A full guide to the Thematic Analysis

You can achieve very important things with thematic analysis, which is one of the most frequently used methods of qualitative analysis. Any business or organization can elevate itself in a better position on any subject with this research method.

This comprehensive article will show you how to identify themes in any qualitative data. For this purpose, it will start with the definition of thematic analysis and explain how to do it step by step. Apart from this, it will present examples and emphasize the importance of this type of analysis with its approaches, advantages, and comparative features.

What is the thematic analysis?

Thematic analysis is one of the qualitative data analysis methods and is used to search for themes and patterns in a set of data.

It is often used to make sense of ideas and concepts that are repeated in a text by focusing on them. Researchers interpret qualitative data by using it in many different disciplines, especially in studies where qualitative data is intense.

Thematic analysis steps

Thematic analysis is primarily known for the Braun and Clarke approach. They say that the nature of thematic analysis in qualitative research consists of five or sometimes six steps. These essential steps are:

Steps to thematics analysis steps

1. Data familiarization

First, you start by converting any visual or audio data into text. You decide what to code and how. You choose the purpose that fits the data. To do this, review the data many times, if necessary read it again and again.

2. Code and theme generation

Create your coding patterns and compile components and subsections. Be careful to use descriptive labels. Especially keep a reflexivity diary. You can use this diary both for your communication with other researchers and to understand cause-and-effect relationships better. Later, similar codes were grouped. Then, potential themes will emerge and respond to your research topic.

3. Theme review

Review once again to ensure the accuracy of coding and identified themes. Check intercluster relationships and theme consistency. If there are parts you think are missing, go back to the previous steps.

4. Theme classification

In this step, it is necessary to determine what the themes represent through sensitive examinations. The labeling process must be finished, and the final version must be ready. Therefore, make sure that you define the definitions correctly and that they are directly proportional to your research.

5. Example placement

The final step is to write down the findings of your thematic analysis. You can give examples and synthesize them with themes to turn them into a narrative with plenty of data evidence.

Examples of the thematic analysis

In this section, there will be a thematic analysis of qualitative research with examples. Let’s assume that you want to evaluate two different studies on job satisfaction and online shopping in the context of thematic analysis.

Example #1

You prepared an open-ended survey of twenty questions for your company employees. This survey is filled with carefully selected questions to measure their commitment, problems, and satisfaction with their work. You then transcribed the results and began to find recurring themes. 

You've seen that these themes are about hard-working hours, workload, career development, and salary. You can then analyze these themes and develop appropriate strategies for job satisfaction.

Example #2

You conducted an online survey on your shopping application. Again, you transcribed the responses and found common themes. These are technological challenges, bugs, and campaigns. You can then analyze these themes and review and redevelop your shopping app.

Approaches to thematic analysis

Although thematic analysis is a very simple analysis method, it has its own subtleties and methods. Depending on the purpose of your research question or the type of data, one of these approaches may be more suitable for you. More or less, the main approaches to thematic analysis are:

1. Inductive approach

The inductive approach is a method that does not allow the researcher to manipulate the data collection and analysis process. Themes themselves emerge over the course of the analysis. Thus, there is no bias in revealing what is happening. This research method has an informative aspect, especially when there is not enough information about the research subject.

2. Deductive approach

In the deductive approach, one starts with predetermined categories and initial codes. Therefore, one should first have knowledge about the subject. Appropriate arrangements are made with the codes used in the analysis of the data, and the research results are reached. That's why researchers mainly use it to test their hypotheses.

Advantages and Disadvantages of thematic analysis

Thematic analysis is known primarily as a subjective research method. Therefore, thematic analysis can produce high-quality or poor-quality results in direct proportion to the ability of the researchers. Its advantages and disadvantages generally revolve around this axis of subjectivity. The main ones are:

Advantages

Disadvantages

When to use the thematic analysis

Thematic analysis is a valuable type of analysis that can be adapted to various studies. But if you specifically ask when it offers you more productive opportunities, these are:

Content analysis vs. Thematic analysis

They are used to examine data as two different qualitative research methods. But their focus is different. The content analysis measures the content in a text and the frequency of words, images, or expressions. On the other hand, thematic analysis reveals and interprets common themes and patterns in these contents. Other features are as follows:

Frequently asked questions about the thematic analysis

Curious about thematic analysis? Find answers to common questions about this qualitative data analysis method here.

Key points to take away

The basics of thematic analysis were explained to you in this article. Firstly, thematic analysis is defined by its general concept. The article shows the steps through which you can perform this analysis. Thematic analysis examples and approaches are explained under different headings. 

The pros and cons of thematic analysis are listed. In which situations you can use the analysis are exemplified. Finally, at the end of the article, the difference between thematic and content analysis is explained. At the end of this reading, you are now able to conduct your data research systematically and properly.