Thematic analysis is a poorly demarcated, rarely acknowledged, yet widely used qualitative analytic method within psychology. In this paper, we argue that it offers an accessible and theoretically flexible approach to analysing qualitative data. We outline what thematic analysis is, locating it in relation to other qualitative analytic methods that search for themes or patterns, and in relation to different epistemological and ontological positions. We then provide clear guidelines to those wanting to start thematic analysis, or conduct it in a more deliberate and rigorous way, and consider potential pitfalls in conducting thematic analysis. Finally, we outline the disadvantages and advantages of thematic analysis. We conclude by advocating thematic analysis as a useful and flexible method for qualitative research in and beyond psychology.

Using thematic analysis in psychology

An Introduction to Codes and Coding Chapter Summary Purposes of the Manual What Is a Code? Codifying and Categorizing What Gets Coded? The Mechanics of Coding The Numbers of Codes Manual and CAQDAS Coding Solo and Team Coding Necessary Personal Attributes for Coding On Method Writing Analytic Memos Chapter Summary The Purposes of Analytic Memo-Writing What Is an Analytic Memo? Examples of Analytic Memos Coding and Categorizing Analytic Memos Grounded Theory and Its Coding Canon Analytic Memos on Visual Data First-Cycle Coding Methods Chapter Summary The Coding Cycles Selecting the Appropriate Coding Method(s) Overview of First-Cycle Coding Methods The Coding Methods Profiles Grammatical Methods Elemental Methods Affective Methods Literary and Language Methods Exploratory Methods Forms for Additional First-Cycle Coding Methods Theming the Data Procedural Methods After First-Cycle Coding Chapter Summary Post-Coding Transitions Eclectic Coding Code Mapping and Landscaping Operational Model Diagramming Additional Transition Methods Transitioning to Second-Cycle Coding Methods Second-Cycle Coding Methods Chapter Summary The Goals of Second-Cycle Methods Overview of Second-Cycle Coding Methods Second-Cycle Coding Methods Forms for Additional Second-Cycle Coding Methods After Second-Cycle Coding Chapter Summary Post-Coding and Pre-Writing Transitions Focusing Strategies From Coding to Theorizing Formatting Matters Writing about Coding Ordering and Re-Ordering Assistance from Others Closure Appendix A: A Glossary of Coding Methods Appendix B: A Glossary of Analytic Recommendations Appendix C: Field Note, Interview Transcript and Document Samples for Coding Appendix D: Exercises and Activities for Coding and Qualitative Data Analytic Skill Development References Index

The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers

Background. Qualitative research explores complex phenomena encountered by clinicians, health care providers, policy makers and consumers. Although partial checklists are available, no consolidated reporting framework exists for any type of qualitative design. Objective. To develop a checklist for explicit and comprehensive reporting of qualitative studies (indepth interviews and focus groups). Methods. We performed a comprehensive search in Cochrane and Campbell Protocols, Medline, CINAHL, systematic reviews of qualitative studies, author or reviewer guidelines of major medical journals and reference lists of relevant publications for existing checklists used to assess qualitative studies. Seventy-six items from 22 checklists were compiled into a comprehensive list. All items were grouped into three domains: (i) research team and reflexivity, (ii) study design and (iii) data analysis and reporting. Duplicate items and those that were ambiguous, too broadly defined and impractical to assess were removed. Results. Items most frequently included in the checklists related to sampling method, setting for data collection, method of data collection, respondent validation of findings, method of recording data, description of the derivation of themes and inclusion of supporting quotations. We grouped all items into three domains: (i) research team and reflexivity, (ii) study design and (iii) data analysis and reporting. Conclusions. The criteria included in COREQ, a 32-item checklist, can help researchers to report important aspects of the research team, study methods, context of the study, findings, analysis and interpretations.

Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ): a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups

Although many critics are reluctant to accept the trustworthiness of qualitative research, frameworks for ensuring rigour in this form of work have been in existence for many years. Guba’s constructs, in particular, have won considerable favour and form the focus of this paper. Here researchers seek to satisfy four criteria. In addressing credibility, investigators attempt to demonstrate that a true picture of the phenomenon under scrutiny is being presented. To allow transferability, they provide sufficient detail of the context of the fieldwork for a reader to be able to decide whether the prevailing environment is similar to another situation with which he or she is familiar and whether the findings can justifiably be applied to the other setting. The meeting of the dependability criterion is difficult in qualitative work, although researchers should at least strive to enable a future investigator to repeat the study. Finally, to achieve confirmability, researchers must take steps to demonstrate that findings emerge from the data and not their own predispositions. The paper concludes by suggesting that it is the responsibility of research methods teachers to ensure that this or a comparable model for ensuring trustworthiness is followed by students undertaking a qualitative inquiry.

