Thematic analysis and coding

Thematic Analysis is used as the primary method of analysing all data from Facebook, focus groups and interviews. Thematic analysis allows the tracing of themes across the different methodological approaches. This ability to trace reoccurring concepts is crucial to the understanding of crisis communication strategies within a social media environment. Tracing themes across the

approaches allows for a greater understanding of the impact of perception on reputation and the effectiveness of current organisational communication, as each methodological approach offers a different viewpoint of the effectiveness of crisis communication strategies in a social media environment. Braun and Clarke (2006) stated that “thematic  analysis  is  a  method for identifying, analysing and reporting  patterns  (themes)  within  data”  (p.79).  Braun  and Clarke (2006) also define  a  theme  as  “capturing  something  important  about  the  data  in  relation  to   the research question, and representing some level of patterned response or meaning  within  the  data  set.”  (p.82).  While  it  is  crucial  to  have  an  understanding of what constitutes a theme, thematic analysis remains an inherently flexible methodology.

There are no set rules for determining a particular theme, other than it must be relevant to the questions being asked by the researcher (Braun & Clarke, 2006). For the purpose of this research, coding schemes and themes were constructed using a mixture of both the inductive and deductive method, with inductive themes and codes being identified from prevalent themes from the literature and deductive themes identified through initial textual analysis. The literature

provided inductive coding categories of separate emotions, such as anger, frustration, disappointment and satisfaction. Inductive coding categories also included  categories  from  Benoit’s  Image  Restoration  Theory  and  Coombs’  SCCT   for classification on the use of current crisis communication strategies in a social media environment. Such categories would include, but are not limited to

apology, denial, corrective action, compensation and mortification. Deductive coding  categories  included  ‘Bad  Customer  Service’  and  ‘National  Airline’.  A  full   appendix of the coding scheme used can be found in Appendix I.

Thematic analysis must go through several steps to be valid and robust. These steps are:

1. Familiarisation with the data by transcribing and taking notations of initial thoughts.

3. Searching for themes and repetition within the data.

4. Reviewing themes to check that they relate to data and to see if any information has been missed.

5. Defining and naming themes with ongoing analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006).

The flexibility of thematic analysis makes it a fitting form of analysis for this project. It also has the ability along with its abilities to provide differences and similarities across data sets and to make broad observations. The ability to compare and contrast themes across widely sourced data enables further evaluations about the comparative use of crisis communication strategies in a social media environment.

Key words and themes are identified and coded throughout the transcripts in order to gain insight into the use of crisis communication strategies in a social media environment. Such key themes included anger, frustration,

disappointment and satisfaction. Saldana (2009) defines a code in qualitative research  as  “a  word  or  short  phrase  that  symbolically  assigns  a  summative,   salient, essence-capturing, and/or evocative attribute for a portion of language- based  or  visual  data.”  (p.  3).  Codes,  and  the  coding  process,  are  a  common   method used in the sense-making stage of qualitative analysis, and is often referred to as a way to track qualitative analysis and the systems employed by the researcher (Baxter & Babbie, 2004). Baxter and Babbie (2004) suggest that the coding process has two steps that must be undertaken before coding categories are formed. The first step is to ask questions of the research that relate to the framework of the project. In this project such initial questions included: what kinds of emotional content is present on the researched social media sites or how do the airlines typically respond to social media comment and opinion during crisis. From these questions, initial coding categories such as emotion and crisis strategies are formed. Further coding categories are then created as the data is collected and themes emerge from the texts involved. Specific  codes  that  emerged  as  data  was  analysed  included  the  codes  ‘National Carrier’  and  ‘Bad  Customer  Service’.  There  are  a  number  of  different  coding  

methods that help a researcher form coding categories. While some of these methods, such as Attribute Coding, which provides participant information and context, are appropriate across almost all qualitative studies, other methods used are dependent on the type of study (Saldana, 2009). Baxter and Babbie (2004) suggest that the texts to be analysed must then be broken down, or unitised. These units must be able to provide answers that helps the researcher answer initial questions, that is categorised by the researcher as belonging to a particular question (Baxter and Babbie, 2004). Coding categories can then be created which help to address and make clear relevant meanings of the text in order to ask questions of the research project (Baxter and Babbie, 2004). In the case of this research major questions being asked of the research included:

What emotions are present?

What fuels or calms these emotions?

What traditional crisis communication strategies are used? How do the key publics feel about these traditional strategies?

Codes around emotion and traditional crisis communication strategies were developed based on these questions, as discussed earlier. Coding categories can also form with help of various coding methods. This research adopts the

following methods:

Attribute Coding - categorises participant information, such as age group and gender.

Simultaneous Coding - when content suggests multiple meanings and relates to more than one available code.

Structural Coding - codes based on questions asked, particularly relevant to interviews and focused groups

Emotion Coding - explores relationships, and insight into perspectives. Provisional Coding - codes that are drawn from initial literature, research framework etc. before the coding process begins (Saldana, 2009).

While the use of simultaneous coding is often seen as indecisiveness on the part of the researcher (Saldana, 2009), in this study it is necessary due to the complex and often overlapping nature of crisis communication theory. Often responses will have both an emotional code, noting the tone of conversation, and then also will belong to another one of the major identified themes. An example of this can be shown in the following exchange:

Client - Jetstar NZ Facebook Page: Seriously.  Don’t.  Fly.  With.  

Jetstar. Ever! Jetstar is the most unreliable airline I have ever flown, with the least regard for their customers. We had flights booked and paid for to Melbourne with two little kids - morning flight there, afternoon return flight a week later. Now an email from Jetstar stating that flight times had

changed, so that we are now supposed to arrive in Melbourne at 11pm and out flight home, get this, leaves at 11.50pm and arrives at 5.30am. With a 2 and  a  4  year  old.  Upon  reflection,  I  don’t  think  I  have  ever  had  a  flight  not   rescheduled on Jetstar. NEVER NEVER AGAIN. (Jetstar NZ Facebook Page, 9 June 2013).

This exchange was coded as Bad Customer Service and Anger. Coding in this way allows analysis of what motivates certain emotions, and different elements of the organisations’  response  strategies.  Coding  categories  develop  and  change  over   the course of the research and must always be revisited to ensure that codes help to answer and discuss all areas of the research question.

Initial scanning of the data suggests that the following five broad, emergent themes will be analysed:

1. The  Organisation’s  Communication  Strategies 2. Consumers Preferred Communication Strategies 3. Impact of Prior Reputation and Crisis History 4. Emotion

5. Pack Mentality

These themes inform further analysis into the impact that social media has on crisis communication strategies. These themes help to consider the contributing factors behind the formations  of  key  publics’  perception  of  the  airlines’  

communication strategies used. Lastly, these themes allow conclusions to form about what communication is expected of the airlines from those participating in Facebook forums.