What can “thematic analysis” offer health and wellbeing researchers?
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The field of health and wellbeing scholarship has a strong tradition of qualitative research—and rightly so. Qualitative research offers rich and compelling insights into the real worlds, experienc...
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They articulated later the idea of a central organising concept: the central idea of each theme, with multiple facets related to a central point.
“One of the things that we articulated later (Braun & Clarke, 2013, Braun et al., 2014) is the idea of a central organising concept, the central idea of each theme.It's like the sun in our solar system -everything is related to that central point.A theme could have multiple facets, like the planets, but these would all come back to a central point, idea or understanding.”
From ‘A starting point for your journey, not a map’: Nikki Hayfield in conversation with Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke about thematic analysis (2022) · cites this paper as Braun et al., 2014
The main text (page not provided) describes themes as patterns identified across a dataset, but does not describe a central organising concept or multiple facets tied to one central idea. Searches for those terms and a paraphrase found no passage in our copy that addresses the attributed explanation. (LLM, conf=0.72)
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Cites
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006) · Qualitative Research in Psychology · doi:10.1191/1478088706qp063oa · Cited by 194,414 · see citing works
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Research works printed but not linked: 10
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- Braun V., Clarke V., Terry G. Rohleder P., Lyons A. Thematic analysis. Qualitative research in clinical and health psychology. 2014; Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
- Charmaz K. Loss of self: A fundamental form of suffering in the chronically ill. Sociology of Health & Illness. 1983; 5(2): 168– 195. [ PubMed Abstract] [ PubMed CentralFull Text]. 10261981
- Clarke V., Braun V. Teo T. Thematic analysis. Encyclopaedia of critical psychology. 2014a; New York: Springer. 1947– 1952.
- Clarke V., Braun V. Michalos A. C. Thematic analysis. Encyclopaedia of quality of life and well-being research. 2014b; Dordrecht: Springer. 6626– 6628.
- Glaser B. Basics of grounded theory analysis: Emergence vs. forcing. 1992; Mill Valley, CA: Sociology Press.
- Glaser B. G. Theoretical sensitivity: Advances in the methodology of grounded theory. 1978; Mill Valley, CA: Sociology Press.
- Joffe H. Harper D., Thompson A. R. Thematic analysis. Qualitative methods in mental health and psychotherapy: A guide for students and practitioners. 2011; Chichester: Wiley. 209– 223.
- Riessman C. K. Stigma and everyday resistance practices: Childless women in South India. Gender & Society. 2000; 14(1): 111– 135. [ PubMed Abstract] [ PubMed CentralFull Text].
- Smith J. A., Osborn M. Pain as an assault on the self: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the psychological impact of chronic benign low back pain. Psychology & Health. 2007; 22(5): 517– 534. [ PubMed Abstract] [ PubMed CentralFull Text].
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Self-citationThematic analysis of qualitative data: AMEE Guide No. 131
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“Thematic analysis (TA) is a commonly used qualitative data analysis approach in psychology (Braun & Clarke, 2006), health care (Braun & Clarke, 2014), sport and exercise (Braun et al., 2017), and many other fields (Boyatzis, 1998).”
Braun, V., Clarke, V., & Hayfield, N. (2022) · Qualitative Research in Psychology · doi:10.1080/14780887.2019.1670765 · Cited by 604 · see citing works
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“It provides a theoretically flexible approach that can be applied across a multitude of disciplines, and is useful for applied research in health (Braun & Clarke, 2014).”
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- Authors
- Braun, V., & Clarke, V.
- Affiliations
- University of Auckland (NZ)
- Venue
- International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2014-01
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 26152-26152
- ISSN
- 1748-2623 (ISSN-L)
- 1748-2631
- PMC
- PMC4201665
- OpenAlex
- W2044115095
- Cited by
- 3,056
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 279 · 2025: 414 · 2024: 413 · 2023: 452 · 2022: 460 · 2021: 373 · 2020: 238 · 2019: 182 · 2018: 122 · 2017: 70 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 1
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UWE Research Repository (UWE Bristol) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Qualitative Research Methods and Applications
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
- Social Sciences › Education › Qualitative research in health
- Keywords
- thematic analysis, qualitative research, health research, research methodology
- MeSH terms
- Health Services Research, Humans, Public Health, Research Design, Qualitative Research, Grounded Theory
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