Data saturation

1. Examiner comment: The use of in-depth interviews attracts questions about data saturation.
Considering the large sample size, the question is, at what level did you reach data saturation?
Positionality and Reflexivity should be explained as well. Considering your nationality and prior
knowledge, how did you balance your positionality and the actual reality on the ground?

Supervisor comments:?? Make sure you understand, data saturation

My response: Unstructured interviews, according to Hair et al (2019), are done without the use
of an interview sequence. By allowing the interviewee to freely and openly discuss the subject of
interest, the researcher is able to elicit information. A particular advantage of this technique is
that the researcher has the room to explore, in detail, the issues raised throughout the interview.
In the study, unstructured interviews were used to collect data from key employees on land
administration practice, functions, system, and land governance issues, to gain an in-depth
understanding thoroughly the answers provided by a few respondents. In-depth interviews were
conducted with 12 key informants in both town municipalities at all levels until saturation,
ranging from land administration employees of land registration experts, land valuation experts,
urban planning experts, and land servers to land administration department coordinators and
municipality managers at all levels of the municipality.

2. Examiner comment: How you purposively sampled your participants.

Supervisor comments:?? Show how you sampled it. Show how you applied purposive sample in
this study.

My response: this study employed a purposive sampling type and selected the key respondents
among the urban dwellers. In doing so, key respondents were first identified as the key
informants among sample urban dwellers from a municipal document related to the issues of the
study. Thus, from both towns, key respondents among urban dwellers were purposively selected
to participate in this study based on their active participation in the land administration services
and urban development program. These key respondents were sampled based on their knowledge
of land administration services and urban development programs, ensuring that the data collected
were relevant. The study aimed to collect deep and detailed information by selecting participants
who were actively involved in land administration services and urban development programs.
This required a thorough understanding of land administration practices and implementations
(see page 90 paragraph 3, line 5 in the revised dissertation).

Thus, from both towns, key municipal land administration employees were purposively selected
to participate in this study based on their long experience or knowledge in implementing land
administration practices (see page 91, paragraph 2, line 4 in the revised dissertation).

3. Examiner comment: Relevance of the sampling strategy to the study and what was done.

Supervisor comments:?? Show how you sampled.

My response: A significant reason for sampling is to obtain breadth of information from carefully
selected representations of the entire target population, as well as depth of information from a
smaller number of carefully selected participants (Patton, 2002). Therefore, it was easier and
more economical to study the sample than the entire population. Since, in this study, it was not
possible to examine each single element of a population, a sub-section of respondents was
chosen for the investigation to aggregate the findings. The relevance of sub-section sampling
enables researchers to collect more breadth and detailed information than by contacting everyone
in a population. This study strategically used the urban dwellers and municipal employees sub-
section to gather adequate data or information to provide a detailed understanding of the nature
of land administration practices, functions, systems, and land governance issues and their
implications for urban development. The researcher was able to devote time and resources to
gathering information from these urban dwellers and municipal employees to gain a breadth and
depth of perspective on how land administration impacts urban areas (see page 89 paragraph 2,
line 12 in the revised dissertation).

4. Examiner comment: Show clearly how and why the two sampled towns were selected as a case
study area. If they were selected purposely, show clearly why the residents of these two towns are reach
in information and different from other towns in the region.
Supervisor comments:?? Show why you say they had knowledge required for the study against
those you did not sample.

The study settings (i.e., the towns) were selected through purposive sampling. The researcher
purposively selected these two town administrations in the southern region of Ethiopia. The
researcher selected these two town administrations because they had relatively better exposure to
the implementation of land administration practices. Therefore, the researcher easily understood
the current situation and obtained information. The researcher also selected these two town
administrations due to their proximity to minimise time and budget constraints. The researcher
also selected this study place because of the relatively high availability of participant data from
urban dwellers and municipal employees regarding the challenges associated with land use
rights, allocation, and access in the implementation of land administration practices and land
governance issues (see page 95; paragraph 1 in the revised dissertation).