Thinking about your theoretical perspective when doing reflexive thematic analysis

In this video, Gareth Terry discusses the importance of understanding your theoretical perspective when doing a reflexive thematic analysis (TA). He highlights TA’s status as a method, rather than a methodology, and the implications of this. He discusses different approaches to using TA, with an emphasis on reflexivity and the choices made by the researcher.

Gareth Terry is a Senior Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Person Centred Research at AUT University (the Auckland University of Technology) in Āotearoa/New Zealand. He has particular research interests in people living with chronic health conditions, men’s health, body image, reproductive decision-making (particularly the decision not to have children), and masculine identities. He has methodological interests in thematic analysis, critical discursive psychology, and qualitative survey development.

In the video, Gareth Terry refers to different versions of reflexive TA. The Terry and Kayes (2020) article below is an example of an inductive, experiential TA. The Hayfield et al (2019) article is an example of an inductive/deductive critical TA:

• Hayfield, N., Terry, G., Clarke, V. and Ellis, S. (2019) ‘“Never say never?” Heterosexual, bisexual, and lesbian women’s accounts of being childfree’, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 43(4): 526–38.
• Terry, G. and Kayes, N. (2020) ‘Person centered care in neurorehabilitation: A secondary analysis’, Disability and Rehabilitation, 42(16): 2334–43.