RESEARCH

PROJECT
MIDTERM WEEK 3
 PROJECT
READS
Read Everything About your field, Digest and Share
 OBJECTIVES
• determine the process of interpreting the qualitative data;
• identify what and when to use thematic analysis;
• differentiate the approaches used in thematic analysis; and
• formulate themes based on the gathered qualitative data
4 PICS 1 WORD
 How do we form and
shape our identities?
TREATMENT OF GATHERED DATA
(How to Give Themes to Coded
Qualitative Data?)
 Benefits of Qualitative Analysis
• Qualitative analysis allows for a detailed examination of the
thoughts, feelings, opinions and/or experiences of individuals, groups
or communities.

• It also allows for flexibility and adaptability when undertaking

research, so a study can be adapted and tailored in response to
emerging issues, problems or trends.

• This type of research can also be useful for providing a narrative

around quantitative data. Quantitative data (e.g. test scores) may tell
you that your student’s scores have improved over time. You may then
want to use qualitative data (e.g. classroom observation, a focus
group with teachers) to determine how and why scores have
improved.
 Limitations of Qualitative Analysis
• Qualitative data can be harder to analyse than quantitative data, as
the data collected is not inherently objective, and thus can be open
to multiple interpretations.

• This type of data is also context-specific, so it is not always

possible to use the data to say something about situations outside
of that context. The collection and analysis of qualitative data can
also be time-consuming.

• The usefulness and appropriateness of different qualitative research

methods will vary depending on the context and purpose of the
research. In qualitative research, the focus is not so much on the
‘robustness’ of one instrument versus another, but choosing the
most appropriate instrument for the information that you are
seeking.
• Thematic analysis is a method of analyzing qualitative data. It
is usually applied to a set of texts, such as interview
transcripts. The researcher closely examines the data to
identify common themes – topics, ideas and patterns of
meaning that come up repeatedly.

• There are various approaches to conducting thematic analysis,

but the most common form follows a six-step process:
familiarization, coding, generating themes, reviewing themes,
defining and naming themes, and writing up.

• This process was originally developed for psychology

research by Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke. However,
thematic analysis is a flexible method that can be adapted to
many different kinds of research.
• Thematic analysis is a good approach to research where you’re
trying to find out something about people’s views, opinions,
knowledge, experiences or values from a set of qualitative data –
for example, interview transcripts, social media profiles,
or survey responses.

Some types of research questions you might use thematic analysis

to answer:
• How do patients perceive doctors in a hospital setting?
• What are young women’s experiences on dating sites?
• What are non-experts’ ideas and opinions about climate change?
• How is gender constructed in high school history teaching?
Different Approaches in
Thematic Analysis
• An inductive approach involves allowing the data to
determine your themes.

• A deductive approach involves coming to the data with

some preconceived themes you expect to find reflected
there, based on theory or existing knowledge.

Ask yourself: Does my theoretical framework give me a strong

idea of what kind of themes I expect to find in the data
(deductive), or am I planning to develop my own framework
based on what I find (inductive)?
• A semantic approach involves analyzing the explicit content
of the data.

• A latent approach involves reading into the subtext and

assumptions underlying the data.

Ask yourself: Am I interested in people’s stated opinions

(semantic) or in what their statements reveal about their
assumptions and social context (latent)?
Six Steps in Doing
Thematic Analysis
After you’ve decided thematic analysis is the right method for
analyzing your data, and you’ve thought about the approach
you’re going to take, you can follow the six steps developed
by Braun and Clarke.

Step 1: Familiarization

• The first step is to get to know our data. It’s important to get
a thorough overview of all the data we collected before we
start analyzing individual items.

• This might involve transcribing audio, reading through the

text and taking initial notes, and generally looking through
the data to get familiar with it.
Step 2: Coding

• Next up, we need to code the data. Coding means

highlighting sections of our text – usually phrases or
sentences – and coming up with shorthand labels or “codes”
to describe their content.

• Let’s take a short example text. Say we’re researching

perceptions of climate change among conservative voters
aged 50 and up, and we have collected data through a series
of interviews. An extract from one interview looks like this:
 ⚫ Coding qualitative data

Interview extract Codes

Personally, I’m not sure. I think the climate ● Uncertainty

is changing, sure, but I don’t know why or how. ● Acknowledgement of climate
People say you should trust the experts, but who’s change
to say they don’t have their own reasons for ● Distrust of experts
pushing this narrative? I’m not saying they’re ● Changing terminology
wrong, I’m just saying there’s reasons not to 100%
trust them. The facts keep changing – it used to be
called global warming.
In this extract, we’ve highlighted various phrases in different
colors corresponding to different codes. Each code describes
the idea or feeling expressed in that part of the text.

