Conducting and Evaluating Reflexive Thematic Analysis in HCI

Overview

Reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) is widely used and valued in HCI research, but its application in HCI requires careful consideration in theoretical standing and research practices. Critical needs and opportunities arise for HCI communities to build a deeper understanding of RTA and reflect on conducting and evaluating RTA in HCI. 

This in-person course at GI’25 will bring together researchers and students of all backgrounds to enhance their understanding of and practice in RTA through accessible, hands-on activities. It will offer active learning for core RTA concepts, focused RTA topics tailored to participant interests, and reporting and evaluating RTA. We will take a timely step towards collectively building research, mentoring, and reviewing strategies for implementing RTA in HCI studies.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to: 

1. Understand what reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) is and when to apply it as an appropriate analysis method in HCI contexts.

2. Understand how to conduct RTA to analyze qualitative data rigorously and with quality.

3. Report the procedure and output of their RTA in a manner that reflects markers of quality in qualitative analysis, such as rigour, credibility, coherence, and resonance. 

4. Evaluate the quality of RTA, including peer-reviewing paper submissions. 

Participation

There are no prerequisites for participation! We welcome researchers and students of all backgrounds. This includes new and experienced undergraduate, Master's, and PhD students, as well as researchers and practitioners in HCI-related domains. Please bring a laptop so that you can fully participate in all course activities. 

Please complete the Pre-course Survey (2 questions only!)

You do not need to complete the survey to participate in the course, but we encourage all prospective participants to do so – it will help us a ton! 

To help us tailor course content to better serve participant interests and experiences in qualitative analysis, we invite prospective participants to fill out this short (2 questions only) pre-course survey.

Survey Link: https://forms.gle/er7zSRKgNHaQbjU98 

Tentative Schedule: 9:00 – 12:15, Monday, May 26

 Durations of each segment, break times, and specific topics are subject to change based on interest from the survey. 

Segment 1: Fundamentals of Conducting RTA – 30 minutes

Introduction and overview of the fundamentals of conducting RTA and its relevance and application within HCI. 

Segment 2: Focused RTA Topics – 60 minutes

Both introductory and advanced topics tailored to participants' interests and needs from the survey. Participants will break into parallel small-group sessions, each guided by one or more instructors, and engage in focused, hands-on learning activities centred around a topic.

Coffee Break – 30 minutes

Segment 3: Reporting and Evaluating RTA – 75 minutes 

Participants will reconvene as a full group to first engage in a 45-minute session on reporting and visualizing thematic analysis in research papers, emphasizing best practices in presenting qualitative findings. The second 45-minute half will involve a structured critique of thematic analysis applications in HCI research. 

Optional Q&A

An opportunity to ask our course instructors questions about RTA in HCI. Bring any specific challenges regarding RTA you're facing in your research, or general questions about RTA in HCI – we welcome them all!

Course Materials

Course slides

Course feedback form

Links from the course: 

• Pass the RTA activity

• Reviewer Critiques (Qualitative Methods) and How to Respond to Them – a fantastic community resource for how to respond to common reviewer critiques in qualitative methods

• Speechreading paper:

  • Gorman, B. M., & Flatla, D. R. (2017, May). A framework for speechreading acquisition tools. In Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 519-530).

• Digital data in death paper: 

  • Chen, J. X., Vitale, F., & McGrenere, J. (2021, May). What happens after death? Using a design workbook to understand user expectations for preparing their data. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-13).

Some useful papers/books to reference:  

• The initial 2006 thematic analysis paper – note that this isn't specifically reflexive thematic analysis! 

  • Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101.

• The 2019 paper that coined reflexive thematic analysis

  • Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative research in sport, exercise and health, 11(4), 589-597.

• Textbook on reflexive thematic analysis – useful for students hoping to practically apply RTA

  • Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021). Thematic analysis: A practical guide.

• On interrater reliability in qualitative analysis

  • McDonald, N., Schoenebeck, S., & Forte, A. (2019). Reliability and inter-rater reliability in qualitative research: Norms and guidelines for CSCW and HCI practice. Proceedings of the ACM on human-computer interaction, 3(CSCW), 1-23.

• Bowman, R., Nadal, C., Morrissey, K., Thieme, A., & Doherty, G. (2023, April). Using thematic analysis in healthcare HCI at CHI: A scoping review. In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-18).

• Singh, A., Dechant, M. J., Patel, D., Soubutts, E., Barbareschi, G., Ayobi, A., & Newhouse, N. (2025, April). Exploring Positionality in HCI: Perspectives, Trends, and Challenges. In Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-18).

• Proudfoot, K. (2023). Inductive/deductive hybrid thematic analysis in mixed methods research. Journal of mixed methods research, 17(3), 308-326.

Instructors