title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: "Legacy of the Drow" is a tetralogy, unlike the previous two trilogies. The 1993 short story, "Dark Mirror", in the "Realms of Valor" anthology, describes events just prior to the series. The first three books, "The Legacy", "Starless Night", and "Siege of Darkness", describe a drow attack on Mithril Hall. Wulfgar is seemingly slain by a yochlol, and Drizzt returns to Menzoberranzan to prevent his friends from being further attacked by dark elves. The drow launch a second attack against Mithril Hall during the Time of Troubles. It is eventually repelled and Drizzt returns to his friends.


title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: "Passage to Dawn", the final book in the "Legacy of the Drow" series and published two years after "Siege of Darkness", picks up the story six years after the drow attack. Drizzt and Catti-Brie work with Captain Deudermont on his pirate-hunting ship, with the Companions of the Hall ultimately fighting the powerful demon Errtu who is aided by the Crystal Shard, which had previously been buried under a mountain of snow. Wulfgar, never truly dead, returns to life from the Abyss as the demon who had held his soul was destroyed.


title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: Drizzt is the main character in only two books of the "Paths of Darkness" series. "The Silent Blade" (1998) describes the group's journey to permanently destroy the Crystal Shard. "Sea of Swords" (2001) continues Drizzt's story after the events of "The Spine of the World" (1999), which focuses on Wulfgar, and "Servant of the Shard" (2000), which has Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle as the main characters. "Sea of Swords" covers the companions' search for Wulfgar's lost magical warhammer, Aegis-fang, and the reunion of the group after an extended separation.


title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: Drizzt returns as the main character throughout "The Hunter's Blades Trilogy". In "The Thousand Orcs" (2002), Drizzt and his friends encounter the powerful orc Obould Many-Arrows, who has employed frost giants to aid him in gaining control of the region. After a battle at the town of Shallows, Drizzt believes the other Companions of the Hall to have fallen in battle, and he sets off into the wilderness to fight all orcs in vengeance. "The Lone Drow" (2003) continues this storyline as the still-living Companions protect Mithril Hall from orc attacks without the aid of Drizzt. He is reunited with his friends in "The Two Swords" (2003).


title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: R. A. Salvatore's next series of Forgotten Realms books, "The Sellswords Trilogy", focus on the further adventures of Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle, with Drizzt only being mentioned in them. However, Drizzt is once again the main character in the "Transitions" trilogy, consisting of "The Orc King", "The Pirate King", and "The Ghost King". Drizzt is the main character, along with Bruenor, in R. A. Salvatore's next series in the Forgotten Realms, "Neverwinter Saga"; the first book in this series, "Gauntlgrym", was released October 5, 2010. The second book in the series "Neverwinter", was released October 4, 2011, with the third installment entitled "Charon's Claw" released August 7, 2012. The fourth book in the series "The Last Threshold", was released March 5, 2013.


title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: Drizzt Do'Urden has been featured in several accessories and one book for the "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" fantasy role-playing game. The "Hall of Heroes" accessory for the second edition of "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons", published in 1989, features a four-page description and game statistics for Drizzt and Guenhwyvar, written by R. A. Salvatore. The "Heroes' Lorebook" accessory, published in 1996 and written by Dale Donovan and Paul Culotta, features an update and revision of Drizzt's information from "Hall of Heroes". The 1999 accessory "Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark" by Eric L. Boyd, details the cities and civilizations of Faerûn's Underdark through the perspective of the title character. The "Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting" hardcover for the game's third edition features a brief description and game statistics for Drizzt for this edition, under the section on the Sword Coast North.


title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: Drizzt has also appeared in a number of graphic novels and video games, and as a miniature figure. Beginning in 2005, Devil's Due Publishing began releasing comic book adaptations of the Drizzt novels, covering each book in a three-issue mini-series along with a trade paperback collection. To date, "Homeland", "Exile", "Sojourn", "The Crystal Shard", "Streams of Silver", "The Halfling's Gem", "The Legacy", and "Starless Night" have been released. The character has appeared in several video games. He is part of the story and a party member in the 1994 SSI game for PC "Menzoberranzan". In "" he is a playable character in the game's seventh stage, described by a writer for Imagine Games Network (IGN) as "cool but utterly ineffective." Drizzt appears in "Baldur's Gate" fighting some gnolls; it is possible for a skilled player to kill him or pickpocket his items, and a friendly or hostile version of Drizzt can be spawned with a cheat code. Drizzt also appears in the sequel "Baldur's Gate II" and will react negatively if the player has imported characters from the first game that killed Drizzt or have any of his unique items. He will also react negatively to any elven character with a low reputation with the same name, challenging them to a duel of honor. He is also an unlockable playable character in "" and "". Drizzt is also included in the Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures game, in the Legend of Drizzt Scenario Pack that also includes Wulfgar and the dragon Icingdeath. An enclosed booklet lets players recreate the battle between Drizzt, Wulfgar, and the dragon. The boxed set was nominated for Best Miniature Product at the 2008 ENnies.


title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: A special Icewind Dale adventure was featured as the centerpiece at the November 3, 2007, Worldwide "Dungeons and Dragons" Game Day event, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the creation of Drizzt.


title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: Drizzt made a brief cameo in the 2011 one-off comic "Unit:E", produced by Hasbro as a potential concept for crossing over many of the franchises they owned; he is seen in a splash page amongst many other Hasbro-owned characters (including characters from "G.I. Joe", "Transformers", "M.A.S.K.", "Jem and the Holograms", "Micronauts", "Action Man", "Battleship Galaxies", and even "Candy Land"), as summoned for "Micronauts" characters Biotron and Acroyear by the alien AI Synergy (a reimagined version of the AI from "Jem").


title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: Drizzt features prominently in the D&D Adventure System Cooperative Play board game "The Legend of Drizzt", released October 18, 2011.


title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: Drizzt has also been seen in the game "Neverwinter" by Cryptic Studios. He appears as part of the "Neverwinter: Underdark" expansion that allows players to travel to the drow city of Menzoberranzan and play several quests written by R. A. Salvatore.


title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: In 2021, Drizzt was featured on two cards in the "Adventures in the Forgotten Realms" line from the "" collectible card game.


