Virginia "Ginny" Braun is a New Zealand psychology academic specialising in

thematic analysis Thematic analysis is one of the most common forms of analysis within qualitative research. It emphasizes identifying, analysing and interpreting patterns of meaning (or "themes") within qualitative data. Thematic analysis is often understood as a ...

and

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field ...

. She is particularly known for her scholarship on the social construction of the vagina and designer vagina cosmetic surgery, body hair and heterosexuality. She is perhaps best known for her collaboration with British psychologist

Victoria Clarke Victoria "Torie" Clarke (born May 18, 1959) is an American communications consultant who has served in several private sector positions and in three Republican presidential administrations, most notably as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for ...

around thematic analysis and

qualitative research methods Qualitative research is a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical (descriptive) data in order to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation. This ...

. Together they have published numerous papers, chapters, commentaries and editorials on thematic analysis and qualitative research, and an award-winning and best selling qualitative textbook entitle
Successful qualitative research
They have

at The University of Auckland. More recently - with th

- they have published around the story completion method.

Academic career

After undergraduate and masters studies in psychology at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

, Braun received a Commonwealth Scholarship to

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

with

Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson are a British lesbian couple who lobbied to have their relationship recognised as a marriage in England. Celia Kitzinger Kitzinger is Professor of Conversation Analysis, Gender and Sexuality in the Department ...

as her advisors for her 2000 thesis - ''The vagina: An analysis]''. Braun returned to as a lecturer in psychology Auckland in 2001, rising to full Professor in 2017. Her 2006 paper " Using thematic analysis in psychology" with

in ''Qualitative Research in Psychology'' has more than 59,000 citations according to

Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in beta in November 2004, the Google Scholar index includes p ...

. It is also - according to Google Scholar - the most cited academic paper published in 2006. Braun was editor of

Feminism & Psychology ''Feminism & Psychology'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal that covers feminist theory and practice in psychology. It was established in 1991 and is published by SAGE Publications. Abstracting and indexing The journal is abstracted ...

between 2008 and 2013. She received a Distinguished Leadership Award from the American Psychological Association's Committee on Women in Psychology in 2013. In 2015/2016 Braun went public with her experiences seeking a tubal ligation. In 2021, Braun was awarded the

Marsden Medal The Marsden Medal is a yearly award given by the New Zealand Association of Scientists. It is named after Sir Ernest Marsden and honours "a lifetime of outstanding service to the cause or profession of science, in recognition of service rendere ...

by the New Zealand Association of Scientists, in recognition of "her global impact on the development of qualitative empirical methods and for the generosity of spirit she expresses through this work."

Areas of expertise

* Sex and sexuality * Sexual health * Gendered bodies * Genital cosmetic surgery *

Body hair Body hair, or androgenic hair, is the terminal hair that develops on the human body during and after puberty. It is differentiated from the head hair and less visible vellus hair, which is much finer and lighter in color. The growth of androge ...

* Food *

Feminist psychology Feminist psychology is a form of psychology centered on social structures and gender. Feminist psychology critiques historical psychological research as done from a male perspective with the view that males are the norm.Crawford, M. & Unger, R. ...

Critical psychology Critical psychology is a perspective on psychology that draws extensively on critical theory. Critical psychology challenges the assumptions, theories and methods of mainstream psychology and attempts to apply psychological understandings in diffe ...

Qualitative research Qualitative research is a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical (descriptive) data in order to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation. This ...

Thematic analysis Thematic analysis is one of the most common forms of analysis within qualitative research. It emphasizes identifying, analysing and interpreting patterns of meaning (or "themes") within qualitative data. Thematic analysis is often understood as a ...

Books

* Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke
''Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide''
2021. * Virginia Braun, Victoria Clarke and Debra Gray,
Collecting qualitative data. A practical guide to textual, media and virtual techniques
''

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

. 2017. * Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke
Successful qualitative research: A practical guide for beginners
Sage. 2013.

Selected journal articles and book chapters

Using thematic analysis in psychology

Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis

Using thematic analysis in counselling and psychotherapy research: A critical reflection

(Mis)conceptualising themes, thematic analysis, and other problems with Fugard and Potts’ (2015) sample-size tool for thematic analysis

Thematic analysis

Feminist qualitative methods and methodologies in psychology: A review and reflection

Innovations in qualitative methods

Reflecting on qualitative research, feminist methodologies and feminist psychology: In conversation with Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke

References

External links

Google Scholar

ResearchGate

institutional homepage

Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braun, Virginia Living people New Zealand women academics New Zealand psychologists New Zealand women psychologists New Zealand writers New Zealand women writers University of Auckland alumni Academic staff of the University of Auckland Gender studies academics Alumni of Loughborough University Year of birth missing (living people)