Brief Description:
To make sure your research is effective, you need to determine how many people you need to collect data from. The people you collect data from are collectively known as your sample. The size of sample you need will vary depending on your goals and the method you are using to collect data.
Steps to Determine Sample Size:
Sample sizes can and should vary depending on many different factors. Johnnie Daniels’ book Sampling Essentials (2012) suggests using the following flowchart when considering sample size:
Where to start:
Generally, there are certain sample sizes that tend to be used with different methods. You can follow these helpful guidelines when determining a sample size for your research:
- Case study research: 3 to 5 participants.
- Individual interviews: 6-30 participants.
- Indigenous methods: varies, 5+ participants.
- Focus group research: 3 to 12 focus groups depending upon type of participants, 6 to 12 participants per group.
- World Café: 15-30 participants.
- Survey research, single topic community or national study: 400 to 2,500 participants.
- Survey research: multiple topic, national study: 10,000 to 15,000 participants.
How do you determine your sample size more specifically? Click through to the next section to learn more.