title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: According to PopMatters' Andrew Welsh, Drizzt is Salvatore's attempt to create a multifaceted character who faces internal struggles, in hopes of standing out from the drow, and fantasy fiction in general. Welsh feels that Salvatore fails in this regard, saying "any blood Drizzt finds on his hands is quickly justified and most 'internal' conflict is superficial at best." A review for "Pyramid" refers to Drizzt as the "most famous denizen" of Menzoberranzan, identifying him and the city as "some of the most famous pieces of the Realms". Rob Bricken of Kotaku called Drizzt "one of the Mary Sue-iest characters in all of fiction".


title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: The Drizzt Do'Urden books are popular with fantasy fans, and the Drizzt character is author R. A. Salvatore's best known creation. All 34 novels featuring Drizzt by Salvatore have made "The New York Times Best Seller" list, starting with "The Crystal Shard". "The Orc King", which marked the 20th anniversary of the character, made it to #7 on the list, as well as #9 on "The Wall Street Journal" list, #6 on the "Publishers Weekly" bestseller list, and #36 on the "USA Today" list of top sellers.


title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: "The Two Swords" peaked at #4 on "The New York Times" Best Seller list in 2004. It reached the top of "The Wall Street Journal"'s hardcover bestseller list after only two weeks, a record for its publisher Wizards of the Coast. It also debuted at #4 on The New York Times's bestseller list and #2 on Publishers Weekly bestseller list.


title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: "The Lone Drow" debuted at #7 on "The New York Times" Best Seller list in October 2003. "Publishers Weekly" felt that "The Lone Drow" was clichéd, but that some of the characters did achieve "some complexity". They singled out two characters for praise: Innovindel, an elf who talks "pensively" of her long life in contrast to the short lived humans, and Obould the orc king.


title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: Drizzt Do'Urden was #3 on "Game Rant"'s 2020 "10 Must-Have NPCs In Dungeons & Dragons Lore To Make Your Campaigns Awesome" list — the article states that "A skilled ranger in his own right, Drizzt remains equally-adept in conversation. He's always wary of danger, strives for perfection, and held himself to the highest standard. Meeting one of the most iconic figures in "D&D" could help make players feel important in their campaign."


title: Drizzt Do'Urden

text: In the "Io9" series revisiting older "Dungeons & Dragons" novels, in his review of "The Crystal Shard", Rob Bricken referred to Drizzt as "arguably the most famous and beloved D&D character of all time" and noted that Wizards of the Coast had finally begun combatting the stereotype of the drow as a "super-evil, subterranean race", which Drizzt forsakes "to become a noble Ranger on the surface world". Bricken noted that "Drizzt ends up overshadowing almost everyone and everything" but comments that "Drizzt and Wulfgar are so preternaturally badass they beat 25 giants by themselves (well, with help from Drizzt's magic panther Guenhwyvar, because of course he has a magic panther pal)". In his review of "Homeland", Bricken explained that "when Salvatore introduced Drizzt in 1988's "The Crystal Shard", players/readers who hadn't been bothered this by were forced to acknowledge the correlation because characters in the Forgotten Realms judged Drizzt by the color of his skin. He was distrusted, despised, and discriminated against, often even by those he helped."


title: Notochord

text: In anatomy, the notochord is a flexible rod which is similar in structure to the stiffer cartilage. If a species has a notochord at any stage of its life cycle (along with 4 other features), it is, by definition, a chordate. The notochord consists of inner, vacuolated cells covered by fibrous and elastic sheaths, lies along the anteroposterior axis ("front to back"), is usually closer to the dorsal than the ventral surface of the embryo, and is composed of cells derived from the mesoderm.


title: Notochord

text: The most commonly cited functions of the notochord are: as a midline tissue that provides directional signals to surrounding tissue during development, as a skeletal (structural) element, and as a vertebral precursor.


title: Notochord

text: In lancelets the notochord persists throughout life as the main structural support of the body. In tunicates the notochord is present only in the larval stage, being completely absent in the adult animal. In these invertebrate chordates, the notochord is not vacuolated. In all vertebrates other than the hagfish, the notochord is integrated into the vertebral column, with its original structure being (nearly) retained in the intervertebral discs as the nucleus pulposus.


title: Notochord

text: The notochord is a long, rodlike structure that develops dorsal to the gut and ventral to the neural tube. The notochord is composed primarily of a core of glycoproteins, encased in a sheath of collagen fibers wound into two opposing helices. The glycoproteins are stored in vacuolated, turgid cells. The angle between these fibers determines whether increased pressure in the core will result in shortening and thickening versus lengthening and thinning.


title: Notochord

text: Contraction of these muscle fibers result in a side-to-side motion resembling swimming. The stiffened notochord prevents movement through telescoping motion, such as that of an earthworm.


title: Notochord

text: The notochord plays a key role in signaling and coordinating development. Embryos of modern vertebrates form transient notochord structures during gastrulation. The notochord is found ventral to the neural tube.


title: Notochord

text: Notogenesis is the development of the notochord by epiblasts that form the floor of the amnion cavity. The progenitor notochord is derived from cells migrating from the primitive node and pit. The notochord forms during gastrulation and soon after induces the formation of the neural plate (neurulation), synchronizing the development of the neural tube. On the ventral aspect of the neural groove an axial thickening of the endoderm takes place. (In bipedal chordates, e.g. humans, this surface is properly referred to as the anterior surface). This thickening appears as a furrow (the chordal furrow) the margins of which anastomose (come into contact), and so convert it into a solid rod of polygonal-shaped cells (the notochord) which is then separated from the endoderm.


title: Notochord

text: In vertebrates, it extends throughout the entire length of the future vertebral column, and reaches as far as the anterior end of the midbrain, where it ends in a hook-like extremity in the region of the future dorsum sellae of the sphenoid bone. Initially, it exists between the neural tube and the endoderm of the yolk-sac; soon, the notochord becomes separated from them by the mesoderm, which grows medially and surrounds it. From the mesoderm surrounding the neural tube and notochord, the skull, vertebral column, and the membranes of the brain and medulla spinalis are developed. Because it originates from the primitive node and is ultimately positioned with the mesodermal space, it is considered to be derived from mesoderm.


title: Notochord

text: A postembryonic vestige of the notochord is found in the nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral discs. Isolated notochordal remnants may escape their lineage-specific destination in the nucleus pulposus and instead attach to the outer surfaces of the vertebral bodies, from which notochordal cells largely regress.