At this stage, we want to be thorough: we go through the

transcript of every interview and highlight everything that
jumps out as relevant or potentially interesting. As well as
highlighting all the phrases and sentences that match these
codes, we can keep adding new codes as we go through the
text.
Step 3: Generating themes

• Next, we look over the codes we’ve created, identify

patterns among them, and start coming up with themes.

• Themes are generally broader than codes. Most of the time,

you’ll combine several codes into a single theme. In our
example, we might start combining codes into themes like
this:
 Turning codes into themes

Codes Theme

⚫ Uncertainty Uncertainty
⚫ Leave it to the experts
⚫ Alternative explanations

⚫ Changing terminology Distrust of experts

⚫ Distrust of scientists
⚫ Resentment toward experts
⚫ Fear of government control

⚫ Incorrect facts Misinformation

⚫ Misunderstanding of science
⚫ Biased media sources
At this stage, we might decide that some of our codes are too
vague or not relevant enough (for example, because they don’t
appear very often in the data), so they can be discarded.

Other codes might become themes in their own right. In our

example, we decided that the code “uncertainty” made sense
as a theme, with some other codes incorporated into it.

Again, what we decide will vary according to what we’re trying

to find out. We want to create potential themes that tell us
something helpful about the data for our purposes.
Step 4: Reviewing themes

• Now we have to make sure that our themes are useful and
accurate representations of the data. Here, we return to the
data set and compare our themes against it. Are we missing
anything? Are these themes really present in the data? What
can we change to make our themes work better?

• If we encounter problems with our themes, we might split

them up, combine them, discard them or create new ones:
whatever makes them more useful and accurate.
Step 5: Defining and naming themes

• Now that you have a final list of themes, it’s time to name
and define each of them.
• Defining themes involves formulating exactly what we mean
by each theme and figuring out how it helps us understand
the data.

• Naming themes involves coming up with a succinct and

easily understandable name for each theme.
• For example, we might look at “distrust of experts” and
determine exactly who we mean by “experts” in this theme.
We might decide that a better name for the theme is “distrust
of authority” or “conspiracy thinking”.
Step 6: Writing up

• Finally, we’ll write up our analysis of the data. Like all

academic texts, writing up a thematic analysis requires
an introduction to establish our research question, aims and
approach.

• We should also include a methodology section, describing

how we collected the data (e.g. through semi-structured
interviews or open-ended survey questions) and explaining
how we conducted the thematic analysis itself.
• The results or findings section usually addresses each theme
in turn. We describe how often the themes come up and what
they mean, including examples from the data as evidence.
Finally, our conclusion explains the main takeaways and
shows how the analysis has answered our research question.

• In our example, we might argue that conspiracy thinking

about climate change is widespread among older
conservative voters, point out the uncertainty with which
many voters view the issue, and discuss the role of
misinformation in respondents’ perceptions.
Advantages of Thematic Analysis

• It is a flexible approach to qualitative analysis

that enables researchers to generate new
insights and concepts derived from data. One of
many benefits of thematic analysis is that novice
researchers who are just learning how to analyze
qualitative data will find thematic analysis an
accessible approach.
Disadvantages of Thematic Analysis

• Because it is such a flexible approach, it means

that there are many different ways to interpret
meaning from the data set. It can feel intimidating
to interpret what data is or isn’t important to
emphasize. Furthermore, since thematic analysis
focuses on looking for patterns across interviews,
phenomena that occur in only one individual
account can be overlooked.
“Everything that can be counted does not
necessarily count; everything that counts
cannot necessarily be counted.”

- Albert Einstein
 This is in relevance to the verse,
“To all perfection I see a limit, but your
commands are boundless”
- Psalm 119:96.
 Excellent Very Good Good Fair Needs Improvement
(5) (4) (3) (2) (1)

The content uses The content uses a

The content richly The content supports The content uses a few
some facts, examples, few facts, examples,
supports the thesis with the thesis with relevant facts, examples, and
Content and details. It includes and details. The
relevant facts, facts, examples, and details. It includes
some minor information included is
examples, and details. details. some inaccuracies.
inaccuracies incorrect.

Themes are well Themes are

Themes are somewhat
organized contain a satisfactorily Themes are poorly
organized and contain a Themes are not
Organization/ general thought and developed, organized, and most
general thought but are related to the topic
Interpretation are correctly Some parts are not parts are not explained
not perfectly interpreted being discussed.
interpreted by the properly explained and and interpreted.
by the researchers.
researchers interpreted.
All themes that are Included a theme that is Included 2-3 themes
Included 4-5 themes
connected to the topic. not connected to the which are not All themes are not
Relevance that are not connected
topic. connected to the topic. connected to the topic.
to the topic.
Data Gathering