Thematic analysisV · Also used in the viewer

Verbatim quote

An extract from the data exactly as the participant said or wrote it, kept word for word as the record of the evidence.

See it in the live demo
On this page
  1. In more detail
  2. In Themescape
  3. A short example
  4. Where to read more

In more detail

A verbatim quote is the evidence an analysis rests on. Transcribed speech includes false starts, repetitions and fillers, and the verbatim record keeps all of them, because they are what the participant said.

Researchers often tidy quotes for presentation, but the verbatim version stays as the record. Keeping the two apart makes it possible to show a reader, an examiner or an ethics committee exactly what was changed.

In Themescape

The quote column holds the verbatim extract and Themescape never edits it. Tidied wording goes in the separate refined_quote column. Verbatim quotes are never altered, with a separate refined column for presentation wording.

Boundaries andOverworkBlurredhoursNo offswitchEmail atnightWeekendworkBoundaries and Overwork
The viewer with a theme selected, its codes around it and its definition in the panel. Sample data.

A short example

From the Working Well dataset

Autonomy and Trust

Working definition: Proving Productivity: a felt need to demonstrate visible activity, sometimes performatively.

Proving Productivity > Visible Busywork

Verbatim quote from participant P05: "I send a message just to show I am online, which is absurd." Made up data, nothing from a real study.

Where to read more

Article: Choosing and refining illustrative quotes ›

Refined quotes, with the verbatim always kept ›

Related terms

The words that sit closest to this one.

Back to the A to Z
ThemescapeRefined quoteA tidied version of a verbatim quote for presenting, kept in its own column so the original is never changed.Read the entryThematic analysisIllustrative quoteA quote chosen to show a reader what a theme or code means, because it captures the central idea clearly and vividly.Read the entryThematic analysisParticipantA person who took part in a study and whose words or responses form part of the dataset, identified in analysis by a pseudonym or code.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

See your own themes come to life

Try the live demo or start a 7 day free trial. Your data is read in your browser and never leaves your computer.

Try the live demoStart 7 day free trial