Flowchart

Qualitative interview study design diagram template

A qualitative interview study diagram: research question, purposive sampling, interview guide, pilot, interviews, transcription, coding, themes and credibility checks, with a saturation loop. Adapt it, then export PNG, SVG, Word or PowerPoint free.

No

Yes

Define the research question

Literature and theoretical lens

Purposive sampling

Write the interview guide

Pilot interview and revise

Conduct and record interviews

Transcribe verbatim

Initial coding

Group codes into categories

Saturation reached

Develop themes

Member checking and peer debriefing

Write up findings

Discussion and conclusions

Previewed in the “Paper” theme; you can switch themes in the editor

When to use it

For a thesis or project built on interviews, the methods section has to say how data were collected, how they were analyzed and when collection stopped. The saturation decision loops back to sampling, which shows that collection and analysis alternate.

Make it yours

  • For grounded theory, name the coding stages open, axial and selective; the library also has a grounded theory template.
  • For thematic analysis, replace the coding steps with familiarization, initial codes, searching for themes and naming themes.
  • Add the number and length of interviews to the interview node.

Mermaid code

interview-research-roadmap.mmd
flowchart TB
    A[Define the research question] --> B[Literature and theoretical lens]
    B --> C[Purposive sampling]
    C --> D[Write the interview guide]
    D --> E[Pilot interview and revise]
    E --> F[Conduct and record interviews]
    F --> G[Transcribe verbatim]
    G --> H[Initial coding]
    H --> I[Group codes into categories]
    I --> J{Saturation reached}
    J -->|No| C
    J -->|Yes| K[Develop themes]
    K --> L[Member checking and peer debriefing]
    L --> M[Write up findings]
    M --> N[Discussion and conclusions]

Ask an AI for one with this structure

Send the prompt below to ChatGPT or Claude, then paste the whole reply into the editor; the code inside is detected automatically.

prompt.txt
Draw a qualitative interview study design diagram with Mermaid flowchart TB syntax. Define the research question, review literature and choose a theoretical lens, sample purposively, write the interview guide, pilot and revise, conduct and record interviews, transcribe verbatim, do initial coding, and group codes into categories. If saturation is not reached, return to sampling; if reached, develop themes, do member checking and peer debriefing, write up findings, then discussion and conclusions. Use a diamond for the decision and no parentheses in node text. Output only the mermaid code block.

FAQ

How many interviews count as saturation?

There is no fixed number. Saturation means new interviews stop producing new categories, and your thesis should say how you judged it.

Should ethics approval be on the figure?

For research with people, yes. Insert "Ethics approval and consent" before sampling.

Can I name the analysis software?

Yes. Add a line break and the software name to the coding node.

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Updated 2026-11-11