title: Notochord

text: During development of amphibians and fish, the notochord induces development of the hypochord through secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor. The hypochord is a transient structure ventral to the notochord, and is primarily responsible for correct development of the dorsal aorta.


title: Notochord

text: "Notochord flexion", when the notochord bends to form a part of the developing caudal fin, is a hallmark of an early growth stage of some fish.


title: Notochord

text: By the age of 4, all notochord residue is replaced by a population of chondrocyte-like cells of unclear origin. Persistence of notochordal cells within the vertebra may cause a pathologic condition: persistent notochordal canal. If the notochord and the nasopharynx do not separate properly during embryonic development, a depression (Tornwaldt bursa) or Tornwaldt cyst may form. The cells are the likely precursors to a rare cancer called chordoma.


title: Notochord

text: Research into the notochord has played a key role in understanding the development of the central nervous system. By transplanting and expressing a second notochord near the dorsal neural tube, 180 degrees opposite of the normal notochord location, one can induce the formation of motor neurons in the dorsal tube. Motor neuron formation generally occurs in the ventral neural tube, while the dorsal tube generally forms sensory cells.


title: Notochord

text: The notochord secretes a protein called sonic hedgehog (SHH), a key morphogen regulating organogenesis and having a critical role in signaling the development of motor neurons. The secretion of SHH by the notochord establishes the ventral pole of the dorsal-ventral axis in the developing embryo.


title: Notochord

text: The notochord is the defining feature (synapomorphy) of chordates, and was present throughout life in many of the earliest chordates. Although the stomochord of hemichordates was once thought to be homologous, it is now viewed as a convergence. Pikaia appears to have a proto-notochord, and notochords are present in several basal chordates such as Haikouella, Haikouichthys, and Myllokunmingia, all from the Cambrian.


title: Notochord

text: The Ordovician oceans included many diverse species of Agnatha and early Gnathostomata which possessed notochords, either with attached bony elements or without, most notably the conodonts, placoderms, and ostracoderms. Even after the evolution of the vertebral column in chondrichthyes and osteichthyes, these taxa remained common and are well represented in the fossils record. Several species (see list below) have reverted to the primitive state, retaining the notochord into adulthood, though the reasons for this are not well understood.


title: Notochord

text: Scenarios for the evolutionary origin of the notochord were comprehensively reviewed by Annona, Holland, and D'Aniello (2015). They point out that, although many of these ideas have not been well supported by advances in molecular phylogenetics and developmental genetics, two of them have actually been revived under the stimulus of modern molecular approaches (the first proposes that the notochord evolved "de novo" in chordates, and the second derives it from a homologous structure, the axochord, that was present in annelid-like ancestors of the chordates). Deciding between these two scenarios (or possibly another yet to be proposed) should be facilitated by much more thorough studies of gene regulatory networks in a wide spectrum of animals.


title: Notochord

text: In most vertebrates, the notochord develops into secondary structures. In other chordates, the notochord is retained as an essential anatomical structure. The evolution of the notochord within the phylum Chordata is considered in detail by Holland and Somorjai (2020).


title: Notochord

text: The notochord of the lancelet protrudes beyond the anterior end of the neural tube. This projection serves a second purpose in allowing the animal to burrow within the sediment of shallow waters. There, amphioxus is a filter feeder and spends most of its life partially submerged within the sediment.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Thematic analysis is one of the most common forms of analysis within qualitative research. It emphasizes identifying, analysing and interpreting patterns of meaning (or "themes") within qualitative data. Thematic analysis is often understood as a method or technique in contrast to most other qualitative analytic approaches - such as grounded theory, discourse analysis, narrative analysis and interpretative phenomenological analysis - which can be described as methodologies or theoretically informed frameworks for research (they specify guiding theory, appropriate research questions and methods of data collection, as well as procedures for conducting analysis). Thematic analysis is best thought of as an umbrella term for a variety of different approaches, rather than a singular method. Different versions of thematic analysis are underpinned by different philosophical and conceptual assumptions and are divergent in terms of procedure. Leading thematic analysis proponents, psychologists Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke distinguish between three main types of thematic analysis: coding reliability approaches (examples include the approaches developed by Richard Boyatzis and Greg Guest and colleagues), code book approaches (these includes approaches like framework analysis, template analysis and matrix analysis) and reflexive approaches. They describe their own widely used approach first outlined in 2006 in the journal "Qualitative Research in Psychology" as reflexive thematic analysis. Their 2006 paper has over 120,000 Google Scholar citations and according to Google Scholar is the most cited academic paper published in 2006. The popularity of this paper exemplifies the growing interest in thematic analysis as a distinct method (although some have questioned whether it is a distinct method or simply a generic set of analytic procedures).


