Reflexive thematic analysis

• thematic analysis is a method for identifying, analysing and reporting patterns within data. it minimally organises and describes your data in rich detail. It also interprets various aspects of the research topic
• thematic analysis suits research questions relating to :

  • peoples experiences
  • peoples views and perceptions
  • understanding and representation
  • construction of meaning
• reflexive thematic anaysis

  • inductive
  • familiarisation - coding - theme development
• thematic analysis closer to a method than a methodology
• reflexic thematic analysis - flexible

  • not tied to a particular framework, so TA can be conducted in a number of different ways:

  1. inductive or deductive coding and analysis
  2. an experimental or critical orientation to data
  3. a realist, contextualist or constructionist theoretical perspective
• the importance of reflexivity

  • the theoretical flexibility of TA means that reflexivity is crucial to the successful implementation of TA
  • the researcher makes active choices
  • the research reflects on the assumptions underpinning their reading of data
  • be wary of unacknowledged assumptions
  • themes dont passively emerge from the data
• six phases of thematic analysis

  1. familiarisation with the data
  2. coding the data
  3. generating initial themes
  4. reviewing and developing themes
  5. refining, defining and naming themes
  6. producing the report
• semantic codes capture the surface meaning of the data
• latent codes capture the assumptions underpinning the surface meanings or use pre-existing theories and concepts to interpret the data