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Using thematic analysis in psychology 81

of the phenomena that is grounded in the knowledge of approaches, such as grounded
data (McLeod, 2001). However, in our ex- theory and DA, it can offer a more accessible
perience, grounded theory seems increas- form of analysis, particularly for those early
ingly to be used in a way that is essentially in a qualitative research career.
grounded theory ‘lite’ / as a set of proce- In contrast to IPA or grounded theory (and
dures for coding data very much akin to other methods like narrative analysis DA or
thematic analysis. Such analyses do not CA), thematic analysis is not wedded to any
appear to fully subscribe to the theoretical pre-existing theoretical framework, and
commitments of a ‘full-fat’ grounded theory, therefore it can be used within different
which requires analysis to be directed to- theoretical frameworks (although not all),
wards theory development (Holloway and and can be used to do different things
Todres, 2003). We argue, therefore, that a within them. Thematic analysis can be an
‘named and claimed’ thematic analysis essentialist or realist method, which reports
means researchers need not subscribe to experiences, meanings and the reality of
the implicit theoretical commitments of participants, or it can be a constructionist
grounded theory if they do not wish to method, which examines the ways in which
produce a fully worked-up grounded-theory events, realities, meanings, experiences and
so on are the effects of a range of discourses
analysis.
operating within society. It can also be a
The term ‘thematic DA’ is used to refer to
a wide range of pattern-type analysis of ‘contextualist’ method, sitting between the
data, ranging from thematic analysis within two poles of essentialism and construction-
a social constructionist epistemology (ie, ism, and characterized by theories, such as
where patterns are identified as socially critical realism (eg, Willig, 1999), which
produced, but no discursive analyse is acknowledge the ways individuals make
meaning of their experience, and, in turn,
conducted), to forms of analysis very the ways the broader social context im-
much akin to the interpretative repertoire pinges on those meanings, while retaining
form of DA (Clarke, 2005). Thematic decom- focus on the material and other limits of
position analysis (eg, Stenner, 1993; Ussher
‘reality’. Therefore, thematic analysis can be
and Mooney-Somers, 2000) is a specifically
a method that works both to reflect reality
named form of ‘thematic’ DA, which iden-
and to unpick or unravel the surface of
tifies patterns (themes, stories) within data,
‘reality’. However, it is important that the
and theorizes language as constitutive of theoretical position of a thematic analysis is
meaning and meaning as social. made clear, as this is all too often left
These different methods share a search
unspoken (and is then typically a realist
for certain themes or patterns across an
account). Any theoretical framework carries
(entire) data set, rather than within a data
with it a number of assumptions about the
item, such as an individual interview or
nature of the data, what they represent in
interviews from one person, as in the case of terms of the ‘the world’, ‘reality’, and so
biographical or case-study forms of analy- forth. A good thematic analysis will make
sis, such as narrative analysis (eg, Murray, this transparent.
2003; Riessman, 1993). In this sense, they
more or less overlap with thematic analysis. A number of decisions
As thematic analysis does not require the Thematic analysis involves a number of
detailed theoretical and technological choices which are often not made explicit