Thematic Analysis Grid - details on how to write an essay PDF

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Document which outlines specific instructions to follow when analysing an article...

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Thematic Analysis Grid

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AIM: To record themes within academic papers in order to be able to compare and contrast. The purpose of the Thematic Analysis Grid (TAG) is to record evidence from a range of academic papers. You can transpose the main points of your analysis from The Critique in to it. It can also be used to record any practitioner themes identified by using Practitioner Insights. It will help you bring everything together in one place! You will begin to develop your own interpretation of results to use when developing an argument The TAG will help you identify a range of themes and supporting evidence across a number of papers. You can then identify similarities and differences in arguments between authors, evaluate the strength of evidence used, reflect on the significance of the conclusions and identify any flaws in the arguments or where more research is needed. This tool will help you develop more deeply your skills of analysis, interpretation, evaluation and inference. The TAG may be introduced during your second year where you could be asked to critically discuss a small number of studies and then answer a question based on your findings. During your final year, your assignments may involve a much more in-depth critique of a topic and the writing of a traditional literature review. You might also need to prepare for an in-class debate or to write a research paper or project. The TAG will help focus your work and save you time by collecting all your analysis in one place so that you can easily refer back to it. It is a very flexible tool which you can tailor to your level of study and the needs of your assignment. The examples included later in this document illustrate how it can be used.

How to Construct the TAG Step One: Source a wide range of papers relating to your research topic, then read, analyse and interpret each paper using The Critique framework. Make sure you have used The Source first to check the credibility of the papers you have found and ensure that you are using the most suitable and relevant studies. Step Two: Once you have completed your reading, input the title of each paper in the first column of the grid, using correct Vancouver referencing. It can also be helpful to include the country where the research was undertaken. Step Three: If it is important to your work, identify the type of study each paper describes and input this into the grid (e.g. practitioner based, academic, trade report).

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Step Four: Record key notes from each paper in turn. It might be useful to record key definitions, the context of the research, the purpose of the paper and key points made. You can decide how many columns your TAG has and can always add them as you go. You may find that you change the order of things as your reading progresses and your understanding starts to develop. Step Five: Include your review of each paper; this is often best left to the last column. Did the paper answer the research question? Were there any unanswered questions at the end of the study or any further questions? Did you find any methodological flaws or research limitations? Did you identify any source bias? Step Six: Review the TAG after you have added the details of a few papers. It may be that you can start to see some key themes emerging. Highlight similarities and differences. Make sure you consider how one paper may contradict another. Some people find it easier to use colour at this point. If several authors make similar comments about a topic – highlight them all in the same colour. Make a key as you go. For example, in the section of a simple TAG shown below, the topic is about Critical Thinking and the research question is “Which classroom techniques improve the ability of students to think critically?” The creator of the TAG has focussed on comparing different definitions of critical thinking and the best way of developing it. The findings show that two authors agree that critical reflection at the end of every session is crucial. These have been highlighted in yellow. Others suggest that debating is a key activity – these are blue. Another author suggests that using structured worksheets to develop a more focussed approach to reading and understanding is the most helpful tool to use – this is green. Paper details

Date written

Definition of Critical thinking

Best tool to develop it

Wason, H. ‘The importance of Critical thinking for students today.’ Journal of teaching and learning, 4(2), pp.12 – 15.

2015

The skills of finding information, analysing it, interpretation, evaluation, reading between the lines and explanation.

In-class debates.

Southall, J. ‘Why reflection is important for critical thinking.’ Professional Lecturer, 6(2), pp.35 37

2009

Being able to make sense of complex information by using reasoned judgement.

Reflection at the end of sessions and after reading key texts.

Gary, R. ‘Debating as a method of developing the ability to think critically.’ Teaching in University Today. 68 (2), pp. 100 - 105

2016

Being able to develop a point of view based on evidence and understand the point of view of others.

Debates where students are asked to argue the opposite to their actual view.

