How to co-create context-sensitive analyses of health service experiences: proposed guidelines for contextualist...

User involvement is a prominent requirement in health services research across international health service contexts. However, current limitations with user-involved analytical approaches restrict researchers' sensitization to service users' contexts in analysis, with detrimental consequences for rigor and validity. In this methods article, we propose a novel analytical approach for how to conduct contextualist collaborative thematic analyses with co-researchers, developed through processes of previous cultural-ideological and collaborative thematic analyses.

This method's article introduces a cultural-ideological framework, as well as analytical and epistemological positioning for a four-stage procedure for conducting cultural-ideological and collaborative thematic analysis with co-researchers: 1) Coding and development of initial themes, 2) Collaborative reviewing and contextual interpretation of themes, 3) Collaborative synthesis of themes, and 4) Final adjustment of themes and dissemination of findings.

We demonstrate how the proposed approach adds experiential and contextual depth and breadth in analyses and aligns with established validity dimensions.

This article contributes to the scholarship on qualitative user-involved approaches by adding a context-sensitive approach aligned with evolving values and epistemology in health services research. While the approach presents several challenges, it offers valuable implications for rigorous and valid understandings of health service experiences across cultures.