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This study examines the strengths and limitations of 22 published journal articles by conducting a systematic literature review. The review revealed that the qualitative approach was flexible, offered in-depth and detailed information, allowed the use of multiple data collection methods and minimised the chance of having missing data. The approach was found (i) to integrate human touch, was cost-effective and was indeed the only option in some cases of research problems; (ii) to be prone to researchers’ subjectivity, involves complex data analysis, makes anonymity difficult and has limited scope in its generalizability, and (iii) to make replication of findings challenging, and the findings may be influenced by the researcher’s bias. It is concluded, therefore, that researchers should take necessary precautions when using the approach to ensure that the weaknesses of qualitative research do not bar them from achieving research objectives.

Novice and experienced researchers may encounter numerous methodological challenges when it comes to data collection. Data have to be collected from the right sources using appropriate data collection tools to make research studies impactful. There are numerous data collection methods that researchers may use but not all methods are appropriate for all research studies. Choosing inappropriate research methods may result in invalid research findings and lead to erroneous conclusions. This means researchers have to carefully choose data collection methods to make their studies achieve their respective goals. This study intended to identify factors that researchers have to consider in choosing data collection methods. A systematic literature review was used to analyze 28 journal articles published between 2018 and 2022. From the analysis the study identified ten (10) factors that researchers have to consider in choosing data collection methods. These factors are; the research goal, the scope of the study, sample size, type of data, time and user-friendliness to the subjects. Other factors are research approach, safety and security of a researcher, the need for triangulation and theoretical framework. Before choosing methods for data collection, it is important to put into consideration these factors to increase the chances of achieving research objectives and answering research questions of research projects.

This study aims to evaluate the factors that influence data saturation in qualitative studies. The study adopted a systematic literature review of 24 journal articles published between 2018 and 2022. The articles were obtained from a Google scholar database.  The findings point to five factors that affect data saturation namely, pre-determined codes and themes, sample size, relevancy of research subjects (respondents), number of research methods, and length of data collection sessions. It is argued in this paper, therefore, that in order to attain data saturation, researchers should consider multiple factors that may affect data saturation in order to increase the validity of qualitative studies.