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Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects

A general inductive approach for analysis of qualitative evaluation data is described. The purposes for using an inductive approach are to (a) condense raw textual data into a brief, summary format; (b) establish clear links between the evaluation or research objectives and the summary findings derived from the raw data; and (c) develop a framework of the underlying structure of expe- riences or processes that are evident in the raw data. The general inductive approach provides an easily used and systematic set of procedures for analyzing qualitative data that can produce reliable and valid findings. Although the general inductive approach is not as strong as some other analytic strategies for theory or model development, it does provide a simple, straightforward approach for deriving findings in the context of focused evaluation questions. Many evaluators are likely to find using a general inductive approach less complicated than using other approaches to qualitative data analysis.

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A General Inductive Approach for Analyzing Qualitative Evaluation Data

This a much expanded and updated version of David Silvermans best-selling introductory textbook for the beginning qualitative researcher. 

Features of the New Edition: 
•	Takes account of the flood of qualitative work since the 1990s 
•	All chapters have been substantially rewritten with the aim of greater clarity 
•	A new chapter on Visual Images and a considerably expanded treatment of discourse analysis are provided 
•	The number of student exercises has been considerably increased and are now present at the end of every chapter 
•	An even greater degree of student accessibility: Key Points and Recommended Readings appear at the end of each chapter and technical terms are highlighted and appear in a Glossary 
•	A more inter-disciplinary social science text which takes account of the growing interest in qualitative research outside sociology and anthropology from psychology to geography, information systems, health promotion, management and many other disciplines 
•	Expanded coverage 50% longer than the First Edition
This book has a more recent edition (2006)

Interpreting Qualitative Data : Methods for Analysing Talk, Text and Interaction

Written in a lively, accessible style, this step-by-step guide provides answers to all the questions students ask when beginning their first research project David Silverman demonstrates how to learn the craft of qualitative research by applying knowledge about different methodologies to actual data He provides practical advice on key issues, such as: defining `originality' and narrowing down a topic; keeping a research diary and writing a research report; and presenting research to different audiences Packed with case studies and examples of students' experiences, the book has many features to aid study, including overviews, summaries of key skills and a glossary of terms Each stage in the research process is grounded in worked examples, with exercises designed both to test students' knowledge and to encourage the development of practical skills

Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook

Part I: Theory and Method in Qualitative Research What Is Qualitative Research? Designing a Research Project Generalizing from Case Study Research Credible Qualitative Research Data Analysis Research Ethics Part II: Methods Interviews Focus Groups Ethnography Documents Naturally Occurring Talk Visual Images Part III: Implications Writing Your Report The Relevance of Qualitative Research The Potential of Qualitative Research: Eight Reminders

Interpreting Qualitative Data

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION Introducing Qualitative Research - David Silverman PART TWO: OBSERVATION Ethnography - Isabelle Baszanger and Nicolas Dodier Relating the Part to the Whole Building Bridges - Gale Miller and Kathryn J Fox The Possibility of Analytic Dialogue between Ethnography, Conversation Analysis and Foucault PART THREE: TEXTS Analyzing Documentary Realities - Paul Atkinson and Amanda Coffey Doing Things with Documents - Lindsay Prior Internet Communication as a Tool for Qualitative Research - Annette Markham PART FOUR: INTERVIEWS AND FOCUS GROUPS The 'Inside' and the 'Outside' - Jody Miller and Barry Glassner Finding Realities in Interviews The Active Interview - James A Holstein and Jaber F Gubrium Membership Categorization and Interview Accounts - Carolyn Baker Focus Group Research - Sue Wilkinson PART FIVE: TALK Discourse Analysis as a Way of Analyzing Naturally Occurring Talk - Jonathan Potter Conversation Analysis and Institutional Talk - John Heritage Analyzing Data PART SIX: VISUAL DATA The Conceptualisation and Analysis of Visual Data - Michael Emmison Analyzing Face to Face Interaction - Christian Heath Video and the Visual and Material PART SEVEN: VALIDITY Reliability and Validity in Research Based on Transcripts - Anssi Per[um]akyl[um]a PART EIGHT: THE WIDER COMMUNITY Addressing Social Problems through Qualitative Research - Michael Bloor Using Qualitative Data and Analysis - Gale Miller, Robert Dingwall and Elizabeth Murphy Reflections on Organizational Research PART NINE: POSTSCRIPT Who Cares about 'Experience'? Missing Issues in Qualitative Research - David Silverman

Qualitative research : theory, method and practice

Milan Kundera's novel Immortality bears a close relation to contemporary social science debates about the production of the self. Commentators like Kleinman and Mishler seem to have introduced a ne...

David Silverman

Papers

Interpreting Qualitative Data : Methods for Analysing Talk, Text and Interaction

Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook

Interpreting Qualitative Data

Qualitative research : theory, method and practice

Kundera's Immortality: The Interview Society and the Invention of the Self