title: Thematic analysis

text: Thematic analysis is used in qualitative research and focuses on examining themes or patterns of meaning within data. This method can emphasize both organization and rich description of the data set and theoretically informed interpretation of meaning. Thematic analysis goes beyond simply counting phrases or words in a text (as in content analysis) and explores explicit and implicit meanings within the data. Coding is the primary process for developing themes by identifying items of analytic interest in the data and tagging these with a coding label. In some thematic analysis approaches coding follows theme development and is a deductive process of allocating data to pre-identified themes (this approach is common in coding reliability and code book approaches), in other approaches - notably Braun and Clarke's reflexive approach - coding precedes theme development and themes are built from codes. One of the hallmarks of thematic analysis is its flexibility - flexibility with regards to framing theory, research questions and research design. Thematic analysis can be used to explore questions about participants' lived experiences, perspectives, behaviour and practices, the factors and social processes that influence and shape particular phenomena, the explicit and implicit norms and 'rules' governing particular practices, as well as the social construction of meaning and the representation of social objects in particular texts and contexts.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Thematic analysis can be used to analyse most types of qualitative data including qualitative data collected from interviews, focus groups, surveys, solicited diaries, visual methods, observation and field research, action research, memory work, vignettes, story completion and secondary sources. Data-sets can range from short, perfunctory response to an open-ended survey question to hundreds of pages of interview transcripts. Thematic analysis can be used to analyse both small and large data-sets. Thematic analysis is often used in mixed-method designs - the theoretical flexibility of TA makes it a more straightforward choice than approaches with specific embedded theoretical assumptions.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Thematic analysis is sometimes claimed to be compatible with phenomenology in that it can focus on participants' subjective experiences and sense-making; there is a long tradition of using thematic analysis in phenomenological research. A phenomenological approach emphasizes the participants' perceptions, feelings and experiences as the paramount object of study. Rooted in humanistic psychology, phenomenology notes giving voice to the "other" as a key component in qualitative research in general. This approach allows the respondents to discuss the topic in their own words, free of constraints from fixed-response questions found in quantitative studies.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Thematic analysis is sometimes erroneously assumed to be only compatible with phenomenology or experiential approaches to qualitative research. Braun and Clarke argue that their reflexive approach is equally compatible with social constructionist, poststructuralist and critical approaches to qualitative research. They emphasise the theoretical flexibility of thematic analysis and its use within realist, critical realist and relativist ontologies and positivist, contextualist and constructionist epistemologies.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Like most research methods, the process of thematic analysis of data can occur both inductively or deductively. In an inductive approach, the themes identified are strongly linked to the data. This means that the process of coding occurs without trying to fit the data into pre-existing theory or framework. But inductive learning processes in practice are rarely 'purely bottom up'; it is not possible for the researchers and their communities to free themselves completely from ontological (theory of reality), epistemological (theory of knowledge) and paradigmatic (habitual) assumptions - coding will always to some extent reflect the researcher's philosophical standpoint, and individual/communal values with respect to knowledge and learning. Deductive approaches, on the other hand, are more theory-driven. This form of analysis tends to be more interpretative because analysis is explicitly shaped and informed by pre-existing theory and concepts (ideally cited for transparency in the shared learning). Deductive approaches can involve seeking to identify themes identified in other research in the data-set or using existing theory as a lens through which to organise, code and interpret the data. Sometimes deductive approaches are misunderstood as coding driven by a research question or the data collection questions. A thematic analysis can also combine inductive and deductive approaches, for example in foregrounding interplay between a priori ideas from clinician-led qualitative data analysis teams and those emerging from study participants and the field observations.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Coding reliability approaches have the longest history and are often little different from qualitative content analysis. As the name suggests they prioritise the measurement of coding reliability through the use of structured and fixed code books, the use of multiple coders who work independently to apply the code book to the data, the measurement of inter-rater reliability or inter-coder agreement (typically using Cohen's Kappa) and the determination of final coding through consensus or agreement between coders. These approaches are a form of qualitative positivism or small q qualitative research, which combine the use of qualitative data with data analysis processes and procedures based on the research values and assumptions of (quantitative) positivism - emphasising the importance of establishing coding reliability and viewing researcher subjectivity or 'bias' as a potential threat to coding reliability that must be contained and 'controlled for' to avoiding confounding the 'results' (with the presence and active influence of the researcher). Boyatzis presents his approach as one that can 'bridge the divide' between quantitative (positivist) and qualitative (interpretivist) paradigms. Some qualitative researchers are critical of the use of structured code books, multiple independent coders and inter-rater reliability measures. Janice Morse argues that such coding is necessarily coarse and superficial to facilitate coding agreement. Braun and Clarke (citing Yardley) argue that all coding agreement demonstrates is that coders have been trained to code in the same way not that coding is 'reliable' or 'accurate' with respect to the underlying phenomena that is coded and described.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Code book approaches like framework analysis, template analysis and matrix analysis centre on the use of structured code books but - unlike coding reliability approaches - emphasise to a greater or lesser extent qualitative research values. Both coding reliability and code book approaches typically involve early theme development - with all or some themes developed prior to coding, often following some data familiarisation (reading and re-reading data to become intimately familiar with its contents). Once themes have been developed the code book is created - this might involve some initial analysis of a portion of or all of the data. The data is then coded. Coding involves allocating data to the pre-determined themes using the code book as a guide. The code book can also be used to map and display the occurrence of codes and themes in each data item. Themes are often of the shared topic type discussed by Braun and Clarke.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Reflexive approaches centre organic and flexible coding processes - there is no code book, coding can be undertaken by one researcher, if multiple researchers are involved in coding this is conceptualised as a collaborative process rather than one that should lead to consensus. Individual codes are not fixed - they can evolve throughout the coding process, the boundaries of the code can be redrawn, codes can be split into two or more codes, collapsed with other codes and even promoted to themes. Reflexive approaches typically involve later theme development - with themes created from clustering together similar codes. Themes should capture shared meaning organised around a central concept or idea.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Braun and Clarke and colleagues have been critical of a tendency to overlook the diversity within thematic analysis and the failure to recognise the differences between the various approaches they have mapped out. They argue that this failure leads to unthinking 'mash-ups' of their approach with incompatible techniques and approaches such as code books, consensus coding and measurement of inter-rater reliability.


title: Thematic analysis

text: There is no one definition or conceptualisation of a theme in thematic analysis. For some thematic analysis proponents, including Braun and Clarke, themes are conceptualised as patterns of shared meaning across data items, underpinned or united by a central concept, which are important to the understanding of a phenomenon and are relevant to the research question. For others (including most coding reliability and code book proponents), themes are simply summaries of information related to a particular topic or data domain; there is no requirement for shared meaning organised around a central concept, just a shared topic. Although these two conceptualisations are associated with particular approaches to thematic analysis, they are often confused and conflated. What Braun and Clarke call domain summary or topic summary themes often have one word theme titles (e.g. Gender, Support) or titles like 'Benefits of...', 'Barriers to...' signalling the focus on summarising everything participants said, or the main points raised, in relation to a particular topic or data domain. Topic summary themes are typically developed prior to data coding and often reflect data collection questions. Shared meaning themes that are underpinned by a central concept or idea cannot be developed prior to coding (because they are built from codes), so are the output of a thorough and systematic coding process. Braun and Clarke have been critical of the confusion of topic summary themes with their conceptualisation of themes as capturing shared meaning underpinned by a central concept. Some qualitative researchers have argued that topic summaries represent an under-developed analysis or analytic foreclosure.


