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Using thematic analysis in psychology 93

about the names you will give them in the study to study. As a first step, we recom-
final analysis. Names need to be concise, mend looking at published examples of
punchy, and immediately give the reader a thematic analysis, particularly of the speci-
sense of what the theme is about. fic version you are planning to use (this is
made somewhat more difficult in that the-
Phase 6: producing the report matic analysis is often not a named method,
Phase 6 begins when you have a set of fully but you can find examples, eg, Ellis and
worked-out themes, and involves the final Kitzinger, 2002; Kitzinger and Willmott,
analysis and write-up of the report. The 2002; Toerien and Wilkinson, 2004). In
task of the write-up of a thematic anal- order to provide a sense of the sorts of
ysis, whether it is for publication or for a questions you should be asking of your data,
research assignment or dissertation, is to and the sorts of analytic claims you should
tell the complicated story of your data in a be seeking to make, we will discuss a
way which convinces the reader of the merit particularly good example of an inductive
and validity of your analysis. It is important thematic analysis, which emphasizes un-
that the analysis (the write-up of it, includ- derstanding men’s experiences in relation to
ing data extracts) provides a concise, coher- the broader social context (see Frith and
ent, logical, non-repetitive and interesting Gleeson, 2004).
account of the story the data tell / within
Frith and Gleeson (2004) aim to ex-
and across themes. Your write-up must
plore how men’s feelings about their
provide sufficient evidence of the themes
bodies influence their clothing practices,
within the data / ie, enough data extracts to and they use data gathered in qualitative
demonstrate the prevalence of the theme. questionnaires from 75 men to answer
Choose particularly vivid examples, or ex- this question. They report four themes:
tracts which capture the essence of the
practicality of clothing choices; lack of
point you are demonstrating, without un-
concern about appearance; use of cloth-
necessary complexity. The extract should be
ing to conceal or reveal the body; use of
easily identifiable as an example of the
issue. However, your write-up needs to do clothing to fit cultural ideals. Each theme
more than just provide data. Extracts need is clearly linked back to the overall
research question, but each is distinct.
to be embedded within an analytic narrative
that compellingly illustrates the story you They provide a clear sense of the scope
are telling about your data, and your analy- and diversity of each theme, using a
tic narrative needs to go beyond description combination of analyst narrative and
of the data, and make an argument in illustrative data extracts. Where relevant,
relation to your research question. they broaden their analysis out, moving
from a descriptive to an interpretative
level (often relating their claims to exist-
ing literature). For example, in ‘men
Pinning down what interpretative value practicality’, they make sense of
analysis actually entails men’s accounts in relation to gender
norms and stereotypes, linking the ac-
It is difficult to specify exactly what inter- counts individual men provided to the
pretative analysis actually entails, particu- expectations that men / as members of
larly as the specifics of it will vary from society / face. What they do, as analysts,