Definition
Thematic analysis (TA) is a method for identifying and interpreting patterns of meaning across qualitative data.
Description
TA as a method was first developed by Gerald Holton, a physicist and historian of science, in the 1970s (Merton, 1975). In the social sciences, TA has been extensively used for analyzing qualitative data, but until recently, there has been little discussion of TA as a method or guidance provided for its use (Aronson, 1994; Boyatzis, 1998; Patton, 1990, provide early exceptions). In 2006, Braun and Clarke (2006) proposed a “systematic” and “sophisticated” (Howitt & Cramer, 2008, p. 341) approach to TA, which has subsequently been widely adopted. Although TA is often used (within a realist or essentialist framework) merely to describe or summarize key patterns in data, for Braun and Clarke, a good TA involves more than simply reporting what is in the data; it involves telling an interpretative story about the data in relation to a research question.
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Clarke, V., Braun, V. (2014). Thematic Analysis. In: Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_3470
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_3470
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