Integrating Thematic, Grounded Theory and Narrative Analysis

Abstract

In this article, we integrate thematic, grounded theory and narrative analytic techniques. We apply methods from each to the same qualitative data to illustrate how they provide different interpretive scopes on medication meaning making. Findings from each are concatenated to produce an integrated conceptual framework for understanding adolescent experience of psychiatric medication. We conclude that thematic, grounded theory, and narrative methods, when integrated, produce a multidimensional understanding of medication experience.

Recommended Steps for Thematic Synthesis in Software Engineering

“…It is more than applying a label, coding requires a clear sense of the context in which findings are made. It involves identifying one or more passages in the text that exemplify the same theoretical or descriptive idea [25].…”

“…While content analysis consists of comparing and sorting, its aim is to quantify (according to predetermined categories) content in a systematic and reliable manner [10]. It differs from thematic analysis because it, in large part, establishes significance by frequency of themes [25]. On the other hand, some (e.g.…”

“…[11][13]) distinguish grounded theory from thematic analysis by the unit of text coded; in grounded theory, for example, text can be coded incident by incident or line by line. In contrast, thematic analysis does not specify a coding technique for associating a particular length of text to code [25]. Also, the line-by-line coding recommended by Thomas and Harden, is unlikely to be practical for large numbers of studies.…”

A qualitative analysis of Muslim young adults’ adaptation experiences in New Zealand

“…Patton (2002) suggests that the sample size in qualitative research depends on what one wants to know and how the findings will be used. In the current study, sampling decisions were based on the principle of theoretical saturation, meaning that subsequent data were no longer yielding novel information (Floersch, Longhofer, Kranke, & Townsend, 2010;Patton, 2002). Data collection was assisted by a semi-structured interview schedule consisting of 10 questions focusing on experiences of adaptation (see Table 1).…”

Understanding recovery: the perspective of substance misusing offenders

“…Utilising plural methods of qualitative analysis has been commended elsewhere in its application to complex social phenomena (Chamberlain, Cain, Sheridan & Dupuis, 2011). Further, the marriage of thematic and narrative analysis has previously been noted as successful, broadening understanding (Floersch et al, 2010).…”