title: Thematic analysis

text: There is controversy around the notion that 'themes emerge' from data. Braun and Clarke are critical of this language because they argue it positions themes as entities that exist fully formed in data - the researcher is simply a passive witness to the themes 'emerging' from the data. Instead they argue that the researcher plays an active role in the creation of themes - so themes are constructed, created, generated rather than simply emerging. Others use the term deliberatively to capture the inductive (emergent) creation of themes. However, it is not always clear how the term is being used.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Prevalence or recurrence is not necessarily the most important criteria in determining what constitutes a theme; themes can be considered important if they are highly relevant to the research question and significant in understanding the phenomena of interest. Theme prevalence does not necessarily mean the frequency at which a theme occurs (i.e. the number of data items in which it occurs); it can also mean how much data a theme captures within each data item and across the data-set. Themes are typically evident across the data set, but a higher frequency does not necessarily mean that the theme is more important to understanding the data. A researcher's judgement is the key tool in determining which themes are more crucial.


title: Thematic analysis

text: There are also different levels at which data can be coded and themes can be identified—semantic and latent. A thematic analysis can focus on one of these levels or both. Semantic codes and themes identify the explicit and surface meanings of the data. The researcher does not look beyond what the participant said or wrote. Conversely, latent codes or themes capture "underlying" ideas, patterns, and assumptions. This requires a more interpretative and conceptual orientation to the data.


title: Thematic analysis

text: For Braun and Clarke, there is a clear (but not absolute) distinction between a theme and a code - a code captures one (or more) insights about the data and a theme encompasses numerous insights organised around a central concept or idea. They often use the analogy of a brick and tile house - the code is an individual brick or tile, and themes are the walls or roof panels, each made up of numerous codes. Other approaches to thematic analysis don't make such a clear distinction between codes and themes - several texts recommend that researchers "code for themes". This can be confusing because for Braun and Clarke, and others, the theme is considered the outcome or result of coding, not that which is coded. In approaches that make a clear distinction between codes and themes, the code is the label that is given to particular pieces of the data that contributes to a theme. For example, "SECURITY can be a code, but A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY can be a theme."


title: Thematic analysis

text: Given that qualitative work is inherently interpretive research, the positionings, values, and judgments of the researchers need to be explicitly acknowledged so they are taken into account in making sense of the final report and judging its quality. This type of openness and reflection is considered to be positive in the qualitative community. Researchers shape the work that they do and are the instrument for collecting and analyzing data. In order to acknowledge the researcher as the tool of analysis, it is useful to create and maintain a reflexivity journal.


title: Thematic analysis

text: The reflexivity process can be described as the researcher reflecting on and documenting how their values, positionings, choices and research practices influenced and shaped the study and the final analysis of the data. Reflexivity journals are somewhat similar to the use of analytic memos or memo writing in grounded theory, which can be useful for reflecting on the developing analysis and potential patterns, themes and concepts. Throughout the coding process researchers should have detailed records of the development of each of their codes and potential themes. In addition, changes made to themes and connections between themes can be discussed in the final report to assist the reader in understanding decisions that were made throughout the coding process.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Once data collection is complete and researchers begin the data analysis phases, they should make notes on their initial impressions of the data. The logging of ideas for future analysis can aid in getting thoughts and reflections written down and may serve as a reference for potential coding ideas as one progresses from one phase to the next in the thematic analysis process.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Such questions are generally asked throughout all cycles of the coding process and the data analysis. A reflexivity journal is often used to identify potential codes that were not initially pertinent to the study.


title: Thematic analysis

text: There is no straightforward answer to questions of sample size in thematic analysis; just as there is no straightforward answer to sample size in qualitative research more broadly (the classic answer is 'it depends' - on the scope of the study, the research question and topic, the method or methods of data collection, the richness of individual data items, the analytic approach). Some coding reliability and code book proponents provide guidance for determining sample size in advance of data analysis - focusing on the concept of saturation or information redundancy (no new information, codes or themes are evident in the data). These attempts to 'operationalise' saturation suggest that code saturation (often defined as identifying one instances of a code) can be achieved in as few as 12 or even 6 interviews in some circumstances. Meaning saturation - developing a "richly textured" understanding of issues - is thought to require larger samples (at least 24 interviews). There are numerous critiques of the concept of data saturation - many argue it is embedded within a realist conception of fixed meaning and in a qualitative paradigm there is always potential for new understandings because of the researcher's role in interpreting meaning. Some quantitative researchers have offered statistical models for determining sample size in advance of data collection in thematic analysis. For example, Fugard and Potts offered a prospective, quantitative tool to support thinking on sample size by analogy to quantitative sample size estimation methods. Lowe and colleagues proposed quantitative, probabilistic measures of degree of saturation that can be calculated from an initial sample and used to estimate the sample size required to achieve a specified level of saturation. Their analysis indicates that commonly-used binomial sample size estimation methods may significantly underestimate the sample size required for saturation. All of these tools have been criticised by qualitative researchers (including Braun and Clarke) for relying on assumptions about qualitative research, thematic analysis and themes that are antithetical to approaches that prioritise qualitative research values.


title: Thematic analysis

text: This six-phase process for thematic analysis is based on the work of Braun and Clarke and their reflexive approach to thematic analysis. This six phase cyclical process involves going back and forth between phases of data analysis as needed until you are satisfied with the final themes. Researchers conducting thematic analysis should attempt to go beyond surface meanings of the data to make sense of the data and tell a rich and compelling story about what the data means. The procedures associated with other thematic analysis approaches are rather different. This description of Braun and Clarke's six phase process also includes some discussion of the contrasting insights provided by other thematic analysis proponents. The initial phase in reflexive thematic analysis is common to most approaches - that of data familiarisation. This is where researchers familiarize themselves with the content of their data - both the detail of each data item and the 'bigger picture'. In other approaches, prior to reading the data, researchers may create a "start list" of potential codes. As Braun and Clarke's approach is intended to focus on the data and not the researcher's prior conceptions they only recommend developing codes prior to familiarisation in deductive approaches where coding is guided by pre-existing theory. For Miles and Huberman, in their matrix approach, "start codes" should be included in a reflexivity journal with a description of representations of each code and where the code is established. Analyzing data in an active way will assist researchers in searching for meanings and patterns in the data set. At this stage, it is tempting to rush this phase of familiarisation and immediately start generating codes and themes; however, this process of immersion will aid researchers in identifying possible themes and patterns. Reading and re-reading the material until the researcher is comfortable is crucial to the initial phase of analysis. While becoming familiar with the material, note-taking is a crucial part of this step in order begin developing potential codes.


