Pasca: Qualitative Research in Psychology: Using thematic analysis in psychology

Qualitative Research in Psychology: Using thematic analysis in psychology Virginia Braun & Victoria Clarke Published online: 21 Jul 2008. http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uqrp20 To cite this article: Virginia Braun & Victoria Clarke (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology, Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3:2, 77-101 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa Key words: epistemology; flexibility; patterns; qualitative psychology; thematic analysis What is thematic analysis? Thematic analysis is a method for identifying, analysing and reporting patterns (themes) within data. It minimally organizes and describes your data set in (rich) detail. However, frequently if goes further than this, and interprets various aspects of the research topic (Boyatzis, 1998). A number of decisions What counts as a theme? A rich description of the data set, or a detailed account of one particular aspect Inductive versus theoretical thematic analysis Semantic or latent themes Epistemology: essentialist/ realist versus constructionist thematic analysis The many questions of qualitative research Doing thematic analysis: a step-by-step guide Phases: 1. Familiarizing yourself with your data: transcription of verbal data: transcribing data (if necessary), reading and re-reading the data, noting down initial ideas. 2. Generating initial codes: coding interesting features of the data in a systematic fashion across the entire data set, collating data relevant to each code. 3. Searching for themes: collating codes into potential themes, gathering all data relevant to each potential theme. 4. Reviewing themes: checking if the themes work in relation to the coded extracts (Level 1) and the entire data set (Level 2), generating a thematic “map” of the analysis 5. Defining and naming themes: ongoing analysis to refine the specifics of each theme, and the overall story the analysis tells, generating clear definitions and names for each theme. 6. Producing the report: the final opportunity for analysis. Selection of vivid, compelling extract examples, final analysis of selected extracts, relating back of the analysis to the research question and literature, producing a scholarly report of the analysis. Pinning down what interpretative analysis actually entails Potential pitfalls to avoid when doing thematic analysis What makes good thematic analysis? So what does thematic analysis offer psychologists? Notes