Saturation
The point in qualitative data collection at which new data stop yielding new codes, themes, or insights, signaling adequate coverage.
Saturation is a stopping criterion used in qualitative research. As interviews, observations, or documents accumulate, the researcher monitors whether new material still generates new codes, categories, or theoretical insights. When additional data mainly repeat what has already been captured, the dataset is considered saturated. The idea originated in grounded theory, where theoretical saturation means categories are fully developed, but the term is now used more broadly to justify when data collection can reasonably end.
In a thesis, saturation is the standard answer to the question every qualitative researcher faces: why this many participants? Simply asserting that saturation was reached is weak. Instead, describe how you assessed it, for example by tracking when the final interviews produced no new codes. That evidence turns a convenient claim into a documented methodological judgment that examiners can evaluate.
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