69 - Thematic Analysis of #2022AERI Twitter Tweets to Assess Takeaways from the 2022 Anatomy Education Research Institute

Poster Board Number: 69
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Abstract Body : The Anatomy Education Research Institute (AERI), created by 3 AAA members, was designed to provide anatomy faculty with tools and skills to pursue medical education research. AERI was first offered in July 2017 and again in 2022. AERI 2022 included 4 days of workshops, presentations, networking, and independent writing for anatomy educators to develop their education research skills (O’Loughlin 2019).
The ability to participate, communicate, and network at AERI went beyond the walls of the conference room. Both AERI 2017 & 2022 participants were encouraged to communicate about AERI on Twitter, using the hashtags #AERI2017 and #2022AERI. At 2017 AERI, both participants and non-participants (i.e., individuals who did not attend AERI but were interested in learning about the institute from afar) engaged on Twitter (O’Loughlin 2019). However, no formal thematic analysis of individual #AERI2017 tweets was performed. During the 2022 AERI, similar twitter usage was recognized, prompting the use of thematic analysis for further evaluation. Thus, this study evaluates the ways that Twitter (use of #2022AERI hashtag) served as a platform of engagement for both AERI 2022 participants and non-participants. This project was deemed exempt by Indiana University IRB (protocol #17542).
The authors utilized a thematic analysis to evaluate the tweets tagged with #2022AERI. This thematic analysis involved the development of a codebook by the authors to categorize each tweet. The codebook consists of five categories: AERI logistics, skills/resources, takeaways from AERI, collaboration/networking, and emotional state. Each category was then divided into themes and subthemes. The codebook included 31 unique codes for tweet analysis. The codebook was subjected to three rounds of revisions. After each codebook version was developed, a sample of #2022AERI tweets were evaluated by both authors to determine inter-rater reliability of the codebook. Revisions were made after each round as needed. For each version of codebook analysis, a Cohen’s Kappa statistical analysis was performed (IBM SPSS 2021). A Kappa value of 0.954 was obtained by the 3rd (and final version) of the codebook, which illustrates strong inter-rater reliability for the codebook. All #2022AERI tweets were evaluated by the first author using the latest version of the codebook.
This thematic analysis examined the use #2022AERI before, during, and after the institute was held. The #2022AERI tweets yielded 377 data points that were coded. The most frequent codes included qualitative methods, quantitative methods, & participant reflection. The most frequent emotional state shared under the hashtag was joy. Many of these tweets came from participants at the institute. However, engagement was also noted from non-participants who followed AERI through the #2022AERI tweets.
Coding of tweets suggest points of interest for anatomy educators during the institute, such as with the use of different qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Data also revealed a general trend in positivity regarding the institute, providing another data point of evaluation.



Citations:

O’Loughlin, V. D., Husmann, P. R., & Brokaw, J. J. (2019). Development and implementation
of the inaugural anatomy education research institute (AERI 2017). Anatomical sciences education, 12(2), 181-190.

IBM Corp. Released 2021. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 28.0, Armonk, NY: IBM
Corp.