In qualitative research, there is no clear beginning, middle, and end to the research process. Data collection, analysis, and writing phases of research projects are often blurred and inherently iterative. This presents big challenges for doctoral students trying to complete qualitative dissertations. Each of the phases of research informs one another and introduces a messiness into the process that doctoral students undergoing their first major research project can find disorienting and confusing. While you will not necessarily “finish” data collection and analysis before moving forward with writing up the findings and results of your dissertation, the reality is that many students tend to move toward the significant writing of their findings following the competition of data collection and analysis. In today’s post, I want to provide some suggestions for how to know you are finished with qualitative data collection.