thematic-analysis
Conduct rigorous thematic analysis (TA) of qualitative data following Braun and Clarke's (2006) six-phase framework. Use whenever the user mentions 'thematic analysis', 'TA', 'Braun and Clarke', 'qualitative coding', 'identifying themes', or asks for help analysing interviews, focus groups, open-ended survey responses, or transcripts to identify patterns. Also trigger for questions about inductive vs theoretical coding, semantic vs latent themes, essentialist vs constructionist epistemology, building a thematic map, or writing up a qualitative findings section. Covers all six phases, the four
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills --skill thematic-analysis --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
What it does
Conduces a rigorous thematic analysis of qualitative data following Braun and Clarke's six-phase framework. It produces a Word document write-up and an annotated thematic map. It triggers for questions about inductive vs theoretical coding, semantic vs latent themes, essentialist vs constructionist epistemology, building a thematic map, or writing up a qualitative findings section. It does not cover IPA, grounded theory, discourse analysis, or narrative analysis.
How it works
- Phase 0: Establish research questions and save as step0_research_questions.md.
- Phase 1: Interview setup. Offer two paths: Path A upload existing materials or Path B conversational interview; collect the four upfront analytic decisions and document them.
- Phase 2: Familiarisation. Confirm transcripts are ready. Read all data items, take notes, and output phase2_familiarisation.md with a paragraph per data item and a running list of initial ideas.
- Phase 3: Generate initial codes. Re-read step0_research_questions.md, code data items to produce phase3_codes.md, and create a consolidated code list with extracts under each code.
- Phase 4: Searching for themes. Sort codes into candidate themes, produce an initial thematic map, and save phase4_initial_map.png or an outline with candidate themes and codes.
- Phase 5: Reviewing themes. Perform two-level review and produce a refined thematic map phase5_refined_map.png and a refined theme list.
- Phase 6: Defining and naming themes. Define each theme, determine sub-themes, rename themes, and save phase6_definitions.md and phase6_final_map.png.
- Phase 7: Producing the report. Run the 15-point quality checklist from references/quality-checklist.md and craft a strictly academic Word document write-up and a formal findings section, following Braun & Clarke guidelines.
When to use it
Use when the user mentions thematic analysis, TA, Braun and Clarke, qualitative coding, identifying themes, or asks for help analyzing interviews, focus groups, open-ended surveys, or transcripts to identify patterns; also for questions about inductive vs theoretical coding, semantic vs latent themes, essentialist vs constructionist epistemology, building a thematic map, or writing up qualitative findings. Trigger for confirming the research question, data set, and analytic decisions at Phase 1 start.
What it can touch
- Outputs include a Word document write-up and an annotated thematic map (PNG).
- Saves to workspace: step0_research_questions.md, phase2_familiarisation.md, phase3_codes.md, phase4_initial_map.png, phase5_refined_map.png, phase6_definitions.md, phase6_final_map.png.
Caveats
- Explicitly follows Braun & Clarke (2006) as the methodological basis; not suitable for IPA, grounded theory, discourse analysis, or narrative analysis.
- Requires the four upfront analytic decisions to be explicit in Phase 1 and the research question(s) stored as step0_research_questions.md.
# Thematic Analysis — Braun & Clarke's Six-Phase Framework This skill walks a user through conducting a rigorous thematic analysis (TA) on qualitative data, following the six-phase framework from Braun and Clarke (2006). It produces a **Word document (.docx)** write-up of the analysis and an **annotated thematic map** (PNG). The skill is grounded in one source: > Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Us
What does the thematic-analysis skill do?
Conduct rigorous thematic analysis (TA) of qualitative data following Braun and Clarke's (2006) six-phase framework. Use whenever the user mentions 'thematic analysis', 'TA', 'Braun and Clarke', 'qualitative coding', 'identifying themes', or asks for help analysing interviews, focus groups, open-ended survey responses, or transcripts to identify patterns. Also trigger for questions about inductive vs theoretical coding, semantic vs latent themes, essentialist vs constructionist epistemology, building a thematic map, or writing up a qualitative findings section. Covers all six phases, the four
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills --skill thematic-analysis --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills, a repository with 3,244 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.