discordant Feelings in the Lifeworld of Cancer Survivors
The creation of protection and hope in patients with malignant brain tumours
Liminality
Cultural Sciences. Their Origin and Development
Social Realities of Loss and Suffering Following Mastectomy
Qualitative Research - State of the Art
The logic of small samples in interview-based qualitative research
Epistemology of Measurement
The New Frontier in Qualitative Research Methodology
Is anybody there? Critical realism, chronic illness and the disability debate
| Unique citing works | 396 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 19,8 |
| Citation span | 2006 - 2026 (21) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 393 |