I would suggest using the principle of saturation rather than searching for a predetermined number. There are many variables that will ultimately determine the actual number (topic scope & nature, homophily, etc), but running out of finding new or interesting discoveries before stopping the data collection might make sense in your case. ~Stu -- Dr. Stuart W. Shulman [1]http://people.umass.edu/stu Editor Emeritus, JITP [2]www.jitp.net Director, QDAP-UMass [3]http://www.umass.edu/qdap Founder and CEO, Texifter [4]http://www.texifter.com LinkedIn: [5]http://www.linkedin.com/pub/stuart-shulman/10/351/899 Twitter: [6]http://twitter.com/#!/StuartWShulman -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Air-L] Sampling for online qualitative studies From: "Rebecca Thomas" <[7]ret00009@students.stir.ac.uk> Date: Wed, April 04, 2012 2:01 am To: [8]air-l@listserv.aoir.org I am looking for information on establishing a sample size for qualitative research using asynchronous discussion boards to collect data. I have found only a limited amount of information on this up to now so would appreciate being pointed towards any useful sources of information. Regards Becky Thomas -- The Sunday Times Scottish University of the Year 2009/2010 The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159. _______________________________________________ The [9]Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers [10]http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: [11]http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: [12]http://www.aoir.org/ References 1. http://people.umass.edu/stu 2. http://www.jitp.net/ 3. http://www.umass.edu/qdap 4. http://www.texifter.com/ 5. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/stuart-shulman/10/351/899 6. http://twitter.com/#!/StuartWShulman 7. mailto:ret00009@students.stir.ac.uk 8. mailto:air-l@listserv.aoir.org 9. mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org 10. http://aoir.org/ 11. http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org 12. http://www.aoir.org/