Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide

by Virginia Braun, Victoria Clarke

Developed and adapted by the authors of this book, thematic analysis (TA) is one of the most popular qualitative data analytic techniques in psychology and the social and health sciences.

Building on the success of Braun & Clarke's 2006 paper first outlining their approach - which has over 100,000 citations on GoogleScholar - this book is the definitive guide to TA, covering:

- Contextualisation of TA

- Developing themes

- Writing TA reports

- Reflexive TA

It addresses the common questions surrounding TA as well as developments in the field, offering a highly accessible and practical discussion of doing TA situated within a clear understanding of the wider terrain of qualitative research.

Virginia Braun is a Professor in the School of Psychology at The University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Victoria Clarke is an Associate Professor in Qualitative and Critical Psychology in the Department of Social Sciences at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol.

Genres: Research, Nonfiction, Research Methods, Psychology, Academic, Academia, Design

338 pages, Paperback

Published December 15, 2021

Reviews

[Mark Rizk Farag · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliantly written textbook that got me through my theisis. Good investment for anyone attempting to do Reflexive Thematic Analysis.

[Billy Norton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be a useful overview of the Thematic Analyis (TA) process, with a step by step guide to the authors' approach to TA, and some great explanations of concepts such as reflexivity in qualitative research.

However I found the book challenging to read due to the unncessarily wordy style of the authors, and their keen overuse of italics (seriously, about 1 in every 20 words is emphasised with italics).

The authors' attempts to adopt an informal, conversational tone throws up cringey subheadings such as "BAKING, ADVENTURES AND MAPS: IS THIS A RECIPE BOOK, A GUIDEBOOK, OR WHAT?" and "IT’S ALMOST TIME TO DEPART: GETTING READY FOR YOUR THEMATIC ANALYSIS ADVENTURE".

It's not clear whether the authors intended this book to be read by researchers or undergraduate students, but it reads as if its been written for teenagers. As a postgraduate student I found it quite condescending. I think a Second Edition could be improved by cutting the crap and sticking to the essentials.

[Alice Manderson]

Bible <3

[Kamil · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a useful book about a very interesting research method. It would greatly benefit from a smaller word limit: often it takes the authors' many, many sentences of unnecessary introduction to get to the point, there is also a lot of repetition.

[Bahar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great book. I would like translate this into Turkish one day.

[Barry Avis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thematic Analysis, A Practical Guide really does what it sets out to do. It provides a detailed explanation on how to start, progress and complete reflective Thematic Analysis. This type of analysis is used to investigate data in a way that takes into account your context on the data selected as well as various sociopolitical and other contexts. It is not a process for simply reporting on what data says but what it means after you analyse it. The book has chapters on how to start, how to analyse your data, how to code your data as a prelude to identifying themes, how to write your report and ensure good quality. There is an accompanying website and at the end of each chapter there are study points, worked examples so you can practically follow the process with their example data and further reading on the chapters subject. There is also information for teachers and mentors to help others on the journey of Thematic Analysis.
I came to this book after attending a presentation for the Chartered Quality Institute where the presenter had used this method for analysis of trend data with a view to see how can this help me in my work as a Quality Manager. I don’t think it is something I would use as in engineering, unlike the authors psychology background, there is little scope for interpreting the meaning behind data which this method is particularly good for. However, with my background of analysis and audit I can see that this method would be great for that.
My only negative thoughts on the book are really about format. Firstly, the authors use of TA throughout the book instead of using the full Thematic Analysis term. There are lots of long scientific type words in this book repeated over and over again (ontological, epistemological for example and I felt it distracted from the “theme” of the book. Also the constant references in sentences e.g. “limits of 30-40 (MacQueen, McLellan, Kay & Milstein, 1998)” instead of just using superscript numbers to point the reader to a references section, particularly when it is several times in the middle of a sentence. I felt this really distracted me from the sentences and I often had to reread a sentence more than once to get by this. Also at the start of the book they suggest if you are new to Thematic Analysis you should read chapter 8 first. Surely a starter chapter should be at the start of the book!!
If you are someone wanting to understand Thematic Analysis and planning to implement it then this is a great book for you, although the authors suggest you read their previous paper “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology (2006) first.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book helped me understand thematic analysis and how the design fits within the research methodology landscape. At times though, I felt like I was caught in an academic argument around the legitimacy of thematic analysis and its distinctiveness from other "imposter" approaches. There seemed to be a debate raging through the pages, the background of which was elsewhere. With that said, I was able to take away key elements from a methodology standpoint. I also found the explanation of ontology and epistemology to be the most straightforward that I've encountered to date.

[Scotia Mullin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent introduction to Thematic Analysis. I found the insights helpful and the prompts helped me improve my research. I also found the book was easy to read and was not full of unnecessary academic jargon.
I also think the book is great for beginner to intermediate practitioners of thematic analysis and gives excellent academic articles for those looking to further advance their knowledge. There are some areas one can skim over but there are also other areas that must be read in depth to truly understand thematic analysis

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another research bible for me. Thematic analysis is the backbone of what I do and Braun & Clarke are for me THE main communicators of the method. Aside from it being the essential book on the method, they're in a weird minority of academic methodologists that manage to write in a fun way. This book is actually enjoyable to read. I know this sounds like an insane thing to write about what is essentially a textbook and I admit that I am somewhat obsessive and nerdy about my field but there it is.

[S.R. Toliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great primer on the method. I think the process gets a bit messy at times which is why so gave it a 4, but I also think Qual research is generally messy, so maybe this is just an accurate representation of what Qual researchers do. Either way, I’d definitely recommend for people interested in the method!

[Jeannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really fresh take on qualitative research, laid out in a very conversational style. I appreciated the insights and perspectives the authors offered, and though I don't think I'm ready to jump full-force into reflexive thematic analysis, this effectively challenged some of the post-positivist leanings that were so inculcated in me in my undergraduate psychology education.

[Carlene Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this and felt I’ve now “got” reflexive TA and slightly the underlying theory/ philosophy aspect
However I would have like have seen an explicit clarification of how it differs from other qual. methodologies. especially IPA

[Jana Keir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this for my Master's degree. Genuinely a funny and inspiring textbook written in an accessible style. I was able to follow through this text as I worked my way through each section of my research. Love the examples too.

[Phillip Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book I read as part of preparation for my doctoral research. Fascinating approach to research and very helpful. It was written in a conversational and relaxed style which was very helpful for someone new to research. An excellent guide for anyone doing qualitative research.

[Kei · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for anyone learning or interested in qualitative research.

[Arpi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very detailed book for a beginner who starts their journey in the qualitative research.

[Elliott]

Good introduction to the topic. Good discussion of the larger philosophical concerns surrounding thematic analysis.

[Kirsty]

Read as part of psychology masters. User friendly easy read.

[Masha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not religious, but this is a bible

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful overview of thematic analysis. Most of the information is available in their articles.

[Priya Chahal · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️ Very accessible read with clear steps on how to approach analysing qualitative data and had really interesting examples. Hopefully got me prepped for when I do my own Thematic Analysis 🤞🤯

[Kalley Waller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best content I’ve ever read on qualitative research - easily digestible as a graduate student working on my dissertation!

[Marvelous · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of good stuff here. But I can't help but feel like the text was overly-verbose. like the authors were trying to reach wordcount over actually communicate meaning.