Table 1 Analytic stages of the thematic analysis:
Stage of thematic analysis [26] |
|---|
1. Familiarisation and immersion in the data: including transcription of the verbal data, checking transcripts for accuracy and repeated reading of the entire data set looking for patterns and meaning |
2. Generating initial codes: systematically coding interesting features of the data at the semantic level using a data-driven, line-by-line coding technique. All data was coded at this stage |
3. Searching for themes: sorting initial semantic codes into broader concepts by collating similar codes together and considering how they may combine to form candidate themes. An excel spreadsheet was used to aid this process |
4. Reviewing themes: the continued refinement of candidate themes by analysing coded extracts at the latent level, discussions with the research team, examining the fit of themes across the raw data set and using visual aids to develop a thematic map |
5. Defining and naming themes: identifying the essence of each theme and continuing to analyse data at the latent level, with the aim of generating an underlying ‘story’ |
6. Producing the report: organising and presenting the themes as a coherent narrative, supported by key data extracts |