thematic analysis

• Thematic analysis is a technique for analysing this qualitative data but without losing its meaningfulness. It allows psychologists to reduce large amounts of qualitative data into general patterns, trends and themes 
• Step 1:         Read the text carefully and identify any themes that appear frequently or appear to be important. You may need to read the text multiple times for the relevant themes to become clear
• Step 2:         Identify any categories within the themes eg positive/negative. These are classed ‘codes’. These codes can be combined into bigger categories
• Step 3:         Read the text again, but this time use the codes you have identified. This may just involve counting how many times each code occurs or the researcher could just pick quotes which demonstrate the main themes.
• Step 4:         The process is reviewed and the codes are adapted and refined until the themes can

  be stated, supported and used to summarise the data.
• Inductive - the researcher would read, and re-read the qualitative data gathered and themes would emerge from the data without the researcher imposing any of their own ideas or expectations from it.

   

  Deductive - the researcher specifying the themes that they will look for before analysing the data.
• strength - •       A way of reducing a large amount of data into a manageable summary and conclusion, without losing validity of the data, if the analysis is done well.

   

  •       If inductive approach taken it encourages the researcher to derive themes from the data, rather than impose pre-selected themes, which is likely to be more valid.

   

  •       Don’t need to learn a complex mathematical algorithm to be able to conduct this analysis.

   

  •       The results can be reduced to quantitative form.
• weakness - •       It is phrase-based and sometimes phrases cannot capture the meaning correctly.

   

  •       It is subjective, there might be researcher bias.

   

  •       Validity might be particularly affected if deductive approach taken, as themes will be imposed onto the data.

   

  •       Time consuming method of analysis as you have to think of how to categorise codes together and identify patterns to create a limited number of themes.