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Template Analysis
Template analysis is a form of thematic analysis used in qualitative research in the social sciences. While it can be used in any disciplinary area it has been particularly popular in business, management and organisational research.

Background
One of the earliest references to template analysis as a specific style of thematic analysis is in Crabtree and Miller (1992). It has been further developed by subsequent writers, particularly Nigel King and Joanna Brooks at the University of Huddersfield. It can be seen as a form of generic thematic analysis, in that it is not linked to any one philosophical position; rather, researchers using it must recognise their own position and use the method in a way that is congruent with it. This is in contrast to the use of thematic analysis as a component of a specific methodology such as Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis or Grounded Theory, where the philosophical position is part and parcel of the approach as a whole.

Procedure
While template analysis is intended to be used flexibly, in response to the needs of a particular study from a particular philosophical and/or theoretical position, there is a set of typical procedures to guide the researcher.

1. Familiarisation with the data
blah blah

2. Preliminary coding, including the use of a priori themes
blah blah

3. Clustering
blah blah

4. Developing an initial template
blah blah

5. Modifying the template
blah blah

6. Defining and applying the 'final' template
blah blah

7. Interpreting and writing-up
blah blah

Quality checks
There is a range of strategies that can be used to check the quality of analysis carried out using a template style. In keeping with its generic nature, which strategies to use and how best to use them will depend on the approach taken; for example, in a study taking a strongly realist position to both epistemology and ontology, it would make sense to carry out an analysis of inter-rater reliability. However, in a constructivist study, such a criterion would not make sense, as it is based on assumptions of a real, independent world that is open to our objective understanding. Instead, an independent coder might be used to challenge the analyst's decisions and stimulate him or her to strengthen the reflexivity of their analysis.

Relationship with other qualitative methods
[Braun & Clarke, Framework, Matrix, qual content analysis]