An evolving reflexive thematic analysis workflow

This guide is written by Fleuron’s maintainer, not by Braun and Clarke. It does not imply their endorsement. Use their primary guidance and your project’s methodological commitments to decide how to analyze your material.

An evolving list is different from a fixed coding frame

Braun and Clarke distinguish reflexive thematic analysis from coding-reliability and codebook approaches. An evolving code list can help you remember and reconsider interpretations; it is different from fixing categories early and measuring whether coders apply them consistently. Team discussion can deepen interpretation without treating agreement scores as its goal. Their FAQ explains these distinctions.

Fleuron calls its code list a “codebook.” That interface label does not dictate your method. Definitions and hierarchy are optional tools. Revise, combine or discard codes when your reading changes; do not fill every field just because it exists.

Read before sorting

Use the fictional community-garden interviews. Try the question: How do volunteers describe belonging and responsibility? Read both interviews in full. Note what drew your attention and what assumptions you brought, such as expecting volunteering to be freely chosen and rewarding.

Braun and Clarke describe analysis as a recursive process. Their phases guide familiarization, coding, theme development, revision and writing; they are not a software checklist. Return to earlier material when an interpretation changes. Read their process guidance.

Make a revision visible

Begin with Helping newcomers on Volunteer A’s phrase about staying to help. Later, the same volunteer connects helping with being welcome. Try renaming the code Belonging through helping. Keep a memo recording why the later turn altered your reading of the earlier one.

I first read helping as enjoyment. The later concern about being welcome suggests belonging may feel conditional. I need to compare this with the request for a quiet week.

This memo is an example of an interpretive question. It does not establish that the concern explains every instance of helping. Look for passages that complicate it, including the practical value of a shared watering list.

Develop an account, not just folders

Belonging has obligations could be a tentative theme to explore across these fictional extracts. Garden activities would instead name a topic. Ask what organizing idea connects the passages, how it answers your question and where it breaks down. Moving codes under a parent node does not answer those questions for you.

In a real study, revisit the complete dataset and write the analysis in context. These two short invented interviews cannot establish a substantive finding or demonstrate an adequate study design.

Use exports as working documents

Fleuron’s reflexive-TA preset includes reports, extracts, code definitions and memos, while leaving code-frequency tables off by default. Overview and extract totals still appear. That keeps an incidental frequency column from dominating this working document. It does not select themes, assess interpretive quality or make an analysis methodologically sound.

Review a report alongside the original material. Preserve uncertainty in your memos and explain your choices when writing. Before sharing, check what the report contains and where you save it.