Table 3 Commonality, type and counts of sample size justifications across journals
Commonality of justifications across journals | Qualitatively different justifications | BMJ | BJHP | SHI | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Justifications shared by all 3 journals | 1. Saturation | 7 | 20 | 19 | 46 |
2. Pragmatic considerations | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | |
Justifications shared by 2 journals | 3. Qualities of the analysis | 1 | 6 | 0 | 7 |
4. Meet sampling requirements | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | |
5. Sample size guidelines | 0 | 5 | 1 | 6 | |
6. In line with existing research | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
7. Richness and volume of data | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
Justifications found in 1 journal only | 8. Meet research design requirements | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
9. Researchers’ previous experience | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
10. Nature of study | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
11. Further sampling to check findings consistency | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Total | 17 | 37 | 29 | 83 |