Thematic Analysis

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This week I was reminded of the work by Braun and Clarke (2006) on thematic analysis. Why is this just emerging in my awareness now? Thanks to Leo, who pulled these to the forefront, I’m reading and making sense of how to make sense of the data in my research. Here are the articles I’ve found thus far, and what I’m reading. Thematic analysis is appropriate for my research since it is “understood as belonging to the phenomenological or experiential qualitative research tradition” (Braun & Clarke, 2021a, p. 39). Since I have identified discourse analysis in my research proposal, I will review further to see where these two methodological approaches differ.

Braun and Clarke (2006) introduce TA

Using thematic analysis in psychology (Bruan & Clarke, 2006, p. 87) defines and provides some guidelines for processes to follow when doing thematic analysis.

  1. Familiarizing yourself with your 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.

Braun & Clarke (2006) identify questions to keep in mind as I work through the data analysis (p.

  • What does this theme mean?
  • What are the underlying assumptions?
  • What are implications for this them?
  • What conditions are necessary for this theme to be generated?
  • Why is this theme referenced in ‘this way’ not ‘that way’?
  • What is the narrative or story these themes reveal about this research?
  • How does these themes respond to the research questions?

As I’m reading this, I am becoming less stressed about where I am in the research process since this I can see myself early on in phases one and two, with iteratively engaging and reviewing the data I’ve collected. This will take time and I need to ensure I dedicate as much time as it needs. [But I can’t delay or get distracted from this work either, which is happening more often than I care to admit!]

Braun and Clarke rename: Reflexive TA

In Braun and Clarke (2019) the authors revisit and rename thematic analysis to ‘reflexive thematic analysis’ as they outline their thinking over time since “many of the (problematic) uses and interpretations of ‘our’ approach to TA seem to be unknowing, unreflexive and indicative of some degree of conceptual confusion” (p. 590). They suggest that TA is not a binary nor a recipe for enacting research coding and analysis, rather an offering of utilizing a” “mix of semantic and latent, inductive and deductive” (p. 592) approaches. The provide key points to “facilitate knowingness around purpose and sensibility for TA, to inform better TA practice (p. 595):

  • Be explicit, thoughtful and deliberate.
  • apply reflexivity to unpack assumptions and positionings, and interrogate assumptions
  • be aware of differing approaches to TA 
  • be sure the TA approach suits your research purpose and frameworks
  • read other papers written by Braun and Clarke as found at https://www.psych.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/our-research/research-groups/thematic-analysis. html
  • be sure to “understanding what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and what the criteria for doing it well are” (Braun & Clarke, 2019, p. 595)

Codes and Themes

In Braun, Clarke & Hayfield (2022) the authors continue to explore and clarify conceptions and applications, particularly for coding and themes. They’ve changed the wording from ‘searching’ or ‘developing’ to generating codes and themes in order to better understand that themes are not found but instantiated through an active and reflexive process of reviewing, analyzing, and connecting – done through the cognitive efforts of the researcher(s). The “term ‘emergent themes’ is used in other analytic approaches” (p. 432) – for example for the inductive approach used in interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).

Braun and Clarke emphasize that topic summaries are not themes. A theme is a “central organising concept, the central idea of each theme. It’s like the sun in our solar system” (Braun et al., 2022, p. 428). Also, “when you’re doing an analysis, you don’t finish analysis, you stop” which again signifies and active and intentional process on the part of the researcher.

“The starting point for interpretation is recognising that you’re always reading the data from a position that assumes something, takes some things for granted. The meanings of the data aren’t obvious. What’s crucial is that you make sense of your data from that position. It’s not simply that you identify a pattern, but that you say why this pattern is important, what it means, and why you think it means that, and maybe what the implications of that are.

V. Braun, p. 434

What story do I want to tell about this group of people’s lived experiences?

From Braun, Clarke & Hayfield (2019) this is the question I need to keep at the forefront as I analyse and examine the codes, themes and data, but also that “the data have to provide the anchor for what that story can be. You can’t just tell any story about the data” (p. 235). Braun & Clarke emphasize that “story you’re telling is not an isolated story, you’re telling a story that sits in relation to other scholarship” so as I generate themes and story lines, I need to situate these into the fields of critical media, critical digital literacy, open educational practices, and teacher education. Surrounding and pointing to contextual features will be essential in my writing, as I generate and crystallize themes.

References and additional readings

  • Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
  • Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 11(4), 589–597. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1628806
  • Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021a). Can I use TA? Should I use TA? Should I not use TA? Comparing reflexive thematic analysis and other pattern‐based qualitative analytic approaches. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 21(1), 37–47. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12360
  • Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021b). To saturate or not to saturate? Questioning data saturation as a useful concept for thematic analysis and sample-size rationales. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 13(2), 201–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1704846
  • Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021c). One size fits all? What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis? Qualitative Research in Psychology, 18(3), 328–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2020.1769238
  • Braun, V., Clarke, V., & Hayfield, N. (2022). ‘A starting point for your journey, not a map’: Nikki Hayfield in conversation with Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke about thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 19(2), 424–445. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2019.1670765
  • Lainson, K., Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Being both narrative practitioner and academic researcher: A reflection on what thematic analysis has to offer narratively informed research. The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, 4, 86–98.