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Qualitative Research Resources: Special Topics

Find sources of qualitative training & support at UNC. How to search for and evaluate qualitative research, integrate qualitative research into systematic reviews, report/publish qualitative research. Includes some Mixed Methods resources.

Created by Health Science Librarians

Decolonizing Qualitative Research

Below are links to catalog searches about decolonizing qualitative research. The first one is very narrow and then they get more broad. 

Visual Methods

An Introduction to Photovoice With Communities That Experience Stigma

Carlberg-Racich, S. (Academic). (2022). An introduction to photovoice with communities that experience stigma [Video]. Sage Research Methods. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529608649

Sample Size/Sampling:

Because reviewers are not always familiar with qualitative methods, they may ask for explanation or justification of your methods when you submit an article. Because different disciplines,different qualitative methods, and different contexts may dictate different approaches to this issue, you may want to consult articles in your field and in target journals for publication.  Additionally, here are some articles that may be helpful in thinking about this issue. 

Bonde, Donna. (2013). Qualitative Interviews: When Enough is Enough. Research by Design.

Guest, Greg, Arwen Bunce, and Laura Johnson. (2006) How Many Interviews are Enough?: An Experiment with Data Saturation and Variability. Field Methods 18(1): 59-82.

Hennink, Monique and Bonnie N. Kaiser. (2022) Sample Sizes for Saturation in Qualitative Research: A Systematic Review of Empirical Tests. Social Science & Medicine 292:114523. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114523. Epub 2021 Nov 2. PMID: 34785096.

Morse, Janice M. (2015) "Data Were Saturated..." Qualitative Health Research 25(5): 587-88. doi:10.1177/1049732315576699.

Nelson, J. (2016) "Using Conceptual Depth Criteria: Addressing the Challenge of Reaching Saturation in Qualitative Research." Qualitative Research, December. doi:10.1177/1468794116679873.

Patton, Michael Quinn. (2015) "Chapter 5: Designing Qualitative Studies, Module 30 Purposeful Sampling and Case Selection. In Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods: Integrating Theory and Practice, Fourth edition, pp. 264-72. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, Inc. ISBN: 978-1-4129-7212-3

Small, Mario Luis. (2009) 'How Many Cases Do I Need?': On Science and the Logic of Case-Based Selection in Field-Based Research. Ethnography 10(1): 538.