Jack, J. ‘Reading – the forgotten art of thinking critically.’ Journal of

2016

Considering a broad range of valid evidence in order to construct an

Structured reading sheets to allow students to feel confident when working with

CRITICAL THINKING TOOLKIT 2 MPharm (Hons) Pharmacy • BSc (Hons) Pharmaceutical Science • BSc (Hons) Chemistry

Higher Education. 99(3), pp. 76 - 77 Jill, J. ‘Critical reflection is critical’ Teaching today. 9(4), pp.3 - 6

2008

argument based on evidence.

more complex information.

Using reasoned judgement to evaluate evidence and construct arguments

Encourage each student to reflect on what they have learned at the end of each session – what is good and what is not so good – lacks evidence etc?

Now the TAG looks like this, it is easier for to answer the question by stating what you have discovered and evidencing your points. Highlighting the date each paper was written/published means that you can comment on how thinking has changed over time. In this example, it appears that whilst critical reflection was considered key 10 years ago, more recently researchers appear to think that reading and debating are the most important tools. Constructing your TAG in Excel is best if you want to see how thinking has changed as you can then sort the information using that column, to get the papers in chronlogical order. Excel also allows for more columns to be seen on a page. You can create a TAG to suit your needs. The more complex example that follows shows how a TAG was used by a final year student for in preparation for writing a literature review on the effectiveness of using product placement within mass media. There is no fixed way to use this tool, but these guidelines will allow you to explore what works for you in your circumstances. Use colour to highlight and shade, different or coloured fonts to help you. You decide! Once your TAG is complete you are now ready to write up your assignment using the hints and tips provided in CriticallyWrite.

CRITICAL THINKING TOOLKIT 3 MPharm (Hons) Pharmacy • BSc (Hons) Pharmaceutical Science • BSc (Hons) Chemistry

Author, Title, Journal & Date

Type of Paper/ Concept/

Main Themes

Sampson SL, Saraiva L, Gustafsson K, Jayasinghe SN, Robertson BD. Cell electrospinning: an in vitro and in vivo study. 2014 Jan 15;10(1):7882.

Context: There is a growing demand for off the shelf tissue engineered grafts. Scaffolds support cells enabling the m to form the required living microenvironment

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Macklin BL, Gerecht S. Bridging the gap: induced pluripotent stem cell derived endothelial cells for 3D vascular assembly. Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering. 2017 Feb 28;15:102-9.

Context: stem cells have the potential to provide patientspecific treatments in order to heal or replace the diseased vasculature

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 Highlights the differences between using different methodologies of 3D structure

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Sub Theme

Cell electrospinning is a novel idea Traditional scaffolds, which are demonstrating limitations clinically are not as effective as we need them to be Cell electrospinning is a new technology that allows multiple cells to be cultured simultaneously

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Engineered cell based therapies are an alternative approach with clinical implications long term

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Discussion

Cross-over

Electrospinning allows versatility in cell culture allowing culture of cells in suspension and also creating 3D complex models As simple as it sounds, the structures require a scaffold of matrigel and laminin, which is a component of the basal lamina, to grow effectively

This paper examines the safety of putting cells grown utilizing electrospinning methodology in vitro and in mice, and demonstrates that it is non-toxic

Macklin et al., 2017 examine the utilization of stem cells as the basis for cultivating structures, to avoid host rejection. In doing so they make suggestions of the clinical implications in graft survival.

Supporting cells in vivo is better when implanting stem cells or other regenerative cell types 3D biomaterials are therefore integral to the in vitro approach for vascular assembly in 3D

Suggests that pluripotent stem cells with the capacity to differentiate into cells can be utilized on grafts It discusses the merits of 3D assembly using cells derived from primary sources

Sampson et al., 2014 demonstrate how electrospinning is nontoxic and could be a new medium in which to grow cells, which would include stem cells, into scaffolds.

Current therapies utilise stents and grafts that only provide a short term solution

4 CRITICAL THINKING TOOLKIT MPharm (Hons)Pharmacy • BSc (Hons) Pharmaceutical Science • BSc (Hons) Chemistry

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