The Utility of Template Analysis in Qualitative Psychology Research

TLDR

Thematic analysis is widely used in qualitative psychology research, and this article introduces a specific style called Template Analysis. The study aims to present Template Analysis as a distinct form of thematic analysis. The authors outline the technique, its epistemological stance, and illustrate its diverse applications through three case studies. They highlight Template Analysis’s distinctive features, discuss contexts where it is especially suitable, note potential limitations, and conclude that it offers flexible utility for qualitative psychology research.

Abstract

Thematic analysis is widely used in qualitative psychology research, and in this article, we present a particular style of thematic analysis known as Template Analysis. We outline the technique and consider its epistemological position, then describe three case studies of research projects which employed Template Analysis to illustrate the diverse ways it can be used. Our first case study illustrates how the technique was employed in data analysis undertaken by a team of researchers in a large-scale qualitative research project. Our second example demonstrates how a qualitative study that set out to build on mainstream theory made use of the a priori themes (themes determined in advance of coding) permitted in Template Analysis. Our final case study shows how Template Analysis can be used from an interpretative phenomenological stance. We highlight the distinctive features of this style of thematic analysis, discuss the kind of research where it may be particularly appropriate, and consider possible limitations of the technique. We conclude that Template Analysis is a flexible form of thematic analysis with real utility in qualitative psychology research.