Survey research and design in psychology/Tutorials/Qualitative analysis/Thematic analysis

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Qualitative[edit | edit source]

In a thematic analysis approach:

  1. Immerse yourself in the data: Read carefully over the responses to one of the open-ended questions (e.g., most or least satisfying aspects of university) - and probably to read through these responses several times.
  2. Themes: Look for underlying themes, factors, meanings etc.
  3. Visualisation: You may find it helpful to draw a diagram to depict the key themes and their inter-relationships
  4. Thick description: Then attempt to describe what you interpret to be the key meanings expressed by participants. This may involve describing a series of themes, but it might also include how those themes connect to one another. Offer clear definitions of key constructs which you think characterise participant responses and illustrate these where appropriate with direct quotes.