Is it time to stop counting on saturation in pharmacy research? Ideas for a new way forward

Abstract

The concept of saturation is commonly mentioned in pharmacy research, but there has been recent debate among the applied qualitative research community that challenges the appropriateness of this construct for many qualitative research efforts. This begins by describing the origins of saturation as a grounded theory construct and discusses how saturation is currently being used. Three challenges are discussed related to the use of saturation in pharmacy related to the epistemological, methodological, and practical use of saturation by pharmacy researchers and how they relate to the goals and reporting quality of pharmacy practice research The commentary describes how the concept of information power and established guidance on analysis quality can better justify sample size inform decisions about when to cease further data collection, hopefully increasing the transparency of reporting and supporting rigorous and coherent analyses.