Analysing Semi-Structured Interviews Using Thematic Analysis: Exploring Voluntary Civic Participation Among Adults

Abstract

This exemplar highlights some of the key points for consideration when conducting thematic analysis on semi-structured interview data. The data exemplar is provided by Dr Ceryn Evans, from the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD), Cardiff University, who was funded by the United Kingdom Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to explore civic participation amongst adults in Wales. Thematic analysis was carried out with the aim of exploring the social construction of civic engagement in the context of examining relationships between higher education participation and civic engagement. The extract provided in the dataset is from an interview with a single male participant, aged in his early 50s and living in Wales. The exemplar will be particularly useful to those considering using thematic analysis as an analytic method on semi-structured interview data within a broad range of disciplines in the social sciences, including sociology and the sociology of education more specifically. Semi-Structured Interviews Qualitative semi-structured interviews are one of the most dominant and widely used methods of data collection within the social sciences (Bradford & Cullen, 2012). They are valuable because they allow researchers to explore subjective viewpoints (Flick, 2009) and to gather in-depth accounts of people's experiences. Typically, an interview schedule is used, which enables the researcher to address a defined topic whilst allowing the respondent to answer in their own terms and to discuss issues and topics pertinent to them (Choak, 2012). The schedule should therefore guide the interview, but also allow other relevant themes to develop throughout the interview (Choak, 2012). In this sense, the interview should resemble a 'flowing conversation' (Rubin & Rubin, 2005; Choak, 2012). The popularity of semi-structured interviews within the social sciences partly reflects their independence from a single theoretical framework or epistemological position. Qualitative semi-structured interviews can be used as much to consider experience, meanings and the 'reality' of participants' experiences as they can be used to explore how these experiences, 'realities' and meanings might be informed by discourses, assumptions or ideas which exist in wider society (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Data Exemplar: Voluntary Civic Participation Among Adults This exemplar intends to highlight some key points for consideration when conducting thematic analysis on semistructured interview data. The data exemplar is provided by Dr Ceryn Evans from the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with adults to explore the extent to which the experience of higher education (HE) bears upon their engagement in civil society. This was part of a broader project, funded by the ESRC, which aimed to examine relationships between HE and civic engagement, meaning participation in clubs, associations and organisations outside of paid employment or th...

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