Thematic analysisR

Reflexivity

The researcher's ongoing reflection on how their own position, assumptions and choices shape the analysis.

On this page
  1. In more detail
  2. In Themescape
  3. Where to read more

In more detail

In reflexive thematic analysis the researcher's subjectivity is treated as a resource for analysis rather than a bias to be removed. Reflexivity is the practice of noticing and recording how that subjectivity works: what the researcher brings, what they expected, and why they made the choices they did.

Many researchers keep a reflexive journal alongside their coding, and describe their position in the method section. Recording why a theme was reshaped, or why two codes were joined, is part of the same practice.

In Themescape

The notes column of the Data tab is kept for your own memos and ignored by the viewer, and a connection carries a note saying why you linked two themes or codes. Neither is a substitute for a reflexive journal, but both keep reasoning beside the data.

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The viewer with a theme selected, its codes around it and its definition in the panel. Sample data.

Where to read more

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 11(4), 589–597.

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021). One size fits all? What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis? Qualitative Research in Psychology, 18(3), 328–352.

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2022). Thematic analysis: A practical guide. SAGE.

Related terms

The words that sit closest to this one.

Back to the A to Z
Thematic analysisReflexive thematic analysisBraun and Clarke's approach to thematic analysis, in which the researcher actively develops themes through six recursive phases and treats their own interpretation as a resource rather than a bias.Read the entryThematic analysisThemeA pattern of shared meaning across a dataset, organised around a central idea, which the researcher develops from their codes and gives a name and a working definition.Read the entryThemescapeEmpirical connectionA link between two themes, codes or sub-codes that is grounded in the data, such as a code or experience they share, drawn as a solid line.Read the entryThemescapeBuild modeA Parent mode, in beta, for turning a figure style into a finished figure, reshaping it and exporting it.Read the entryThematic analysisCandidate themeA provisional theme generated in phase 3, held loosely while the researcher reviews whether it works against the coded data and the whole dataset.Read the entryThematic analysisCodeA short label the researcher gives to a segment of data to capture something meaningful about it. Codes are the building blocks themes are developed from.Read the entry

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