Women's Decision-Making And Factors Affecting Their Choice Of ...

The qualitative nature of the study meant that only a limited number of
women could be enrolled as they were going to be studied in-depth (Kvale 1996;
Mason 1996; Miles and Huberman 1994; Patton 1990). Qualitative studies yield a
lot of data, and too many cases can become unwieldy (Bailey 1982; Miles and
Huberman 1994; Sapsford and Jupp 1996). The key point in qualitative research
is to stop when data saturation occurs (Morse 1995).
Sampling
Following transcription and analysis of the first few interviews, there were
some emerging story lines and themes. The researcher used the story lines for
selecting the next participants to be interviewed. This method of choosing
participants according to emerging theory, aims of the study, or theoretical
underpinning, is referred to in qualitative research as purposive or theoretical
sampling (Guba and Lincoln 1985). For example, in the study, the two first-time
mothers who were interviewed seemed concerned that they did not have any
experience of labour and delivery to have made an informed decision about where
to have their babies, they just assumed hospital would be best. The researcher
wanted to explore the finding further, hence, in the next two interviews, she
purposely chose women who were having subsequent babies. This was an
attempt to determine whether there was more to the decision than just the lack of
experience.
Other variables included as the interviews progressed were mothers that
were not married and women of different ages and educational status. For
example, one of the women interviewed in the hospital group, who was single,
mentioned that she had not discussed where she was going to have the baby with
her partner. This was an interesting point, and another one that the researcher
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