3. Thematic And Content Analysis

Question 1

What is the aim of thematic analysis ?

Answer 1

To summarise data without losing its essential meaning. To begin with the researcher will start with a hypothesis that they are looking to prove or disprove

Question 2

What are the stages of thematic analysis?

Answer 2

• data is collected through interviewing p’s through open questions and case studies etc.
• when all the data is collected detailed transcripts are made of the interview process and the researcher familiarises themselves with these notes
• the researcher then tries to identity and common themes that run throughout the data and a may use direct quotations to support their findings

Question 3

What is content analysis?

Answer 3

This technique takes thematic analysis further and quantifies the frequency of themes. This has been widely used in psych to analyse content of various forms of communication, including data from interview, questionnaires and observations

Question 4

What are the stages of content analysis?

Answer 4

1- become familiar with data by going through it several times
2- this helps identify any relevant themes/coding units that can be used to dissect the data
3- researcher then works through the data again and uses a behaviour checklist to tally frequency each theme occurs
4- this provides categorical (nominal) data that can be displayed in graphs and statistically analysed

Question 5

What are the four advantages of thematic and content analysis ?

Answer 5

• ease of application - easy, inexpensive, works with both primary and secondary data, doesnt need contact with p’s
• compliments other methods
• reliable
• ecologically valid - most data comes from real life/unstructured interviews

Question 6

What are the four disadvantages of thematic and content analysis ?

Answer 6

• difficult to make cause and effect statements - techniques not typically performed under controlled conditions
• availability of data - flawed results - limited by availability of material
• limited to descriptive findings - does not reveal underlying reasons
• can be difficult to summarise - much harder to summarise visually when in-depth qualitative data