7.3: Thematic analysis

Question 1

A psychologist is investigating causes of offending. She interviews offenders who are in prison for violent crime. She asks them to describe their family and early
childhood, recording everything that they say. She also looks at information in the offenders’ court and prison reports.
Explain how the psychologist could continue her investigation by carrying out thematic analysis of the interview recordings (2 marks)

Answer 1

Possible content
• use the recordings to make a transcription of the interview
• use coding to initially analyse the transcripts
• review the transcriptions/codes looking for emergent themes/ideas that might be linked to
violent crime eg family violence, parental argument, alcohol misuse.
No credit for answers referring to pre-determined categories, codes, themes and/or counting
frequencies