Thematic Analysis:

What is thematic analysis:

• Braun and Clarke (2006) argued that thematic analysis should be a foundational method for qualitative analysis, as it provides core skills for conducting many other forms of qualitative analysis

• Thematic analysis is a qualitative research method that can be widely used across a range of epistemologies and research questions; how do you make sense, tell a coherent story, interpretivist way of looking at data

• a method for identifying, analyzing, organizing, describing, and reporting themes found within a data set; looking at patterns across interviews that have been done, e.g. what are similar things that people have said over interviews

Advantages of Thematic Analysis:

• Researchers who are relatively unfamiliar with qualitative methods may find that thematic analysis is easily grasped and can be relatively quick to learn, as there are few prescriptions and procedures

• Thematic analysis is a useful method for examining the perspectives of different research participants, highlighting similarities and differences, and generating unanticipated insights; use different highlighters for different meanings

Disadvantages of Thematic Analysis:

• The lack of substantial literature on thematic analysis may cause novice researchers to feel unsure of how to conduct a rigorous thematic analysis

• While thematic analysis is flexible, this flexibility can lead to inconsistency and a lack of coherence when developing themes derived from the research data; once you start looking at transcripts, inconsistency decreases

Step-by-Step Approach for Conducting Thematic Analysis:

• Step 1: Familiarizing yourself with your data, Step 2: Generating initial codes

• Step 3: Searching for themes, Step 4:  Reviewing themes, Step 5: Defining and naming themes, Step 6: Producing the report

• It is a lot messier, you may go back and forth when doing the analysis assignment; if it is messy, then you are doing well

Phase 1: Familiarizing with data

• Qualitative data come in various forms including recorded observations, focus groups, texts, documents, multimedia, public domain sources, policy manuals, and photographs

• Textual data may also include field notes from participant observations, reflexive journal entries, and stories and narratives

• If data were collected through interactive means, researchers will come to the analysis with some prior knowledge of the data and possibly some initial analytic interests or thoughts.

• Documenting these thoughts during data collection may mark the beginning of data analysis, as researchers may note initial analysis thoughts, interpretations, and questions; highlighting am making notes when these challenges were depicted, continuing to listen to the data

• Regardless of who collected the data, it is vital that researchers immerse themselves with the data to familiarize themselves with the depth and breadth of the content

• To become immersed in the data involves the repeated reading of the data in an active way searching for meanings and patterns; evidence of the data that comes up throughout, doing it in a way to document

• Researchers are encouraged to engage with the analysis as a faithful witness to the accounts in the data, being honest and vigilant about their own perspectives, preexisting thoughts and beliefs

Phase 2: Generating initial codes

• The second phase begins once researchers have read and familiarized themselves with the data, having ideas about what is in the data and what is interesting about them; highlighting=coding (e.g. challenges that come up in each transcript)

• This phase involves the initial production of codes from the data…keep revisiting the data; continuing to revisit the data, very demanding in order to immerse yourself

• Coding allows the researcher to simplify and focus on specific characteristics of the data; important to highlight things that are not similar across transcripts as well

• During coding, researchers identify important sections of text and attach labels to index them as they relate to a theme or issue in the data; Codes should have quite explicit boundaries; what gives you the strongest argument; (which three themes do I have the most data and evidence)

• Sections of text can be coded in as many different themes as they fit, being uncoded, coded once, or coded as many times as deemed relevant by the researcher

• Hierarchical coding allows the researcher to analyze texts at varying levels of specificity with broad higher order codes providing an overview and detailed lower order codes allowing for distinctions to be made within and between cases

• Accounts that depart from the dominant story in the analysis should not be ignored when coding; talk about the other side, don’t ignore it

• When using a code manual, researchers define the codebook before commencing an in-depth analysis of the data an in-depth analysis of the data

• Researchers may choose to use one of the software programs (NVivo) to aid in the sorting and organizing the data

Phase 3: Searching for themes

• The third phase begins when all data have been initially coded and collated, and a list of the different codes identified across the data set has been developed; weave the quotations into a coherent narrative

• This phase involves sorting and collating all the potentially relevant coded data extracts into themes

• A theme captures and unifies the nature or basis of the experience into a meaningful whole; naming the coded parts from these interviews

• A theme may be initially generated inductively from the raw data or generated deductively from theory and prior research

• With an inductive approach, the themes identified are strongly linked to the data

