and Namey et al. The number of new themes in this first run is seven. Finally, well write up our analysis of the data. Interested in ChatGPT For Academic Textbooks? Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. There's no one way to do a thematic analysis. PLOS ONE promises fair, rigorous peer review, They found that the first five to six interviews produced the majority of new information in the dataset, and that little new information was gained as the sample size approached 20 interviews. Yes This method can emphasize both organization and rich description of the data set and theoretically informed interpretation of meaning. Thus, comparison is an inherent part of the analysis. Although this body of work has advanced the evidence base for sample size estimation during the design phase of a qualitative study, it does not provide a method to determine saturation, and the adequacy of sample sizes, during and/or after data collection. But the next question is a purely subjective one: What level of paucity of new information should we accept as indicative of saturation? We will prospectively calculate saturation using a base size of 4 interviews and run length of 2 interviews. Some types of research questions you might use thematic analysis to answer: There are several benefits to using thematic analysis in quantitative research. Following this process can also help you avoid confirmation bias when formulating your analysis. We have provided researchers with a method to easily calculate saturation during or after data collection. Now we have to make sure that our themes are useful and accurate representations of the data. Published on Thematic Analysis - A Guide with Examples. Click through the PLOS taxonomy to find articles in your field. This type of analysis can be particularly useful when the data is complex or when the researcher is looking to uncover relationships between the data and other variables. What a quantitative researcher accepts, for example, as a large enough effect size or a small enough p-value is a subjective determination and based on convention in a particular field of study. We discuss each limitation briefly before introducing our alternative approach. The first is How do we know that were not missing important information by capping our sample at n when saturation is indicated? Put another way, if we had conducted, say, five more interviews would we have gotten additional and important data? Yes The approach to analyze data in qualitative research cannot be the same as in the quantitative research. Writing review & editing, Affiliation These codes allow us to gain a a condensed overview of the main points and common meanings that recur throughout the data. Take the number of new themes in the latest run (four) and divide by the number of themes in the base set (37). 17). It does not assume or require a random sample, nor prior knowledge of theme prevalence. e0232076. Their calculation incorporates: (1) the estimated prevalence of a theme within the population, (2) the number of desired instances of that theme, and (3) the desired power for a study. Can you use thematic analysis in systematic review? Advertisement We argue that thematic analysis is a qualitative research method that can be widely used across a range of epistemologies and research questions. In your research, you might only use descriptive statistics, or you might use a mix of both, depending on what you're trying to figure out. This is important from an efficiency perspective. Another potential limitation of this method relates to codebook structure. In reviewing these studies to inform the development of our approach to assessing saturation, we identified three limitations to the broad application of saturation assessment processes which we sought to overcome: lack of comparability of metrics, reliance on probability theory or random sampling, and retrospective assessment dependent on having a fully coded/analyzed dataset. In this paper we present a way of assessing thematic saturation in inductive analysis of qualitative interviews. Again, what we decide will vary according to what were trying to find out. While these three studies offer diverse and analytically rigorous case studies, they provide limited generalizability. We test and validate our method using a bootstrapping technique on three distinctly different qualitative datasets. No, Is the Subject Area "Cross-cultural studies" applicable to this article? We acknowledge and agree with these assertions. Though there were 14 questions on the guide, only data from three questions were included in the thematic analysis referenced here. Quantitative and qualitative data are both used for research and statistical analysis. Note that their model assumes a random sample. The range of empirical work on saturation in qualitative research and detail on the operationalization and assessment metrics used in data-driven studies that address saturation are summarized in Table 1. Our method also specifically applies to contexts in which an inductive thematic analysis [24] is used, where emergent themes are discovered in the data and then transformed into codes. [23]) are limited by the total number of interviews conducted: the denominator represents the total number of themes in the fully-analyzed dataset and is fixed, while the number of themes in the numerator gets closer to the denominator with every new interview considered, thus eventually reaching 100% saturation. And lastly, these descriptive statistics help. What can we change to make our themes work better? Hence, it could be concluded that evaluation is both quantitative and qualitative. For any method of assessing saturation, including ours, researchers need to decide at which level they will identify and include themes/codes. Yes thematic analysis can be used in mixed method research. At this point the proportion of new information added by the last run is below the 5% threshold we established, so we stop here after the 8th interview and have a good sense that the amount of new information is diminishing to a level where we could say saturation has been reached based on our subjective metric of 5%. What is the difference and similarity between qualitative and quantitative research? That said, if . Mixed methods reviews. At the 0% new information threshold saturation was indicated at the same points as in Dataset 1: 11+2 and 14+3, consistent across