Thematic analysis of social media's influence on gay men's desire for muscularity

Datasets for this study were collected using semi-structured interviews.The study granted the researcher an opportunity to elicit the experiences of gay men regarding the phenomenon being studied. Moreover, by conducting semi-structured interviews, the researcher was able to further explore each participant’s opinions and perceptions in rich detail. The researcher chose to use semi-structured interviews to focus the conversation and solicit the views of the participants that relate to the research question. 
Thematic analysis was used to interpret the data. The assumption in this study is that the desire for muscularity is collectively created within society, thus there likely exists numerous and varied perceptions and meanings that gay men in South Africa subscribe to in relation to their use of social media and the influence this may have on their desire for muscularity. Recognizing general themes and exploring and dissecting them created space for a thorough discovery of how gay men in South Africa understand their desire for muscularity and how this is influenced by their use of social media.

本研究所涉及的数据集系通过半结构化访谈收集而成。研究赋予了研究者洞察被研究现象中同性恋男性经历的机会。此外，通过实施半结构化访谈，研究者得以深入挖掘每位参与者对其观点和认知的丰富细节。研究者选取半结构化访谈作为研究方法，旨在聚焦对话并征询与研究问题相关的参与者观点。主题分析被应用于数据的解读。本研究假设肌肉健美之欲望系社会集体塑造，因此，南非同性恋男性在使用社交媒体及其对肌肉健美欲望可能产生的影响上，很可能持有众多且各异的认知与意义。识别普遍主题并对其展开深入剖析，为彻底揭示南非同性恋男性如何理解其肌肉健美欲望及其社交媒体使用对其影响的机制提供了空间。