• Inductive analysis is a process of coding the data without trying to fit it into a preexisting coding frame or the researcher’s analytic preconceptions

• In this sense, this form of thematic analysis is data-driven

• Deductive analysis is driven by the researchers’ theoretical or analytic interest

• Researchers might use tables, templates, code manuals, or mind maps; being able to identify themes, or sub themes in the data

• Initial codes may begin to form main themes, and others may form subthemes; you could end up with three or four themes, not all initial themes will fall apart

• Braun and Clarke (2006) recommended the creation of a “miscellaneous” theme to temporarily house the codes that do not seem to fit into main themes

Phase 4: Reviewing Themes:

• The fourth phase begins once a set of themes has been devised, and they now require refinement

• During this phase, researchers review the coded data extracts for each theme to consider whether they appear to form a coherent pattern

• During this phase, it may also become evident that some themes do not have enough data to support them or the data are too diverse

• Some themes may collapse into each other while other themes may need to be broken down into separate themes

• Selected themes will need to be refined into themes that are specific enough to be discrete and broad enough to capture a set of ideas contained in numerous text segments

• At the end of this phase, researchers have a good idea of the different themes, how they fit together, and the overall story they tell about the data

• The researcher should be able to clearly show how each theme was derived from the data

Phase 5: Defining and naming themes

• During the fifth phase, researchers determine what aspect of the data each theme captures and identify what is of interest about them and why

• Theme names need to be punchy and immediately give the reader a sense of what the theme is about; name the theme for the reader

• At this stage, researchers may consider how each theme fits into the overall story about the entire data set in relation to the research questions

Phase 6: Producing the report

• The final phase begins once the researcher has fully established the themes and is ready to begin the final analysis and write-up of the report

• The write-up of a thematic analysis should provide a concise, coherent, logical, nonrepetitive, and interesting account of the data within and across themes

• Direct quotes from participants are an essential component of the final report

• Extracts of raw data need to be embedded within the analytic narrative to illustrate the complex story of the data, going beyond a description of the data and convincing the reader of the validity and merit of the analysis

Use any theory you want: grounded theory may be most recommended, looking at your own data to look for patterns

• Theory you want to use will depend on the type of findings in your data

Ethnographic methods:

Ethnographic research:

• Ethnographic research consists of face-to -face interaction with local experts and residents in schools, clinics, parks, community settings, and institutions

• Ethnographic research happens in the contexts in which people live, work, play etc

• Good ethnography is based on two critical factors: building relationships with others and the ability to enjoy living in unfamiliar situations

• Ethnography takes the position that the best way to understand a different cultural setting is to immerse oneself in it

• Immersion involves socialization into the rules, rituals, practices, beliefs, activities, organizations, and daily life schedules of those whose lives are the subject of study

• Nothing substitutes for day-to-day participation in the lives of local residents-in their meetings, discussions, conflicts, crises, and other activities that are informative in terms of how life is lived, culture is performed, and meaning is constructed

• The primary means by which ethnographers collect and interpret data that most closely approximates daily life are observation, conversation, and interviewing

• Essential ethnographic skills are relating, listening, explaining, observing, questioning, communicating, recording, discussing, and revising

• Some researchers advise novice researchers to enter a field setting without any assumptions

• Other researchers recommend having a set of research questions and a research model in mind is beneficial

• Research questions arise from the researchers’ own observations, read a body of literature of personal interest, observe a new population in a local community etc

• Relating: The first and most important skill in essential data collection is relating well to people in the study site

• Introducing yourself: Who are you?; Introducing the project: What is this project about?

• Communicating: Communication involves three critical skills:

• Questioning, or the ability to ask questions that are appropriate to the setting, the topic, and the person being questioned;

• Listening, or the ability to pay attention to what the person is saying;

• Sharing, or exchanging ideas and personal experiences.