all base sizes. With statistics, you can summarize your sample data, make estimates, and test hypotheses. This reflects similar developments in primary research in mixing methods to examine the relationship between theory and empirical data which . The interview was a follow-up qualitative inquiry into womens responses on a quantitative survey. Assign preliminary codes to your data in order to describe the content. Revised on November 24, 2022. Are codes in thematic analysis quantitative or qualitative? Navigating the world of qualitative thematic analysis can be challenging. What are the benefits of using both qualitative and quantitative research? We hope researchers find this method useful, and that others build on our work by empirically testing the method on different types of datasets drawn from diverse study populations and contexts. In writing up our saturation assessment then, we would say that using a base size 4 we reached the 5% new information threshold at 6+2 interviews. (2010), for example, consider runs of three data collection events each time they (re)assess the number of new themes for the numerator, whereas Coenen et al. We should also include a methodology section, describing how we collected the data (e.g. Current operationalizations of saturation vary widely in the criteria used to arrive at a binary determination of saturation having been reached or not reached (e.g., Francis et al. Next, we look over the codes weve created, identify patterns among them, and start coming up with themes. However, thematic analysis is a flexible method that can be adapted to many different kinds of research. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232076.t005. This type of analysis is often used to uncover the underlying structure of a data set. The second question is to a degree related to the first question and pertains to possible order effects. Most of the time, youll combine several codes into a single theme. The lower the new information threshold, the less likely an important number of themes may remain undiscovered in later interviews if data collection stops when the threshold is reached. It involves breaking down the data into smaller components and analyzing the components to find commonalities and differences. Writing original draft, This kind of in-depth understanding is well suited to qualitative approaches. Inductive probing was employed throughout all interviews. Now that you have a final list of themes, its time to name and define each of them. It is similar to a literature review, which is a critical survey and assessment of the existing research on your particular topic. At a run length of three interviews, the median number of interviews required before a drop in new information was observed was seven. For example, if the data is qualitative in nature, such as survey responses, thematic analysis can be used to identify patterns in the data. . Automatically generate transcripts, captions, insights and reports with intuitive software and APIs. If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the Cite this Scribbr article button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator. Since we had available the total number of codes identified in each dataset, we carried out one additional calculation as a way to provide another metric to understand how the median number of interviews to reach a new information threshold related to retrospectively-assessed degrees of saturation with the entire dataset. Given that both qualitative and quantitative market research provides vital ingredients of the understanding you are looking for (the Why and the What), combining them should deliver significant benefits, enabling you to compare and contrast results and gain much deeper insights. All interviews were conducted in a local language. Coding means highlighting sections of our text usually phrases or sentences and coming up with shorthand labels or codes to describe their content. You can manage to achieve trustworthiness by . Themes are generally broader than codes. A semantic approach involves analyzing the explicit content of the data. Like all academic texts, writing up a thematic analysis requires an introduction to establish our research question, aims and approach. Divide the number of new themes in this run (seven) by the number of unique themes in the base set (37). For this example, we have selected a new information threshold of 5% to indicate that we have reached adequate saturation. A central organising concept captures the essence of a theme. This means that relative to the total number of unique codes identified in the first four, five, or six interviews, the amount of new information contributed by interviews 8, 9, and 10 was less than or equal to 5% of the total. Each code describes the idea or feeling expressed in that part of the text. The number of themes evident across 68 interviews corresponded with a median degree of saturation of 79% to 82%. from https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/thematic-analysis/, How to Do Thematic Analysis | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples, whos to say they dont have their own reasons for pushing this narrative, Different approaches to thematic analysis. Validation, Thematic analysis is not particular to any one research method but is used by scholars across many fields and disciplines. This might involve transcribing audio, reading through the text and taking initial notes, and generally looking through the data to get familiar with it. Each table presents median and percentiles of the bootstrap distribution using bases of 4, 5 or 6 and run lengths of 2 and 3, at new information thresholds of 5% and no new information. Following a review of the empirical research on data saturation and sample size estimation in qualitative research, we propose an alternative way to evaluate saturation that overcomes the shortcomings and challenges associated with existing methods identified in our review. A thematic analysis is used in qualitative research to focus on examining themes within a topic by identifying, analysing and reporting patterns (themes) within the research topic. Creswell, J. W., & Clark, V. L. P. (2018). We could increase the run length to 3 (or an even larger number), and/or we could set a more stringent new information threshold of no new information. