Ravalier PhD Theis.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

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researchers alike. Despite thematic analysis being widely used and reported in academic literature there is no
widely held agreement as to how the analytic process is conducted (Braun & Clarke, 2006).
The analytical procedure followed for the analysis of semi-structured interview data within the presented
research was based on that suggested by Braun and Clarke (2006), with the authors suggesting that thematic
analyses should go through six phases. How each of these six phases were followed is shown in Table 7. The first
of these is for the researcher to familiarise themselves with the data, in which they immerse themselves in the
data, seeking to familiarise with as much of the content as possible. Indeed this familiarisation with the data is an
essential element of the thematic process (Howitt & Cramer, 2011). Immersion can be ensured in a variety of
ways, including transcription of interviews, re-reading of transcripts, and 'actively reading' transcripts in an attempt
to pick out and discover early patterns and meanings which emerge from the data. Phase 2 of the interview data
analysis was the gathering of initial codes. From actively reading within Phase 1 an understanding of some of the
potential themes (or codes) emerging from the data had been gathered, as well as notes as to what is interesting
about each of these potential themes. As such Phase 2 is the beginning of the collection of codes which appear
from the data to be of interest. Data needs to be coded in a systematic manner, allowing for as many themes and
patterns that emerge as possible.
The third of the six phases is titled by Braun and Clarke (2006) as 'searching for themes'. Therefore once the
data has been coded, this phase attempts to sort the codes into broader themes, thus collating all relevant and
related codes into overarching themes. As such the relationships between codes and themes now become
important, as well as determining whether a theme is first level (i.e. an overarching theme) or secondary (i.e. a
subsidiary theme). Phase 4, reviewing themes, reflects the refinement of the set of themes that you have gained