title: Thematic analysis

text: After completing data collection, the researcher may need to transcribe their data into written form (e.g. audio recorded data such as interviews). Braun and Clarke provide a transcription notation system for use with their approach in their textbook Successful Qualitative Research. Quality transcription of the data is imperative to the dependability of analysis. Criteria for transcription of data must be established before the transcription phase is initiated to ensure that dependability is high.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Some thematic analysis proponents - particular those with a foothold in positivism - express concern about the accuracy of transcription. Inconsistencies in transcription can produce 'biases' in data analysis that will be difficult to identify later in the analysis process. For others, including Braun and Clarke, transcription is viewed as an interpretative and theoretically embedded process and therefore cannot be 'accurate' in a straightforward sense, as the researcher always makes choices about how to translate spoken into written text. However, this does not mean that researchers shouldn't strive for thoroughness in their transcripts and use a systematic approach to transcription. Authors should ideally provide a key for their system of transcription notation so its readily apparent what particular notations means. Inserting comments like "*voice lowered*" will signal a change in the speech. A general rough guideline to follow when planning time for transcribing - allow for spending 15 minutes of transcription for every 5 minutes of dialog. Transcription can form part of the familiarisation process.


title: Thematic analysis

text: After this stage, the researcher should feel familiar with the content of the data and should be able to start to identify overt patterns or repeating issues the data. These patterns should be recorded in a reflexivity journal where they will be of use when coding data. Other TA proponents conceptualise coding as the researcher beginning to gain control over the data. They view it as important to mark data that addresses the research question. For them, this is the beginning of the coding process.


title: Thematic analysis

text: The second step in reflexive thematic analysis is tagging items of interest in the data with a label (a few words or a short phrase). This label should clearly evoke the relevant features of the data - this is important for later stages of theme development. This systematic way of organizing and identifying meaningful parts of data as it relates to the research question is called coding. The coding process evolves through the researcher's immersion in their data and is not considered to be a linear process, but a cyclical process in which codes are developed and refined.


title: Thematic analysis

text: The coding process is rarely completed from one sweep through the data. Saladana recommends that each time researchers work through the data set, they should strive to refine codes by adding, subtracting, combining or splitting potential codes. For Miles and Huberman, "start codes" are produced through terminology used by participants during the interview and can be used as a reference point of their experiences during the interview. For more positivist inclined thematic analysis proponents, dependability increases when the researcher uses concrete codes that are based on dialogue and are descriptive in nature. These codes will facilitate the researcher's ability to locate pieces of data later in the process and identify why they included them. However, Braun and Clarke urge researchers to look beyond a sole focus on description and summary and engage interpretatively with data - exploring both overt (semantic) and implicit (latent) meaning. Coding sets the stage for detailed analysis later by allowing the researcher to reorganize the data according to the ideas that have been obtained throughout the process. Reflexivity journal entries for new codes serve as a reference point to the participant and their data section, reminding the researcher to understand why and where they will include these codes in the final analysis. Throughout the coding process, full and equal attention needs to be paid to each data item because it will help in the identification of otherwise unnoticed repeated patterns. Coding as inclusively as possible is important - coding individual aspects of the data that may seem irrelevant can potentially be crucial later in the analysis process.


title: Thematic analysis

text: For sociologists Coffey and Atkinson, coding also involves the process of data reduction and complication. Reduction of codes is initiated by assigning tags or labels to the data set based on the research question(s). In this stage, condensing large data sets into smaller units permits further analysis of the data by creating useful categories. In-vivo codes are also produced by applying references and terminology from the participants in their interviews. Coding aids in development, transformation and re-conceptualization of the data and helps to find more possibilities for analysis. Researchers should ask questions related to the data and generate theories from the data, extending past what has been previously reported in previous research.


title: Thematic analysis

text: For some thematic analysis proponents, coding can be thought of as a means of reduction of data or data simplification (this is not the case for Braun and Clarke who view coding as both data reduction and interpretation). For Coffey and Atkinson, using simple but broad analytic codes it is possible to reduce the data to a more manageable feat. In this stage of data analysis the analyst must focus on the identification of a more simple way of organizing data. using data reductionism researchers should include a process of indexing the data texts which could include: field notes, interview transcripts, or other documents. Data at this stage are reduced to classes or categories in which the researcher is able to identify segments of the data that share a common category or code. Siedel and Kelle suggested three ways to aid with the process of data reduction and coding: (a) noticing relevant phenomena, (b) collecting examples of the phenomena, and (c) analyzing phenomena to find similarities, differences, patterns and overlying structures. This aspect of data coding is important because during this stage researchers should be attaching codes to the data to allow the researcher to think about the data in different ways. Coding can not be viewed as strictly data reduction, data complication can be used as a way to open up the data to examine further. The below section addresses Coffey and Atkinson's process of data complication and its significance to data analysis in qualitative analysis.


title: Thematic analysis

text: For Coffey and Atkinson, the process of creating codes can be described as both data reduction and data complication. Data complication can be described as going beyond the data and asking questions about the data to generate frameworks and theories. The complication of data is used to expand on data to create new questions and interpretation of the data. Researchers should make certain that the coding process does not lose more information than is gained. Tesch defined data complication as the process of reconceptualizing the data giving new contexts for the data segments. Data complication serves as a means of providing new contexts for the way data is viewed and analyzed.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Coding is a process of breaking data up through analytical ways and in order to produce questions about the data, providing temporary answers about relationships within and among the data. Decontextualizing and recontextualizing help to reduce and expand the data in new ways with new theories.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Searching for themes and considering what works and what does not work within themes enables the researcher to begin the analysis of potential codes. In this phase, it is important to begin by examining how codes combine to form over-reaching themes in the data. At this point, researchers have a list of themes and begin to focus on broader patterns in the data, combining coded data with proposed themes. Researchers also begin considering how relationships are formed between codes and themes and between different levels of existing themes. It may be helpful to use visual models to sort codes into the potential themes.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Themes differ from codes in that themes are phrases or sentences that identifies what the data "means". They describe an outcome of coding for analytic reflection. Themes consist of ideas and descriptions within a culture that can be used to explain causal events, statements, and morals derived from the participants' stories. In subsequent phases, it is important to narrow down the potential themes to provide an overreaching theme. Thematic analysis allows for categories or themes to emerge from the data like the following: repeating ideas; indigenous terms, metaphors and analogies; shifts in topic; and similarities and differences of participants' linguistic expression. It is important at this point to address not only what is present in data, but also what is missing from the data. conclusion of this phase should yield many candidate themes collected throughout the data process. It is crucial to avoid discarding themes even if they are initially insignificant as they may be important themes later in the analysis process.


