How do epistemological and ontological positions influence thematic analysis in qualitative research?

Epistemology is about how we know things and ontology is about what exists, so together they shape a researcher’s view of data. A constructivist epistemology, for example, assumes that meaning is co‑created by participants and the researcher, while a realist ontology assumes an external reality that can be described. These positions influence thematic analysis by guiding how codes are generated, whether themes are seen as emergent or pre‑existing, and how findings are interpreted as either subjective constructions or objective patterns. For instance, a researcher who believes in multiple realities might treat a theme like “stress coping” as a set of culturally specific narratives rather than a universal phenomenon, leading to richer, context‑bound codes. Thus, epistemological and ontological stances determine what counts as a theme, how it is defined, and how it is reported.