Integrating Social Network and Reflexive Thematic Analysis in Educational Research

Social network analysis is widely used to explore the relationships between entities in education to understand how these relationships shape interaction and development. However, established analytical methods stress the processing of quantitative data and provide inadequate guidance regarding the analysis of qualitative data collected through interviews. This article illustrates the integration of quantitative and qualitative analyses by (1) employing three analytical methods to analyse different types of data about an egocentric network obtained from an interview, (2) developing the interpretations of one type of data to influence the analysis of another type of data, and (3) using the results of the subsequent analysis to explain and expand the results obtained in the prior analytical stage. This article further discusses how these strategies can help researchers demonstrate reflexivity and improve the transparency of analysis. It also provides a means to explore and describe the contexts in which learners and teachers are situated when applying social network analysis in educational research.