Thematic analysis (qualitive analysis) Flashcards
Step 1 of Thematic Analysis
Familiarising youself with your data
Transcribe verbal data
re-read writen data
re-listen to audio recorded data
all atleast once to familiarise with the data
may take notes on initail ideas but don’t start coding
the entire data is refered to as the DATA CORPUS
re-read that
data corpus
(thematic Analysis)
The entire data
all the data that you have collected for your research
Step 2 of Thematic Analysis
Generating initial Codes
code for as many potential initial codes as possible
[initial codes= short and labels usually a word short phrase or metaphor often derived from the participants accounts which are assigned to data fragments defined as having some common meaning or relationship]
coding can be done manualy (with highlighting and using post-it notes to take notes on the text you are analysing)
or with a software program
After you have coded all of your data, Data that is identified by the same code, should be grouped together
Step 3 of Thematic Analysis
Step 3: Searching for Themes
Sort Gathered Codes into pontential themes
to help visualise this you can use a mind map
e.g. codes such as hobbies and exercise would come under the theme of keeping busy
Some codes may form:
main themes (connected to codes and sub-themes
sub themes (conected to a main theme made of codes)
they may just be discarded or kept as outliers
[Themes are made of a subset of different codes]
at the end you should have a collection of themes and sub-themes
Stage 4 of thematic Analysis
overview
This stage involves refinement of your themes
Some things will combine/join into other themes
whereas some of your themes may need to be broken down into smaller components
It has 2 stages
Level 1: reviewing at the level of the coded data
Level 2: reviewing at the level of the themes
Stage 4 of Thematic Analysis
Level 1: reviewing the level of the coded data
Reread all of your Data extracts ( an individual coded chunk of data that you have extracted from a data item.
eg a meaningful coded section of an interview)
That fit into each theme to ensure that all of your data forms are coherent pattern
AKA make sure all the codes put into themes make sence
if not
is the theme problematic (codes all link together but theme they are under isnt right)
or
does the data need rearanging because it dosn’t fit the theme and the rest of the data(codes) in it
if it all makes sence move to level 2
Stage 4 of Thematic analysis
Level 2: Reviewing at the level of the themes
Consider each theme in relation to the Data corpus (all the data collected for study)
do the relationships between your themes reflect the meaning of your data as a whole? (use a thematic mind map to visualise these relationships)
If not return to step:
3 (searching for themes)
and
4 (reviewing themes)
if they fo move to step 5 (defining and naming themes)
at the end of this stage you should have a satisfactory thematic map of your data.
Step 5 of Thematic Analysis
Defining and naming themes
Write a detailed analysis of each theme (asking what does it mean and how does it fit the data)
Creating an overal narrative with all of your data.
give themes official names that fit the essance of each theme + be punchy and short
At the end you should be able to clearly identify what the themes are, what they are about and what they are not
+ after revision of the themes in relation to your data, you should produce your final thematic map
+ be able to describe each theme in a couple of sentences
Step 6 of thematic analysis
Producing the report
The final analysis and write up of the report
concider the audience (scientific journell/newspaper/public)
report should be short, consistant, logical, non-repetitive and an interesting account of the story your data tells
provide sufficient evidence of each theme using clear examples from your data
by the end of the stage
you will have your final report.
