For my research, I have identified three areas in the literature where there is still contension. I am doing interviews to address these areas and provide insights based on the interviews. I now want to analyze the interviews based on the three predefined categories, but I am confused how to do this. I want to look at the data from the three categories, but within those three categories, I want to find patterns and themes without any predetermined ideas. What is the best way to do this?
And in terms of writing the research: is it acceptable to structure it according to the three predefined categories and then describe the themes that emerged within these categories?
You might want to look into framework analysis which kind of builds upon TA to enable you to categorize and code your data into predefined overarching themes.
Framework analysis gives you the liberty to compare and contrast between your groups/ categories while still keeping an inductive approach within each.
As Shraddha Namjoshi points out, there are several different versions of thematic analysis, including Framework Analysis. Another approach is hybrid thematic analysis, where you begin with a set of deductively generated codes and then add further codes inductively during the data analysis -- Fereday and Muir-Cochrane (2006) Demonstrating Rigor Using Thematic Analysis: A Hybrid Approach of Inductive and Deductive Coding and Theme Development,
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