Are We There Yet? Data Saturation in Qualitative Research

TL;DR: The feasibility of conducting a multicentre randomised controlled trial comparing the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a non-operative treatment pathway with appendicectomy for the treatment of uncomplicated acute appendicitis in children is discussed in this paper.

Abstract: There are over 3,000 miles of navigable inland waterways in England and Wales, managed mainly by the Canal and River Trust, which promotes their use for various leisure activities. Canals have undergone a radical transformation in their use and purpose, from being important transport links in the 18th and 19th centuries, to largely being left derelict. During the 20th century, however, the canals have been transformed from an obsolete infrastructure into a modern leisurescape used by various individuals, groups and stakeholders. Concentrating on the canals of Northern England and Northern Wales, this thesis focuses on one of those groups on the canals who have not yet received sufficient academic attention, the holiday and leisure boaters. In order to research tourism, a temporary and mobile phenomenon, with the commitment necessary for an ethnographic research, this study develops a methodology, reflexive mobile ethnography that combines the mobilities approach and European ethnology, utilizing semi-structured interviews, participant observation and auto-ethnography for data collection. As no previous academic study has presented a comprehensive analysis of contemporary canal tourism as a lived and embodied experience, the present study extends our understanding of inland waterways tourism and mobilities. Theoretically, the study suggests studying tourism mobilities from the everyday life perspective – mundane tourism mobilities – and the data analysis shows that these are simultaneously material, embodied, temporal and convivial. A number of materialities have to come together in order to constitute mobile assemblages that make canal travel possible. These assemblages, such as boat-humans, move in the temporal canalscape, characterised by its specific – slow – tempo, but also engaging with the past in embodied ways. Furthermore, the canal temporalities are characterised by mundane socio-natural and socio-bodily rhythms, which are identified in the thesis through the rhythmanalysis of the leisure boating everyday life. The material and temporal practices of boating take place in the context of social interactions and their closer examination helps to redefine the boundaries of a canal boating community. This study therefore presents an analysis of the canal leisurescape where the human and non-human form various co-agencies and assemblages, experienced in embodied ways in the context of mundane tourism mobilities. The latter framework, as developed in this thesis, constitutes a theoretical contribution to mobilites studies by proposing to research tourism from the perspective of everyday life focusing on three key elements: time, place and practice. The work will therefore extend existing understanding of tourism mobilites, particularly in the ways in which they relate to embodied everyday life practices.

TL;DR: A comprehensive overview of perspectives on food systems change towards sustainability can be found in this paper, where the authors analyzed more than 200 peer-reviewed articles employing a fertile approach that combines both quantitative and qualitative analysis.

TL;DR: The authors operationalize saturation and make evidence-based recommendations regarding nonprobabilistic sample sizes for interviews and found that saturation occurred within the first twelve interviews, although basic elements for metathemes were present as early as six interviews.

TL;DR: This book discusses the design and implementation of the Responsive Interviewing Model, and some of the techniques used, as well as personal reflections on Responsive interviewing.

TL;DR: The Research Act as discussed by the authors is a textbook for methods courses and a major contribution to sociological theory, which teaches students the principles of research and how to construct and test theories by presenting four major approaches to experimentation: survey research, participant observation, life histories, and symbolic interaction.

TL;DR: In this article, the Foundations of Social Research are discussed, and a background to research is discussed, as well as research design and experimental thinking, and qualitative and quantitative data analysis are discussed.