Theme identification is one of the most fundamental tasks in qualitative research. It
also is one of the most mysterious. Explicit descriptions of theme discovery are rarely
found in articles and reports, and when they are, they are often relegated to appendices
or footnotes. Techniques are shared among small groups of social scientists, but
sharing is impeded by disciplinary or epistemological boundaries. The techniques
described here are drawn from across epistemological and disciplinary boundaries.
They include both observational and manipulative techniques and range from quick
word counts to laborious, in-depth, line-by-line scrutiny. Techniques are compared
on six dimensions: (1) appropriateness for data types, (2) required labor, (3)
required expertise, (4) stage of analysis, (5) number and types of themes to be generated,
and (6) issues of reliability and validity