Reasoning within hybrid thematic analysis

In this paper I focus on types of reasoning involved in hybrid approaches to ‘Thematic Analysis’. Four types of reasoning are considered: inductive, deductive, abductive, and retroductive. I argue that awareness of these four inter-related types of reasoning is useful in the development of effective and transparent thematic analyses by research students as well as by professional researchers. As an educator and researcher mainly engaged in practitioner research or in collaborative research with teachers, and based in the professional field of teacher education, my perspective is perhaps more pragmatic than philosophical. I have therefore tried to ground the argument using concrete examples of extracts within thematic analyses by my doctoral research students. For those relatively new to Thematic Analysis, the paper does not cover the basics of the method and makes some assumptions of prior knowledge, but it points towards relevant reading. I propose that, despite some contested issues of definition and overlap, a basic understanding of four types of reasoning (inductive, deductive, abductive, and retroductive) is useful to research students and researchers when conducting Hybrid Thematic Analysis, particularly if positioned within a critical realist perspective.