Teaching · For Teachers

Show where saturation happened, with numbers.

Set the rule, then enter the new codes each session added in the order you coded them. The organizer works out new information run by run and writes the sentence your methods section needs.

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The saturation review

One review per study and date. The example is made up.

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What you get

Teaching · For Teachers$19 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
The base, new information in each run, the session where saturation was reached and a methods sentence, plus checks on depth and sample.
Who it is for
Teacher-researchers, graduate students, program evaluators and school research teams doing qualitative work.
Format
Browser form. One saved review per study and date; printed with the summary or as a blank tally; CSV of sessions; export and import a file.
Access
$19 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the For Teachers toolkit ($79) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The For Teachers space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
the curve flattens, then you stop
Drawn for this page. Saturation is the point where new sessions stop adding new codes; a stated rule says where that point is.

How to use it

  1. Set the base size, run length and threshold before you count.
  2. Code sessions in the order they happened.
  3. After each one, enter how many codes appeared for the first time.
  4. Read the runs; when one meets the threshold, check depth before you stop.
  5. Copy the methods sentence into your write-up.

Review a study

How saturation is worked out

The method

Guest, Namey and Chen (2020) define a base (the codes found in the first few sessions), then look at runs of the next sessions. When a run adds new codes equal to 5% or less of the base (or none, for a stricter rule), saturation is reached.

Counts and meaning

Code counts show when new topics stop appearing. Understanding those topics well, sometimes called meaning saturation, may need more sessions.

What this is not

A coding tool. It keeps the counts from whatever you code in.

Sources

  1. Guest, G., Namey, E., & Chen, M. (2020). A simple method to assess and report thematic saturation in qualitative research. PLOS ONE, 15(5), e0232076.
  2. Hennink, M. M., Kaiser, B. N., & Marconi, V. C. (2017). Code saturation versus meaning saturation: How many interviews are enough? Qualitative Health Research, 27(4), 591–608.
  3. Saunders, B., et al. (2018). Saturation in qualitative research: Exploring its conceptualization and operationalization. Quality & Quantity, 52(4), 1893–1907.
  4. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021). To saturate or not to saturate? Questioning data saturation as a useful concept for thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 13(2), 201–216.

The example study and counts are made up. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.