• Observing: Observational skills are essential to good ethnography; they always involve sensitivity to the behaviour and feelings of others and attention to context

• Observers will also pay attention to the ways in which informants' interact with others in the field setting

• Recording: Recording information in the field without jeopardizing relationships or raising suspicions, especially in the early stages of work, is a challenge

• Note taking can interfere with building relationships

• Recording: Ethnographers initially just observe carefully and try to take mental note of conversational content without taking written notes

• Recording: Because ethnographers can only remember so many of these "head notes;' they generally spend shorter periods of time in "the field" at first and more time behind a computer or digital recorder, recording information immediately after a session in the field so they do not forget what they have observed

• Recording: when relationships are established, the use of a small notepad and writing practices that avoid shifting eyes from the respondent can be used

• Revising/Reframing: It is normal to enter a field setting with many preconceived notions or biases that may be partially or completely wrong

Observation:

• Observation refers to what can be seen through the eyes of the ethnographer

• Ethnographers should be meticulous in their understanding of the research problem and its formative theoretical framework and honest about their own biases

• Participant observation refers to a process of learning through exposure to or involvement in the day-to-day or routine activities of participants in the research setting

• Observation from a distance ; This form of observation is spectator-like, not participatory, and is designed to orient the researcher at least superficially to places, people, social interaction, clothing, language, and other aspects of the community setting with which the researcher needs to become familiar

• What ethnographers observe, Observing settings, Observing and tracking events and event sequences

Conducting Semi-structured Interviews:

• Semi-structured interviews combine the flexibility of the unstructured, open-ended interview with the directionality

• The questions on a semi-structured interview guide are preformulated, but the answers to those questions are open ended

• ​​They can be both fully expanded at the discretion of the interviewer and the interviewee and enhanced by probes

Guidelines for the Construction of Good Semi-structured Interview Questions:

• Make sure that questions use terms and phrases that are understandable to respondents; Keep the questions short

• Use terminology appropriate to the respondents’ command of language, cultural background, age, gender etc

• Avoid questions that "lead the witness" or are biased

• Avoid "double barreled" questions that really are two questions in one e.g. "How often do you drink soda and coffee?“; Avoid negatively worded questions

• Avoid asking people to rank order information in a semi-structured interview

• Don't ask questions that can be answered with a "yes" or "no" when you really want as lengthy a description as possible

Ordering Questions in an Interview:

• In general, questions should be ordered as follows:

• Temporally: From earlier events to more recent events

• According to complexity: From simpler topics to more complex ones

• According to topics or domains: Group all questions on the same or similar topics together

• In accordance with the threat level: From the least sensitive or personal to the most sensitive or personal; place the most sensitive topics last

Focus Group Interviews:

• Group interviews are interactive; mezzmbers are encouraged to express their opinions and to discuss them with one another

• Advantages of Group interviews: They generate a considerable quantity of data in a relatively short period from a larger number of people than would be possible by interviewing key informants only

• Because they are interactive, they allow the researcher to record and analyze the reactions of different group members to ideas and to each other

• The "natural language discourse" and styles of debate elicited in group interviews allows the researcher to learn idiomatic expressions, common terminology, and communication patterns in the community in a rapid and concise manner

• Reasons for Conducting Group Interviews: Group interviews are useful for:

• Identifying the range of variation in opinions or attitudes on a set of topics, Orienting oneself to a new field of study

• Generating hypotheses based on informants' insights, Developing individual questions for interview schedules and questionnaires

• Before deciding on focus groups as a form of data collection, careful thought must be given as to why data should be collected in this way

• What kinds of data are needed; Under what circumstances, by whom, and how the data will be used

• To prepare, researchers should consider: What should be the choice of interview topic, Whom should be invited to participate, How to set up an interview process, How to conduct the interview once it is organized

• Conducting a Focus Group Interview:

• In opening the focus group discussion, the facilitator should make sure to:

• Explain to participants the purpose of the group discussion, why they have been selected or invited, and why they are important to the project

• In opening the focus group discussion, the facilitator should make sure to: Explain the roles of the facilitator and the recorder(s)

• In opening the focus group discussion, the facilitator should make sure to: Explain the "ground rules" for the discussion, Participation, Respect, No right and wrong answers, confidentiality etc

Autoethnography:

• Autoethnography is a research method that uses personal experience (“auto”) to describe and interpret (“graphy”) cultural texts, experiences, beliefs, and practices (“ethno”).

• speak against, or provide alternatives to, dominant, taken-for-granted, and harmful cultural scripts, stories, and stereotypes

• Autoethnography is to articulate insider knowledge of cultural experience

• Autoethnographers also describe moments of everyday experience that cannot be captured through more traditional research methods.

• Doing autoethnographic fieldwork allows what we see, hear, think, and feel to become part of the “field.”

• Autoethnographers can write about experiences that happen in private contexts, such as the bedroom or bathroom, or everyday interactions when others make offensive comments, or internal feelings of dissonance or confusion