# Thematic Analysis
OMG All That Data. What are we going to do with it?
The purpose of this tutorial is to give you hands-on experience in conducting thematic analysis on qualitative data. You will use your own pre-class tasks as qualitative data and go through a process of coding, themeing, and refining themes to develop clear findings. You will also get organised to complete Assignment 2. ## Pre-Class Tasks You must complete these tasks before the start of your tutorial. 1. Read Chapter 9: Interpretation, Data Analysis, and Presentation in ([Rogers et al., 2023](#ref-rogers-beyond-hci:2023)). Available as an e-book through the library. 2. Read this resource: and watch this video: 3. Find *your* pre-class forum posts from the Week 1 and 2 tutorials and copy the text into a new file. Recall that these tasks were about technology in your early life and observing someone else’s use of technology. 4. *Code* the data according to the [instructions in the week 6 lecture](https://smcclab.github.io/thirty-nine-hundred-hci/lectures/06-reflexive-thematic-analysis.html#/phase-2-code-the-data). You should add your code(s) in square brackets at the end of each sentence of part of the text. 5. Post your coded text on the course forum including a list of the codes you used at the end. 6. Make sure you have read and understood [Assignment 2](https://canvas.anu.edu.au/courses/11488/assignments/43580), choose 3 possible AI use contexts that you might like to investigate. ## Plan for the Class The tutorial will follow this structure: 0. Discuss pre-class tasks 1. Affinity mapping 2. Finding themes 3. Creating findings statements ## In-Class Tasks ### 0. Discuss pre-class tasks (10 minutes) As a class, or in groups of 4–5, discuss how your coding process went. - What codes did you choose? - Do these meet the criteria for codes? - Are your codes better described as *in vivo*, *semantic*, or *latent* codes? ### 1. Affinity mapping (20 minutes) In groups of 4–5: - Write your codes and supporting data onto post-it notes and add each note the wall - Cluster similar post-its and discuss - Write a heading for each theme When generating themes, you might like to consider the lecture slides on phases of thematic analysis, and this worked example of a reflexive thematic analysis process ([Byrne, 2022](#ref-byrne-worked-thematic-analysis:2022)). ### 2. Refine and Name Themes (30 minutes) In your group, develop, review, refine and name your themes following the [phase 4 and 5 from the lecture slides](https://smcclab.github.io/thirty-nine-hundred-hci/lectures/06-reflexive-thematic-analysis.html#/phase-4-develop-and-review-themes) For each theme: - Write a short statement that explains the theme - Add any further context - What is the impact of your theme? What important knowledge does it tell you about technology use? “So what?” Your tutor will drop into each group to discuss your themes and mapping process. Remember that this is a key skill for the assignment so you need to practice! Take a photo of your wall and findings and post on the forum! ### 3. Preparing research clusters for the assignment and choosing interfaces to study (30 minutes) For assignment 2 and the final project you will have to research other students from our class. Today you are going to get in a group of 4–5 students to research each other. The way this will work is: - Every student in the class plans a mini user research study (individually) - The other 3–4 students in your group will participate in your mini user study. - You will participate in the other 3–4 students’ mini user studies. You will have time in the week 7 and 8 tutorials to coordinate with your group. This week your main job is to meet your group and discuss what AI use contexts you will investigate for the assignment. What to do: 1. **Meet everybody in your group.** Write down their names, ANU email address and other contact details if you prefer. Keep in mind that everybody has access to ANU email and the Ed Discussions forum but some folks might not be available for messages on particular social media platforms due to their personal preferences, language, or background. While you’re at it, collect each group member’s uid and name in the exact format the assignment’s *Participants* section requires (`- u1234567 Firstname Lastname`) — ask them to write it down for you, since you’ll need it verbatim in your submission and participant lists are cross-checked across the whole class. 2. **Discuss the assignment specification** and the 3 possible AI use contexts you identified in pre-class work. Does everybody have the same understanding of the assignment? If you are unclear on what is required, ask your tutor or write a post on the forum. 3. **Choose your AI use context.** Everybody in the group would choose a different context to investigate so that doing all the mini studies isn’t too boring. Check if it will be practical to study others’ experiences in this context, i.e., are there obvious limitations that would prevent someone from having used AI tools in this way or being able to talk about it? Rules: - Be nice to everybody in your group, you will rely on them and they will rely on you so being present and communicating clearly is important. - This isn’t a formal arrangement, you can change groups if you need to and you might want to help out folks in other tutorials to do their studies. But it’s likely to be most convenient to complete studies with students in our own tutorial. ## Resources - Thematic Analysis lecture: - Affinity diagrams: - Textbook: Chapter 9 ## References
Byrne, D. (2022). A worked example of braun and clarke’s approach to reflexive thematic analysis. *Quality & Quantity*, *56*(3), 1391–1412.
Rogers, Y., Sharp, H., & Preece, J. (2023). *Interaction design: Beyond human-computer interaction, 6th edition*. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.