# Find themes in comments or interview notes: checklist

Read a set of comments, survey answers or interview notes, label each one, group the labels into themes, then count each theme and back it with two real quotes.

## Before you start

- [ ] Have ready: The comments
  Paste the comments with one comment on each line. Remove names and other personal details first.
- [ ] Have ready: What you want to learn
  The question the comments were collected to answer, or what you need to decide.

## Step 1: Label each comment

- [ ] Give every comment a short label that says what it is about.
- [ ] You have: A table with every comment, its number and its label.
- [ ] Check: Every quote in the Comment (quote) column appears word for word in the comments.
  A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it.

## Step 2: Group the labels into themes

- [ ] Join labels that mean the same thing into a small number of themes.
- [ ] You have: A table of themes with the comment numbers in each, and a list of one-off comments.
- [ ] Check: Every row of the table has something written in "Theme" and "Comment numbers" (a blank or a dash does not count).
  A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it.

## Step 3: Count each theme and pick two quotes

- [ ] Count the comments in each theme and back each theme with two real quotes.
- [ ] You have: A table of themes with a count and two quotes each, and a total.
- [ ] Check: Every quote in the Quote 1 column appears word for word in the comments.
  A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it.

## Final checks

- [ ] Check: Every quote in the Quote 2 column appears word for word in the comments.
  A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it.
- [ ] Check: Every row of the table has something written in "Count", "Quote 1" and "Quote 2" (a blank or a dash does not count).
  A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it.
- [ ] Check: Count the comments in the list below. Does the total in the last answer equal that number, and do the counts in the theme table plus the one-off comments add up to it?
  Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it.
- [ ] Check: Read the themes and two or three of the quotes under each. Does each theme say what the quotes say, and is any important point missing or lost inside a bigger theme?
  Checked by you. If not: Carry on, but write down the problem so whoever uses the result knows about it.

## You end up with

- [ ] A table of themes, each with a count and two real quotes.
- [ ] A list of one-off comments that did not fit a theme.
- [ ] The labeled list of every comment, in case you want to check or regroup it.

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From Logic Lab (logiclabhq.com). Free to use and adapt, with credit.