How to write up your Braun and Clarke Reflexive Thematic Analysis (without losing your mind)
It’s time to write up your reflexive thematic analysis. This is the sixth and final stage of the Braun and Clarke process, so this should be the easier part, right?
All of the difficult things have been done - coding, developing themes, refining themes - now it’s just a case of writing it all up.
At least, that’s how it’s often imagined.
In reality, this is the point where many PhD researchers start to feel a different kind of stuck.
I’ve lost count of how many times, over the years, I’ve asked a supervisee how their findings chapter is going - and watched them shuffle slightly, avoid eye contact, and say something along the lines of: “I’m just trying to get it into words…”.
Which usually means - they’ve done the analysis, they know their data well, but turning that into something clear, coherent, and defensible suddenly feels much harder than expected.
Because writing up isn’t just about describing what you found. It’s about explaining your thinking in a way that holds together.
That’s where this stage often becomes more challenging than it first appears.
What does “writing up reflexive thematic analysis” actually mean?
In Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis (RTA), themes do not “emerge.” They are not waiting in your data for you to discover them. This is not a treasure hunt.
Themes are actively developed through your interpretive engagement with the data. The write-up is where you demonstrate that interpretive work.
You are presenting patterns of shared meaning, showing how those patterns answer your research question, and interpreting what those patterns mean in context.
This is the shift from analysis to argument.
Your findings chapter should read like a structured, evidence-based narrative, not a collection of quotes.
Start your chapter with a clear thematic roadmap
After introducing the chapter, name your themes clearly and early. Do not treat them like a surprise reveal.
For example:
This chapter presents four themes constructed through reflexive thematic analysis. Together, they illustrate how remote work reshaped professional relationships, blurred work–home boundaries, reconfigured communication practices, and prompted reflection on productivity and identity.
Then list them explicitly:
Dynamics of remote work relationships
Blurred work–home boundaries
Digital communication and work culture
Productivity, discipline, and self-perception
Your reader should know immediately how the chapter is structured.
Speaking as someone who has examined PhD theses, and spent literal weeks of my life going through them line by line - the clearer you can be from the outset about what is coming up - the better.
Your examiner doesn’t want to be presented with a puzzle that they have to work out for themselves. Tell them straight - here are my themes - then expand on them.
Writing up each theme: think in three layers
Each theme functions like a mini-argument. Strong reflexive thematic analysis write-ups typically move through three layers:
Description of the theme
Illustrative data extracts
Interpretation and conceptual development
Let’s walk through this using one theme.
1. Introduce and describe the theme
Begin by defining what the theme captures.
For example:
This theme captures participants’ experiences of blurred boundaries between work and home during remote working. Many described difficulty establishing psychological and temporal separation between professional responsibilities and personal life.
Be specific. Define the organising concept behind the theme.
2. Use data extracts strategically
Quotes are not decoration. They are evidence.
Select extracts that illuminate the core meaning of the theme, represent a pattern across participants, and add depth, not repetition.
For example:
“I found myself replying to emails at 11pm because there was no clear end to the workday anymore.”
“My home stopped feeling like a home. It was just another workspace with a kitchen.”
Introduce quotes smoothly. Then return to your analytical voice.
Your chapter should not feel like a transcript with commentary. It should feel like an argument supported by data.
3. Move explicitly into interpretation
This is where many PhD students hold back.
After presenting the data, you must answer the implicit question: So what?
For example:
This theme suggests that the perceived flexibility of remote work functioned as a double-edged sword. While autonomy was initially framed as empowering, participants’ accounts revealed an emerging “always on” culture that intensified emotional fatigue and boundary erosion.
Now you are doing doctoral work.
You can then link to theory, connect to existing literature, identify tensions or contradictions, and highlight implications.
For instance:
These findings resonate with literature on digital burnout and boundary permeability, extending prior research by foregrounding the emotional labour involved in self-regulation during remote work contexts.
This is the movement from description to contribution.
Reflexivity is not optional
Because this is reflexive thematic analysis, your role as researcher must be visible. You are not a neutral observer. You are an interpretive instrument.
Reflexivity might include:
Acknowledging how your background shaped analytic sensitivity
Explaining moments of tension or reinterpretation
Reflecting on how theoretical positioning informed theme development
For example:
As a researcher who was also working remotely during the pandemic, I was particularly attuned to participants’ descriptions of blurred boundaries. I remained reflexively aware of how this shared context might heighten sensitivity to emotional fatigue within the data.
This strengthens, rather than weakens, analytical credibility.
After presenting all themes: zoom out
Once you have written up each theme individually, step back.
Your findings chapter should not end abruptly after the final theme.
It should synthesise.
For example:
Taken together, these themes illustrate how remote work reconfigured both structural and emotional dimensions of professional life. While Themes 1 and 3 focus on relational and communicative shifts, Themes 2 and 4 reveal internal negotiations around identity and discipline. Viewed holistically, the findings suggest a layered process of adaptation marked by both autonomy and strain.
This is where you demonstrate coherence.
Return to your research aims
Before closing the chapter, explicitly reconnect to your research questions.
For example:
This study set out to explore how remote work during the pandemic shaped employees’ professional experiences and wellbeing. The themes collectively show that remote working altered not only organisational practices but also participants’ sense of identity, boundary control, and emotional resilience.
This anchors your findings within your original purpose.
If you want structured support with Braun and Clarke’s RTA
If you’re at this stage and finding that writing up feels harder than it “should,” you’re not alone.
This is exactly the point where many PhD researchers realise that understanding the method isn’t quite the same as being able to apply it - or explain it - with confidence.
The way I teach Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis is based on how I’ve supported PhD researchers to work through this in practice - especially when the textbook explanations haven’t quite translated.
My Braun & Clarke Guide offers calm, structured support across coding, theme development, and writing up, with examples and worksheets designed to help you make your reasoning visible.
It’s ready for you here when you need it.
Feel like you want to throw your analysis away and start again “properly”?
This is exactly where most people get stuck with Braun & Clarke’s thematic analysis.
Not sure if you’ve coded things “right”?
Worried your themes don’t quite make sense (or feel forced)?
Reading papers over and over and still thinking, “I don’t get it…”
That doesn’t mean you’ve done it wrong - it usually means you’ve hit the messy middle
This guide shows you how to make sense of what you’ve already done and move forward with confidence, without starting from scratch.
Inside, you’ll find a clear, step-by-step breakdown of Braun & Clarke’s six-stage process, with practical examples and worksheets to help you actually do your analysis, not just read about it.
Swipe through the images to see exactly what’s included.
Got questions? Contact me using this form, I’ll be happy to help.
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