Who are we?
Professor Virginia Braun (Ginny)
I am a Professor in the School of Psychology/Te Kura Mātai Hinengaro at Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand, where I’ve worked since I completed by PhD in 2001 (a rare career trajectory, these days!). I am a feminist and critical (health) psychologist, and I teach and research in these areas.
My research explores the intersecting areas of gender, bodies, sex/sexuality, health, and (now) food. I have worked on projects related to heterosex, sexual health, cervical cancer prevention policy, sexuality and higher education, women’s genital meanings and experiences, and ‘female genital cosmetic surgery’ (FGCS), pornography, body hair, and contemporary formations of ‘healthy eating’. I am also interested in the intersections between academia and activism, and was involved in The New View Campaign’s work around FGCS.
I have an ongoing interest in qualitative research and (with Victoria Clarke) wrote the award-winning textbook Successful Qualitative Research: A Practical Guide for Beginners (2013, Sage). We have written extensively on thematic analysis (often with Gareth Terry and Nikki Hayfield), after writing about and developing what we now characterise as a reflexive approach to TA. Our new book – Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide (Sage, 2022) – includes input from a range of students and colleagues, including Nikki and Gareth.
My interests in qualitative research are broader than just TA, and I co-edited Collecting Qualitative Data: A Practical Guide to Textual, Media and Virtual Techniques (2017, Cambridge University Press) with Victoria and Debra Gray – which introduces a range of methods for collecting qualitative data beyond the widely-used face-to-face interview or focus group. Victoria and I, along with other colleagues, also have a particular interest in a method called story completion. Victoria and I, along with Hannah Frith and Naomi Moller, co-edited an issue of Qualitative Research in Psychology dedicated to the method.
You can find more information about my research activities on my University of Auckland staff profile or via Google Scholar. I also say things on Twitter: @ginnybraun.
Associate Professor Victoria Clarke
I am an Associate Professor in Qualitative and Critical Psychology in the Department of Social Sciences at the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. I teach about qualitative research and also supervise Masters and Doctoral student research, mainly in applied areas. My research and writing have focused on the intersecting areas of sexuality and gender, family and relationships, appearance and embodiment, and qualitative research methods.
I have published three award winning books: Out in Psychology: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer Perspectives (2007, Wiley), LGBTQ Psychology: An introduction (2010, Cambridge University Press), and Successful Qualitative Research: A Practical Guide for Beginners (2013, Sage). I also co-edited Collecting Qualitative Data: A Practical Guide to Textual, Media and Virtual Techniques (2017, Cambridge University Press) with Ginny and Debra Gray. My and Ginny’s latest book is Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide (Sage, 2022).
I continue to write about TA with Ginny and various other collaborators – including most frequently Nikki Hayfield and Gareth Terry – and we have now written close to 30 chapters, editorials and commentaries on TA! I also have interests in other qualitative methods – particularly qualitative surveys and story completion – and encourage other qualitative researchers to embrace a diversity of qualitative methods. I have co-authored several chapters about the story completion method and co-edited a special Issue of the journal Qualitative Research in Psychology on this method.
You can find more information about my research on my University of the West of England (UWE) staff profile, or via ResearchGate, Google Scholar and Academia.edu. I tweet regularly about thematic analysis and qualitative research: @drvicclarke.
Meet our closest TA collaborators, Nikki & Gareth
Dr Nikki Hayfield
I am a Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology in the Department of Social Sciences at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, UK. My research interests are in: i) bisexual, pansexual, asexual, heterosexual, and LGBTQ+ lives and identities; and ii) women’s reproductive lives, from being childfree, to peri/menopause. I have published research papers about these topics and written a book entitled Bisexual and Pansexual Identities: Exploring and Challenging Invisibility and Invalidation, as part of a Routledge book series on Gender and Sexualities in Psychology.
I use and teach about qualitative methods of data collection (e.g. interviews; focus groups; qualitative surveys; story completion tasks; vignettes) and qualitative analysis, in particular thematic analysis. I have published a number of book chapters about thematic analysis with Victoria Clarke, Virginia Braun, and Gareth Terry. I have written chapters/journal papers about insider/outsider research and story completion tasks. Gareth and I are co-authors on the book Essentials of Thematic Analysis, which is part of the Essentials of Qualitative Methods series from the American Psychological Association.
You can see my publications and more about my most recent research on my UWE staff page and see my published work on Google Scholar and ResearchGate.
Dr Gareth Terry
I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Clinical Sciences the Auckland University of Technology (AUT), Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand. I work out of the Centre for Person Centred Research (PCR) at AUT and lead the research on Disability, Diversity, and Accessibility within the Centre. I am interested in the intersection of gender, bodies, and health, and my work is informed by my background in critical health psychology.
My research has explored men’s sexual and reproductive health and decision-making, men’s embodiment and experiences of illness, injury, and body modification, the decision to be ‘childfree’ (for men and women), sexual consent practices (and implications of these for sexual violence), and more recently work in rehabilitation, disability and access (informed by critical rehabilitation studies). I also have a growing interest in research that draws on principles and practices of co-design, and its implications for knowledge translation activity.
I teach about qualitative methods (especially TA) in university courses and through workshops (online and in person). I have written a number of chapters related to qualitative methods, with various combinations of Virginia Braun, Victoria Clarke, and Nikki Hayfield. I am co-author with Nikki of Essentials of Thematic Analysis, which is part of The Essentials of Qualitative Methods Series from the American Psychological Association.
You can find out more about me on my AUT staff page or via Google Scholar.