title: Thematic analysis

text: This phase requires the researchers to check their initial themes against the coded data and the entire data-set - this is to ensure the analysis hasn't drifted too far from the data and provides a compelling account of the data relevant to the research question. This process of review also allows for further expansion on and revision of themes as they develop. At this point, researchers should have a set of potential themes, as this phase is where the reworking of initial themes takes place. Some existing themes may collapse into each other, other themes may need to be condensed into smaller units, or let go of all together.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Specifically, this phase involves two levels of refining and reviewing themes. Connections between overlapping themes may serve as important sources of information and can alert researchers to the possibility of new patterns and issues in the data. For Guest and colleagues, deviations from coded material can notify the researcher that a theme may not actually be useful to make sense of the data and should be discarded. Both of this acknowledgements should be noted in the researcher's reflexivity journal, also including the absence of themes. Codes serve as a way to relate data to a person's conception of that concept. At this point, the researcher should focus on interesting aspects of the codes and why they fit together.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Reviewing coded data extracts allows researchers to identify if themes form coherent patterns. If this is the case, researchers should move onto Level 2. If themes do not form coherent patterns, consideration of the potentially problematic themes is necessary. If themes are problematic, it is important to rework the theme and during the process, new themes may develop. For example, it is problematic when themes do not appear to 'work' (capture something compelling about the data) or there is a significant amount of overlap between themes. This can result in a weak or unconvincing analysis of the data. If this occurs, data may need to be recognized in order to create cohesive, mutually exclusive themes.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Considering the validity of individual themes and how they connect to the data set as a whole is the next stage of review. It is imperative to assess whether the potential thematic map meaning captures the important information in the data relevant to the research question. Once again, at this stage it is important to read and re-read the data to determine if current themes relate back to the data set. To assist in this process it is imperative to code any additional items that may have been missed earlier in the initial coding stage. If the potential map 'works' to meaningfully capture and tell a coherent story about the data then the researcher should progress to the next phase of analysis. If the map does not work it is crucial to return to the data in order to continue to review and refine existing themes and perhaps even undertake further coding. Mismatches between data and analytic claims reduce the amount of support that can be provided by the data. This can be avoided if the researcher is certain that their interpretations of the data and analytic insights correspond. Researchers repeat this process until they are satisfied with the thematic map. By the end of this phase, researchers have an idea of what themes are and how they fit together so that they convey a story about the data set.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Defining and refining existing themes that will be presented in the final analysis assists the researcher in analyzing the data within each theme. At this phase, identification of the themes' essences relate to how each specific theme forms part of the entire picture of the data. Analysis at this stage is characterized by identifying which aspects of data are being captured and what is interesting about the themes, and how the themes fit together to tell a coherent and compelling story about the data.


title: Thematic analysis

text: In order to identify whether current themes contain sub-themes and to discover further depth of themes, it is important to consider themes within the whole picture and also as autonomous themes. Braun and Clarke recommend caution about developing many sub-themes and many levels of themes as this may lead to an overly fragmented analysis. Researchers must then conduct and write a detailed analysis to identify the story of each theme and its significance. By the end of this phase, researchers can (1) define what current themes consist of, and (2) explain each theme in a few sentences. It is important to note that researchers begin thinking about names for themes that will give the reader a full sense of the theme and its importance. Failure to fully analyze the data occurs when researchers do not use the data to support their analysis beyond simply describing or paraphrasing the content of the data. Researchers conducting thematic analysis should attempt to go beyond surface meanings of the data to make sense of the data and tell an accurate story of what the data means.


title: Thematic analysis

text: After final themes have been reviewed, researchers begin the process of writing the final report. While writing the final report, researchers should decide on themes that make meaningful contributions to answering research questions which should be refined later as final themes. For coding reliability proponents Guest and colleagues, researchers present the dialogue connected with each theme in support of increasing dependability through a thick description of the results. The goal of this phase is to write the thematic analysis to convey the complicated story of the data in a manner that convinces the reader of the validity and merit of your analysis. A clear, concise, and straightforward logical account of the story across and with themes is important for readers to understand the final report. The write up of the report should contain enough evidence that themes within the data are relevant to the data set. Extracts should be included in the narrative to capture the full meaning of the points in analysis. The argument should be in support of the research question. For some thematic analysis proponents, the final step in producing the report is to include member checking as a means to establish credibility, researchers should consider taking final themes and supporting dialog to participants to elicit feedback. However, Braun and Clarke are critical of the practice of member checking and do not generally view it as a desirable practice in their reflexive approach to thematic analysis. As well as highlighting numerous practical concerns around member checking, they argue that it is only theoretically coherent with approaches that seek to describe and summarise participants' accounts in ways that would be recognisable to them. Given their reflexive thematic analysis approach centres the active, interpretive role of the researcher - this may not apply to analyses generated using their approach.


title: Thematic analysis

text: A technical or pragmatic view of research design centres researchers conducting qualitative analysis using the most appropriate method for the research question. However, there is rarely only one ideal or suitable method so other criteria for selecting methods of analysis are often used - the researcher's theoretical commitments and their familiarity with particular methods. Thematic analysis provides a flexible method of data analysis and allows for researchers with various methodological backgrounds to engage in this type of analysis. For positivists, 'reliability' is a concern because of the numerous potential interpretations of data possible and the potential for researcher subjectivity to 'bias' or distort the analysis. For those committed to qualitative research values, researcher subjectivity is viewed as a resource (rather than a threat to credibility), and so concerns about reliability do not hold. There is no one correct or accurate interpretation of data, interpretations are inevitably subjective and reflect the positioning of the researcher. Quality is achieved through a systematic and rigorous approach and through the researcher continually reflecting on how they are shaping the developing analysis. Braun and Clarke have developed a 15-point quality checklist for their reflexive approach. For coding reliability thematic analysis proponents, the use of multiple coders and the measurement of coding agreement is vital.


title: Thematic analysis

text: Thematic analysis has several advantages and disadvantages, it is up to the researchers to decide if this method of analysis is suitable for their research design.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: Christopher Carl Carter (born October 13, 1956) is an American television and film producer, director and writer who gained fame in the 1990s as the creator of the Fox science fiction supernatural drama series "The X-Files".


