Saturation in Qualitative Educational Technology Research

Abstract

Saturation is a key construct used by qualitative research theorists as a way to verify the rigor and validity of a study. This study intends to examine how saturation is used within qualitative educational technology studies that addressed saturation. We selected journals which (a) follow a peer review process; (b) are considered influential in their fields and of high quality, as reflected in being in Q1 (first quartile) or Q2 (second quartile) in Scopus; and (c) publish qualitative research. The number of journals selected for this study was 20, and we selected 3 articles from each. The methodology in the chosen articles was interview-based, and the articles were published in the journal in the 5 recent years 2018–2022 (i.e., a 5-year review period). The research results indicated that 20 out of 60 of the participating studies paid attention to the definition of saturation, 25 out of 60 participating studies paid attention to ‘why saturation was sought’, and 26 out of 60 participating studies paid attention to ‘when saturation was sought’. All the participating studies paid attention to ‘how was saturation assessed’. The most-mentioned expression to indicate the achievement of saturation was the emergence of new information, themes, categories, and codes, where most of the participating studies used expressions related to this aspect.