Loading skill
Install any skill in seconds. Free to start, no credit card required.
Get Started Free →brycewang-stanford/thematic-analysis
Conduct rigorous thematic analysis (TA) of qualitative data following Braun and Clarke's (2006) six-phase framework.
Passed 11 of 20 test cases with the skill, and 8 of 20 without it.
and 5 more in the full report
5 fixed7 passed either way8 still failing2 broke
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
One of 5 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
I am setting up a thematic analysis on how employees describe burnout. I am tempted to default to a simple realist approach without discussing epistemology. Should I assume a realist epistemology by default, or must we explicitly clarify epistemological framing?
| Checked | Without skill | With skill |
|---|---|---|
| Solicits the user's explicit choice of epistemology rather than assuming a realist stance by default. | Missed | Passed |
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
This skill walks a user through conducting a rigorous thematic analysis (TA) on qualitative data, following the six-phase framework from Braun and Clarke (2006). It produces a Word document (.docx) write-up of the analysis and an annotated thematic map (PNG).
The skill is grounded in one source:
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101.
Where this skill cites the paper, treat those statements as the method's published position, not Claude's own.
Read these reference files as needed:
references/upfront-decisions.md — The four analytic decisions to settle before coding starts. Consult during Phase 1 (interview).references/coding-guide.md — How to generate codes well. Consult during Phase 3 (generating initial codes).references/theme-development.md — How to move from codes to themes, with worked examples. Consult during Phases 4–6.references/thematic-map.md — How to build and annotate the thematic map. Consult during Phase 6.references/quality-checklist.md — The 15-point checklist for assessing the analysis. Consult before producing the final write-up.references/pitfalls.md — The five common pitfalls. Consult after the first draft of the write-up.Also read these skills before generating outputs:
/mnt/skills/public/docx/SKILL.md) — Required for the Word document./mnt/skills/user/apa-referencing/SKILL.md) — If the user wants citations to existing literature in the analysis, format them in APA 7th Edition.If the user has a writing-style skill, do not apply it to the manuscript body — see "Writing register" under Phase 7. A writing-style skill may still apply to ancillary outputs (a plain-language summary, a blog version of the findings) if the user asks for those separately.
Before any of the six phases begin, elicit the research question(s) or objective(s) explicitly. This is the first action of the skill and is non-negotiable. The research question disciplines what counts as interesting in the data, which codes earn their keep, and which patterns rise to the level of a theme. Coding without a clear question tends to drift into surface description.
Prompt the user along these lines:
Before we begin the analysis, please state the research question(s) or objective(s) for this study. If there is more than one, list them in order of priority. If they are still in draft form, share the draft — we can sharpen them together before coding starts.
If the user is unsure or only has a study aim, help them work a draft into a workable analytic question. A good TA research question is broad enough to allow patterned meaning to surface across the data set, but narrow enough to discipline what is included and excluded.
test cases passed, vs 8 / 20 without
More skills from the same source and nearby in the registry, with their headline benchmark lift.