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What is the purpose of peer debriefing or critical friend discussions in thematic analysis, and how would you incorporate this into your PhD process to strengthen your analysis?

I work independently and can become overly immersed in my data. I understand peer debriefing is meant to challenge my assumptions, but I’m unsure of the practical protocol. How do I select someone, what do I actually ask them to do, and how do I document their input to strengthen my thesis rather than complicate it?

 

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By Neetish Answered 4 months ago

The purpose isn’t to find agreement, but to surface your hidden assumptions. I recommend selecting a critical friend familiar with your topic or methodology, but not both this gives them a helpful outsider’s perspective. In my projects, I provide them with a sample of coded data and my nascent themes, asking: “Does this interpretation logically follow from the data excerpts? Where do you see my potential bias?” Document their questions in your reflexivity journal and show how you addressed them, even if you disagreed. This turns a conversation into powerful evidence of your critical, dialogic engagement.

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