A growing library of materials to support your RRITA practice — a downloadable Quick Start Guide, a searchable glossary of core concepts, and practical guidance for interview question design.
New to RRITA? Start here.
PDF covering the research question, matrix setup, the seven steps at a glance, the reflexive anchor, the five qualities of a good interview question, and how to know when your themes are ready.
The RRITA matrix is the method's central analytic instrument. The template provides four versioned tabs — Expanded, Compressed, Coded, Themed — plus a Master and a Working list of codes.
Excel workbook (.xlsx) with one matrix tab per analytic version and two code-list tabs. Pre-filled prompts (Code, Memo, Tension, Discordance, Pivot, Subtheme, Theme, Definition, Warrant) mark the structure of each entry.
The glossary defines the key concepts that underpin RRITA's analytic logic. It is designed to be used alongside the matrix and the seven-step process — terms are best understood in context rather than in isolation.
The historically and socio-politically situated contours of one's understandings; the perceived limits of what is visible, possible, and desirable within a given interpretive context. Gaining a deeper understanding of one's dynamic subjectivity may help broaden the analytic horizon — expanding what the researcher can see, question, and construct meaning from.
Structural supports, such as research domains and the expand–compress cadence, that organise analytic activity without determining its outcomes. Scaffolding facilitates interpretive work without constraining it.
A dedicated feature within the RRITA matrix that formalises analytic scepticism and engagement with data complexity. Analytic tensions capture interpretive frictions between researcher subjectivity and data, among emerging insights, and between data and academic literature. Discordance records internal contradictions and negative cases within the raw data. Together, they prevent premature thematic closure and provide the interpretive friction necessary for rigorous analysis.
A label used to identify and organise raw data, serving as the primary bridge between verbatim extracts and broader thematic patterns. RRITA distinguishes between semantic codes — in vivo and descriptive labels that maintain close grounding in participants' own language — and interpretive codes, introduced sparingly to capture underlying values, power dynamics, or emotional orientations. Selecting extracts and naming codes are interpretive acts, shaped by the researcher's evolving subjectivity and analytic horizon. Interpretive codes are always accompanied by a memo documenting the analytic rationale and justifying the interpretive leap.
The alternating rhythm of data generation and analysis that structures RRITA's seven steps. Expansion phases increase analytic density (e.g., generating raw data, coding); compression phases concentrate insights into refined outputs (e.g., removing irrelevant material, grouping codes into themes).
A dedicated header row in the RRITA matrix that prompts researchers to chronologically document their positionality across each step of the analysis. In Steps 1 and 2, entries are made at study level; from Step 3 onwards, entries are participant-specific. The anchor creates a longitudinal record of shifting positionality and supports sustained reflexive engagement throughout the analytic journey.
A documented moment in the analytic narrative where the researcher's interrogation of positionality, friction, or discordance explicitly redirects or deepens the interpretive trajectory. Functioning as a narrative hinge, it transforms researcher subjectivity from static background into an active catalyst for analytic insight. A pivot is justified when it produces a concrete analytic consequence — a theme boundary redrawn, an interpretation revised, a code reconsidered.
Broad conceptual territories defined a priori to facilitate comprehensive data coverage and initial organisation of the RRITA matrix. Domains serve as temporary scaffolding and never constrain inductive coding or subsequent theme development. The domain structure remains fluid and is updated as early interviews reveal overlooked areas.
The central analytic instrument of RRITA. It consolidates raw data, reflexive positioning, coding, tension and discordance analysis, and theme development into a single versioned document, rendering the full analytic journey visible and open to scrutiny.
The systematic, ongoing process of scrutinising and documenting one's subjectivity at every step of the analytic journey. In RRITA, reflexivity is spatialised: horizontally via the reflexive anchor for each participant across all steps, and vertically via reflexive notes on specific data segments within a step.
The constellation of assumptions, positions, values, and emotional resonances through which the researcher perceives and interprets the world. Subjectivity is never fixed; it is continually shaped by socio-cultural dynamics and lived experiences. In RRITA, subjectivity is treated as a central analytic resource to be explicitly documented and scrutinised — not bracketed or minimised.
A patterned account of meaning, rooted in raw data and constructed through analytic work, conveying a significant insight regarding the research question. To qualify as a theme in RRITA, a candidate must: offer a specific interpretive insight into the research question; reflect a patterned, recurring meaning capturing shared conceptual essence rather than lexical frequency; and possess clear conceptual boundaries, remaining distinct from other themes while consolidating related codes. Themes possess interpretive depth — offering an abstracted, conceptual explanation of the phenomena — and are formally justified through a theme warrant. Where a theme contains distinct facets that add granular detail, it may be organised into subthemes.
A concise statement justifying why a group of codes constitutes an interpretive theme rather than a descriptive topic. The warrant makes the researcher's interpretive reasoning explicit and accountable, and is maintained directly within the matrix's Themes column.
Developing a strong interview guide is one of the most consequential steps in a RRITA study. The guide is not a script but a thinking tool — a structured set of invitations for the participant to narrate their experience.
Use your participants' vocabulary, not academic or clinical jargon. Clarity builds trust and opens the conversation.
Questions should sound like something a thoughtful person would actually say in conversation. Stilted phrasing creates distance; natural phrasing builds rapport.
Avoid leading questions or embedded evaluations. "How did that make you feel?" assumes the participant felt something; "What was that experience like for you?" leaves space for them to define it.
Ask participants to narrate and remember rather than theorise or interpret. "Can you tell me about a time when…" elicits lived experience; "What do you think about…" invites abstraction. The analysis is your job, not the participant's.
Create space for participant meanings rather than imposing your categories. Follow unexpected threads. The most analytically valuable material often comes from a direction you did not anticipate.
Organise the guide in a clear flow: warm-up, progressively deeper exploration, sensitive questions, closing segment. Involve supervisors, colleagues, or patient and public involvement representatives in guide development. Pilot the guide with one or two participants before beginning data collection — a pilot tests clarity, sequencing, emotional load, and probing strategies. For participants with clinical conditions such as breathlessness, pain, or fatigue, plan for shorter sessions and built-in pauses, and document these adaptations in the reflexive anchor.
Neutral probes are among the most powerful tools in qualitative interviewing. Use them generously:
They deepen the narrative without leading the participant.