Dear Mary,

I found this article very clear and useful when I was planning and conducting thematic analysis: Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3 (2). pp. 77-101

I think you have to choose either inductive or deductive approach in your analysis. I would recommend inductive/emergent design in case you don't have a theory guiding your research.

Good luck with your study :)

Br, Mika

Dear Mary,

I agree with former answers.

Anyway, even if the researcher already has defined a precise codebook before starting the coding procedure, it is very frequent that some unexpected information/categories would occur. Then, some (usually minor) adjustments may be necessary, when confronting the theoretical model with the data (Moscarola, 2002)... The coding process should be open to some possible iterations...

Keep well.

Article CONTRIBUTION OF QUALITATIVE METHODS TO RESEARCH IN WORK AND ...

Dear Mary,

I agree with the other answers. An emergent design will add much more explorative understanding if you are not being guided a deductive research question.

Braun and Clarke's (2006) paper offers a good introduction to thematic analysis and how it can be adapted to inductive or deductive research methods.

"Successful Qualitative Research: A practical guide for beginners" also by Braun and Clarke is an invaluable guide for understanding how to undertake thematic analysis in practice https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/successful-qualitative-research/book233059

Best wishes Ben