V. BRAUN, V. CLARK- MANUAL 2 THEMATIC ANALYSIS
What you need to become a good qualitative researcher:
Develop a qualitative sensibility- some skills that make up this sensibility include
interest in process and meaning, cause and effect of things.
Not taking things at face value. Asking questions.
Can step outside ur own culture and reflect. Put own thoughts aside.
Have double consciousness and can reflect on what’s being said to you. Can listen n think
simultaneously.
Reflexivity- can reflect on own role. Share group identity with participants.
Good interactional skills. Can develop rapport and trust.
V. BRAUN, V. CLARK- USING THEMATIC ANALYSIS IN PSYCHOLOGY
Thematic analysis is flexible.
Thematic analysis is a method for identifying, analysing, and reporting patterns (themes)
within data
If we do not know how people went about analysing their data, or what assumptions
informed their analysis, it is difficult to evaluate their research
thematic analysis can be a method that works both to reflect reality and to unpick or unravel
the surface of ‘reality’
CONSIDER THESE QUESTIONS WHEN DOING THEMATIC ANALYSIS-
What counts as a theme?
A theme captures something important about the data in relation to the research question
important question to address in terms of coding is: what counts as a pattern/theme, or
what ‘size’ does a theme need to be?
It doesn’t have to be something that appears very often or that respondents give a lot of
attention to.
Could appear in some sentences and not in others.’
‘keyness’ of a theme is not necessarily dependent on quantifiable measures / but rather on
whether it captures something important in relation to the overall research question.
A rich description of the data set, or a detailed account of one particular aspect.
the themes you identify, code, and analyse would need to be an accurate reflection of the
content of the entire data set
Inductive versus theoretical thematic analysis
Themes can be identified in an inductive or bottom-up way.
Or in a deductive or top-down approach.
Inductive approach means themes identified are strongly linked to the data themselves
Inductive analysis is therefore a process of coding the data without trying to fit it into a
preexisting coding frame, or the researcher’s analytic preconceptions
you can either code for a quite specific research question (which maps onto the more
theoretical approach) or the specific research question can evolve through the coding
process (which maps onto the inductive approach).
Semantic or latent themes
‘level’ at which themes are to be identified: at a semantic or explicit level, or at a latent or
interpretative level
With a semantic approach, the themes are identified within the explicit or surface meanings
of the data. Doesn’t go BEYOND.
What you need to become a good qualitative researcher:
Develop a qualitative sensibility- some skills that make up this sensibility include
interest in process and meaning, cause and effect of things.
Not taking things at face value. Asking questions.
Can step outside ur own culture and reflect. Put own thoughts aside.
Have double consciousness and can reflect on what’s being said to you. Can listen n think
simultaneously.
Reflexivity- can reflect on own role. Share group identity with participants.
Good interactional skills. Can develop rapport and trust.
V. BRAUN, V. CLARK- USING THEMATIC ANALYSIS IN PSYCHOLOGY
Thematic analysis is flexible.
Thematic analysis is a method for identifying, analysing, and reporting patterns (themes)
within data
If we do not know how people went about analysing their data, or what assumptions
informed their analysis, it is difficult to evaluate their research
thematic analysis can be a method that works both to reflect reality and to unpick or unravel
the surface of ‘reality’
CONSIDER THESE QUESTIONS WHEN DOING THEMATIC ANALYSIS-
What counts as a theme?
A theme captures something important about the data in relation to the research question
important question to address in terms of coding is: what counts as a pattern/theme, or
what ‘size’ does a theme need to be?
It doesn’t have to be something that appears very often or that respondents give a lot of
attention to.
Could appear in some sentences and not in others.’
‘keyness’ of a theme is not necessarily dependent on quantifiable measures / but rather on
whether it captures something important in relation to the overall research question.
A rich description of the data set, or a detailed account of one particular aspect.
the themes you identify, code, and analyse would need to be an accurate reflection of the
content of the entire data set
Inductive versus theoretical thematic analysis
Themes can be identified in an inductive or bottom-up way.
Or in a deductive or top-down approach.
Inductive approach means themes identified are strongly linked to the data themselves
Inductive analysis is therefore a process of coding the data without trying to fit it into a
preexisting coding frame, or the researcher’s analytic preconceptions
you can either code for a quite specific research question (which maps onto the more
theoretical approach) or the specific research question can evolve through the coding
process (which maps onto the inductive approach).
Semantic or latent themes
‘level’ at which themes are to be identified: at a semantic or explicit level, or at a latent or
interpretative level
With a semantic approach, the themes are identified within the explicit or surface meanings
of the data. Doesn’t go BEYOND.
