ABSTRACT

Thematic analysis (TA) is one of the most popular methods in social science. There are several different approaches to TA that hold different ontological commitments, ranging from positivistic coding reliability TA to constructivist reflexive TA. However, there has been less focus on developing an approach that is informed by critical realism, with the notable exception of Wiltshire and Ronkainen. The first part of this paper proposes a five-step critical realist approach to TA. This approach aims to produce nuanced causal explanations of events, countering the mistaken assumption that qualitative research cannot produce causal knowledge. The second part of the paper brings this critical realist approach to TA into conversation with three alternatives: coding reliability, reflexive, and Wiltshire and Ronkainen’s approach. The approach to TA in this paper builds on the strengths of these alternatives, offering an accessible way to adopt a critical realist philosophical grounding when doing TA.

摘要

主题分析（TA）是社会科学中最流行的方法之一。有几种不同的 TA 方法持有不同的本体论承诺，从实证编码可靠性 TA到建构主义自反 TA. 然而，除了 Wiltshire 和 Ronkainen 之外，人们很少关注开发一种以批判现实主义为基础的方法。本文的第一部分提出了 TA 的五步批判现实主义方法。这种方法旨在对事件进行细致入微的因果解释，反对定性研究不能产生因果知识的错误假设。本文的第二部分将这种批判现实主义的 TA 方法与三个备选方案进行了对话：编码可靠性、自反性以及 Wiltshire 和 Ronkainen 的方法。本文中的 TA 方法建立在这些替代方案的优势之上，提供了一种在进行 TA 时采用批判现实主义哲学基础的可行方法。