Undertaking qualitative reviews in nursing and education - A method of thematic analysis for students and clinicians.

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To develop a simplified but rigorous method for qualitative reviews using thematic analysis, suitable for students and clinicians. Design: Methodological review. Data sources Cochrane and Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methods, key references from these, and important original methodologies. Review methods: Examining similarities and differences between methods, and how key features can be combined. Results: Features of the JBI method, meta-ethnography, meta-study, and thematic-analysis were combined. This results in a method that uses codes from the original paper that are combined into themes. Themes reflect patterns in the data, most notably similarity and differences between codes; but also a line of argument. Where codes and themes are nested, the relationship between them should be shown in a hierarchical tree. There is also explicit consideration of the methods, theory, and assumptions behind each of the included papers. The quality of the underlying studies, body of evidence, and confidence in findings should be assessed using the tools described; and these used to develop transparent findings. Conclusions: This is one method by which systematic reviews can be undertaken by students and clinicians.