Practical thematic analysis: a guide for multidisciplinary health services research teams engaging in qualitative analysis.
Open accessAbstract
Qualitative research methods explore and provide deep contextual understanding of real world issues, including people’s beliefs, perspectives, and experiences. Whether through analysis of interviews, focus groups, structured observation, or multimedia data, qualitative methods offer unique insights in applied health services research that other approaches cannot deliver. However, many clinicians and researchers hesitate to use these methods, or might not use them effectively, which can leave relevant areas of inquiry inadequately explored. Thematic analysis is one of the most common and flexible methods to examine qualitative data collected in health services research. This article offers practical thematic analysis as a step-by-step approach to qualitative analysis for health services researchers, with a focus on accessibility for patients, care partners, clinicians, and others new to thematic analysis. Along with detailed instructions covering three steps of reading, coding, and theming, the article includes additional novel and practical guidance on how to draft effective codes, conduct a thematic analysis session, and develop meaningful themes. This approach aims to improve consistency and rigor in thematic analysis, while also making this method more accessible for multidisciplinary research teams.
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Practical thematic analysis of open-ended survey questions was done by a qualitative analyst, with code categories refined by another qualitative researcher who reviewed all coded data.
“Practical thematic analysis14 of open-ended survey questions was done by a qualitative analyst (M.C.M.), who first created code categories based on responses. These code categories were then refined by another qualitative researcher (C.D.S.), who reviewed all coded data, made minor adjustments, and created themes.”
From Evaluation of an Ambient Artificial Intelligence Documentation Platform for Clinicians (2025) · cites this paper as [14]
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- Authors
- Saunders, C. H., Sierpe, A., von Plessen, C., Kennedy, A. M., Leviton, L. C., Bernstein, S. L., Goldwag, J., King, J. R., Marx, C. M., Pogue, J. A., Saunders, R. K., Van Citters, A., Yen, R. W., Elwyn, G., & Leyenaar, J. K.
- Affiliations
- Dartmouth College (US)
- Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), Lausanne, Switzerland
- Highland Park, NJ, USA
- Dartmouth Health (US)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, Lebanon, NH, USA
- Corresponding author
- Saunders, Catherine H
- ORCID
- Venue
- BMJ
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2023-06-08
- Volume
- 381
- Pages
- e074256
- ISSN
- 1756-1833 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4379964780
- Cited by
- 363
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 146 · 2025: 136 · 2024: 76 · 2023: 5
- FWCI
- 268.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.bmj.com/company/legal-information/terms-conditions/legal-information/tdm-licencepolicy (tdm)
- Locations
- BMJ (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- IRIS (submittedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- SERVAL (Université de Lausanne) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Qualitative Research Methods and Applications
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods
- Keywords
- thematic analysis, qualitative data analysis, health services research, coding, theming, code development, multidisciplinary research teams
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Interdisciplinary Communication, Qualitative Research
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