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. First, it can help researchers to identify relationships between the data and other variables. In cases where most of the numbers are quite close to the average, the standard deviation will be relatively low. For inductive thematic analyses this is a subjective decision that depends on the degree of coding granularity necessary for a particular analytic objective, and how the research team wants to discuss saturation when reporting study findings. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232076.t009, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232076.t010, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232076.t011. That is where we rely on the empirical research that shows the rate at which new information emerges decreases over time and that the most common and salient themes are generated early, assuming that we keep the interview questions, sample characteristics, and other study parameters relatively consistent. What is the difference between thematic analysis and IPA? [16] conducted a pioneer methodological study using data collected on environmental risks. Writing review & editing, Affiliation Discrepancies in code application were resolved through discussion, resulting in consensus-coded documents. Interested in ChatGPT For Academic Papers? We then identified the number of transcripts needed to meet a new information threshold of 5% or 0%. The longer the run length, the greater number of interviews required to reach saturation. We tested our method on single-tier codebooks, but qualitative researchers often create hierarchical codebooks. comparing reflexive thematic analysis and other patternbased qualitative analytic approaches. It was developed with applied inductive thematic analyses in mindthose for which the research is designed to answer a relatively narrow question about a specific real-world issue or problemand the datasets used in the bootstrapping analyses were generated and analyzed within this framework. Powered by Speak Ai Inc. Made in Canada with. The bootstrap method is a resampling technique that uses the variability within a sample to estimate the sampling distribution of metrics (in this case saturation metrics) empirically [35]. [22]). Thematic analysis is a process of analyzing qualitative data to identify patterns (themes) within the data. Thematic analysis remains a goods approach to research where you're trying to find out something about people's views, considerations, skills, adventures or values from a set to qualitative data - for example, interview transcripts, social media profiles, or survey responses. The results section of the review will comprise thematic synthesis of quantitative studies, thematic synthesis of qualitative studies, and the aggregation of the two. Similarly, the method allows for different optionsand greater clarity and transparencyin describing and reporting on saturation. and How do we know if we have reached saturation? Tutors' Association ID: 55870609, Join Grad Coach On: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn. Here, we return to the data set and compare our themes against it. [9] conducted a stepwise inductive thematic analysis of 60 in-depth interviews among female sex workers in West Africa and discovered that 70% of all 114 identified themes turned up in the first six interviews, and 92% were identified within the first 12 interviews. Saldaa, J. Second, thematic analysis can be used to identify patterns in the data that could not be identified through other methods. Many qualitative data analyses, however, do not use the specific grounded theory method, but rather a more general inductive thematic analysis. The unit of analysis for base size is the data collection event; the items of analysis are unique codes representing themes. When to use thematic analysis. broad scope, and wide readership a perfect fit for your research every time. Even in cases where random sampling is employed, the open-ended nature of qualitative inquiry doesnt lend itself well to probability theory or statistical inference to a larger population because response categories are not structured, so are not mutually exclusive. He found the probability of identifying a concept (theme) among a sample of six individuals is greater than 99% if that concept is shared among 55% of the larger study population. All three datasets were analyzed using a systematic inductive thematic approach [2], and all codes were explicitly defined in a codebook following a standard template [34]. It is present in all qualitative research but, unfortunately, it is evident mainly by declaration [1]. In other words, at run length 2, it took 11 interviews, plus two more to confirm that no new information was contributed. At a run length of two interviews, the median number of interviews required before a drop in new information was observed was six. This means that relative to the total number of unique codes identified in the first four, five, or six interviews, the amount of new information contributed by interviews 7 and 8 was less than or equal to 5% of the total. Dataset 2. Across academic disciplines, and for about the past five decades, the answer to this question has usually revolved around reaching saturation [1, 59]. Selecting and interpreting levels of rigor, precision, and confidence is a subjective enterprise. Global Health, Population, and Nutrition, FHI 360, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America. At the 0% new information threshold, saturation was indicated at 12+2 and 16+3, consistent across base sizes. Thematic analysis helps researchers understand those aspects of a phenomenon that participants talk about frequently or in depth, and the ways in which those aspects of a phenomenon may be connected. Can research be done using both qualitative and quantitative data Why or why not? The researcher closely examines the data to identify common themes topics, ideas and patterns of meaning that come up repeatedly. Researchers have options for how they describe saturation and can also use the term with more transparency and precision. But they do provide a transparent way of presenting data saturation assessments that can be subsequently interpreted by other researchers. How to transcribe a Microsoft Teams Meeting, What Is A Acoustic Model In Speech Recognition, What Is A Normal Speech Recognition Threshold. Data curation, In practical terms, this implies that saturation should