Braun & Clarke (2006), Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology · DOI 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Status: not yet read. The single most overdue item here.
What it is for
A six-phase procedure for getting from raw transcripts to named themes without pretending the themes were sitting there waiting. Reach for it with interview text, observation notes or open-ended questionnaires, when the aim is to induce themes rather than test a framework you already hold.
It is the default fixture in HCI qualitative work — which matters practically: using it means reviewers do not have to be persuaded the analysis is legitimate before they consider what it found.
Which version
The 2006 paper is the classic; it later developed into Reflexive TA (2019 onwards), which explicitly treats the researcher’s own position as part of the instrument rather than contamination. For a practice-based thesis written by someone who also makes the works being studied, that is not a footnote — it is the difference between a bias to apologise for and a stated condition of the method.
Cite 2006. Work from the 2021 practical guide when actually coding.
When it will be reached for
The Sion Cao interview and whatever follows it, plus the audience responses from the ZHdK prototype. Which means it has to be read before the autumn, not after the data exists.