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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.

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.