Table 1 Thematic analysis steps

Step 1

Thoroughly reading the interview transcripts and making notes of significant emerging issues and developing a summary of the story. Rereading the transcripts to identify attributes of the participants.

Step 2

Reading the transcripts to identify initial open codes into an initial table along with a basic definition of the code. When a new code was identified, the researcher re-read previously coded transcripts to re-examine for the new code.

Step 3

Grouping the initial codes that are closely related into categories. This process was supported by visual mapping techniques

Step 4

Reassessing the categories from step 3 and developing and defining overarching themes