initially be assessed after six interviews (four in the base, and two in the run). The honest answer to this is that we dont know, and we can never know unless we conduct those five extra interviews, and then five more after that and so on. At a run length of 3, the median number of required interviews was 1112 (again higher for base size 4). The first is that the results are within the range of what we would have expected based on previous empirical studies. An extract from one interview looks like this: In this extract, weve highlighted various phrases in different colors corresponding to different codes. The qualitative thematic analysis included 10 of these questions and generated 85 unique codes. When to use thematic analysis. It is a method for describing data, but it also involves interpretation in the processes of selecting codes and constructing themes. [23] for discussion on this as it relates to saturation). The results for Dataset 2 were nearly identical to Dataset 1 (Table 3). Morgan et al. Our approach includes three primary elements in its calculation and assessment: Base Size, Run Length, and New Information Threshold. It is increasingly being used by researchers to analyze quantitative data as well. Can qualitative and quantitative research be used together? If analyzing data in real time, the results of this initial assessment can then determine whether or not more interviews are needed. For example, Onwuegbuzie and Johnson (2021) note "data analysis in mixed methods research [can be]the most difficult step of the mixed methods research process" (p. 1) and there is a "lack of methodological guidance in the extant literature on these topics" (p. 16). When to use thematic analysis. Base size appears to have almost no effect on the outcome. For the purposes of our assessment, saturation refers to the point during data analysis at which incoming data points (interviews) produce little or no new useful information relative to the study objectives. In our example, we decided that the code uncertainty made sense as a theme, with some other codes incorporated into it. Saturation will inevitably occur in a retrospectively-assessed, fully-analyzed, fixed-size dataset. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232076.s001. Many existing definitions are constrained by a dichoto-mous typology that contrasts qualitative and quantitative research or assumes a particular epistemological foundation. This is not below our 5% threshold, so we continue. Thematic analysis helps you make your qualitative study more accurate. What type of qualitative research is thematic analysis? A researcher needs to look keenly at the content to identify the context and the message conveyed by the . Yes We argue that thematic analysis is a qualitative research method that can be widely used across a range of epistemologies and research questions. . Benefits of Using Thematic Analysis in Quantitative Research. This is indicated by a superscript +2 or +3. Thematic analysis is a good approach to research where you're trying to find out something about people's views, opinions, knowledge, experiences or values from a set of qualitative data - for example, interview transcripts, social media profiles, or survey responses. Yes The practical implication of this finding is that researchers can choose a longer run lengthe.g., three interviews (or more)to generate a more conservative assessment of saturation. Themes are identified with any form of qualitative research method, be it phenomenology, narrative analysis, grounded theory, thematic analysis or any other form. However, the purpose and process of identifying themes may differ based not only on the methodology but also the research questions (Braun & Clarke, 2006). We follow this with an overview of the few empirically-based methods that have been put forward to operationalize and measure saturation and identify challenges of applying these approaches to real-life research contexts, particularly those that use inductive thematic analyses. The fact that IPA is better thought of as a methodology (a theoretically informed framework for how you do research) rather than a method (a technique for collecting/analysing data), whereas TA is just a method. The median number of interviews required were 11+2 and 14+3. Generate accurate APA, MLA, and Chicago citations for free with Scribbr's Citation Generator. At the 5% new information threshold, the median number of interviews required to reach saturation at a run length of 2 was 89 (higher for base size 4). Here again the unit of analysis is the data collection event; the items of analysis are unique codes. The interview guide contained 13 main questions, each with scripted sub-questions. (2022, November 25). We also know from previous studies [9, 16, 29] that most novel information in a qualitative dataset is generated early in the process, and generally follows an asymptotic curve, with a relatively sharp decline in new information occurring after just a small number of data collection/analysis events. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232076.t003. Boyatzis (1998) described thematic analysis as a translator for those speaking the languages of qualitative and quantitative analysis . The study sample was highly homogenous. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Yes Given how different approaches arein terms of units of analysis and strictness of saturation thresholdsit is difficult to understand how much confidence to have in a conclusion about whether saturation was reached or not. How do you do thematic analysis of qualitative data? For our analyses we provide both options for run lengths in our calculationstwo events and three eventsto afford researchers more flexibility. The number of themes evident across 1114 interviews corresponded with a median degree of saturation of 87% to 89%. This study included 60 interviews with women at higher risk of HIV acquisition30 participants in Kenya and 30 in South Africa [31]. In this paper we present a method to assess and report on saturation that enables qualitative researchers to speak about--and provide some evidence for--saturation that goes beyond simple declaration. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. For example, a researcher may use thematic analysis to analyze a survey data set in order to identify themes in the responses.
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