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: Born in Bellflower, California, Carter graduated with a degree in journalism from California State University, Long Beach before spending thirteen years working for "Surfing Magazine". After beginning his television career working on television films for Walt Disney Studios, Carter rose to fame in 1993 for creating "The X-Files". The show earned high viewership ratings, and eventually led to Carter's being able to negotiate the creation of future series.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: Carter has his own television production company, Ten Thirteen Productions, wherein he went on to create three more series for the network—"Millennium", a doomsday-themed series which met with critical approval and low viewer numbers; "Harsh Realm", which was canceled after three episodes had aired; and "The Lone Gunmen", a spin-off of "The X-Files" which lasted for a single season. Carter's film roles include writing both of "The X-Files" cinematic spin-offs—1998's successful "The X-Files" and the poorly received 2008 follow-up "", the latter of which he also directed—while his television credits have earned him several accolades including eight Primetime Emmy Award nominations.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: Chris Carter was born on October 13, 1956 in Bellflower, California. His father worked in the construction industry. Carter has described his childhood as "fairly normal", and was fond of both Little League Baseball and surfing; his surfing stance is goofy footed. He attended California State University, Long Beach in Long Beach, graduated with a journalism degree in 1979. An avid surfer, he began writing for "Surfing Magazine", a San Clemente-based journal, eventually becoming its editor at the age of 28. Carter would work for the magazine for thirteen years, and credits his tenure there for teaching him how to run a business. It was also at this time that Carter began taking an interest in pottery, making "hundreds of thousands of pieces" of dinnerware as a hobby. He has compared the process of making pottery to Zen meditations, although he has since thrown out most of his work.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: In 1983, Carter began dating Dori Pierson, whom he had met through a cousin of hers who worked with him at "Surfing Magazine". The couple were married in 1987, and live in Santa Barbara.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: Pierson's connections at Walt Disney Studios led to chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg hiring Carter on a standard contract. Carter began writing television films for the studio, penning "The B.R.A.T. Patrol" in 1986 and "Meet the Munceys" in 1988. These scripts led to Carter being associated with contemporary youth comedy at the studio, and although he enjoyed the work he felt that his real strengths and interests lay in serious drama instead.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: Carter met the then-president of NBC, Brandon Tartikoff, at a company softball game in Brentwood, California. Tartikoff and Carter began talking between innings, and when Tartikoff eventually read some of Carter's script work, he brought him over to write for the network. There, Carter developed a number of unproduced television pilots—"Cameo By Night", featuring Sela Ward; "Brand New Life", which has been described as being similar to "The Brady Bunch"; "Copter Cop", a science fiction series that was hampered by Tartikoff's injuries after a car accident; and "Cool Culture", influenced by Carter's passion for surfing and experience with "Surfing Magazine". During this time Carter would also work as a producer on "Rags to Riches", a job he accepted in order to learn more about producing a series.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: Peter Roth, at that time the president of Stephen J. Cannell Productions, obtained a copy of Carter's pilot script for "Cool Culture", and although the series was never picked up, Roth was interested in hiring Carter to work on the CBS series "Palace Guard". However, Roth would soon leave Cannell Productions to work for Fox as the head of its television production wing. Carter was among the first wave of new staff hired by Roth in 1992 to develop material for the network, and he began work on a series based on his own childhood fondness for "The Twilight Zone" and "".


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: Carter's new series would take its stylistic inspiration from "Kolchak", while thematically reflecting his experiences growing up during the Watergate scandal. Carter also drew inspiration from his friend John E. Mack's survey of American beliefs in ufology, which indicated that of the population believed they had been abducted by aliens. Roth warmed to the idea upon hearing of the influence of "Kolchak", believing that vampires—one of the central antagonists of the original series—would be popular with audiences given the interest being shown in the upcoming film "Interview with the Vampire", although Carter insisted on an extraterrestrial-focused series. However, Carter had never been interested in science fiction before this point, professing to have briefly read one novel each by Ursula K. Le Guin and Robert A. Heinlein. Basing his characters instead on those found in the English television series "The Avengers", Carter took an eighteen-page treatment for his new project—by now titled "The X-Files"—to a pitch meeting at Fox, where it was soon rejected. With the help of Roth, Carter was able to arrange a second pitch meeting, at which the network reluctantly agreed to greenlight a pilot for the series.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: After finding the series' two starring leads in Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny, Carter was given a budget of to produce a pilot episode. The series aired on Friday nights on the Fox network, being broadcast in tandem with "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr." in what was perceived to be an unpopular timeslot. The series earned relatively impressive Nielsen ratings for its Friday timeslot, and was given a full twenty-four episode order. The series' popularity and critical acclaim built over the course of its second and third seasons, and saw it earning its first Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama and breaking the record for highest price paid by a network for rights to air re-runs, fetching $600,000 per episode from Fox's sister network FX. After Carter's initial three-year signing for Fox had ended, the success of the series allowed him to negotiate a five-year contract with several additional perks, including the guarantee of a feature film adaptation to be produced by the parent company's film studio, and the greenlighting of Carter's next television project. In March 2015, it was confirmed that Carter was set to executive produce and write for the revival of "The X-Files", which was set for a six-episode event series. In 2017 it was announced that The X-Files would return to Fox with a ten-episode season 11, with Carter set to executive produce and write. Both Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny returned, as well as veteran writers Glen Morgan, Darin Morgan, and Jim Wong, and newcomers Gabe Rotter, Benjamin Van Allen, and Brad Follmer. The eleventh season has received generally positive if somewhat lukewarm reviews from critics, but ratings fell dramatically, and Gillian Anderson has stated she will not play Scully again.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: In October 2020, Chris Carter said: "I always thought there would be even more "X-Files"." He admitted that continuing the series at this point with Duchovny and Anderson is unlikely, but has plans to continue the franchise with an upcoming animated spinoff. "Being that Gillian has decided to move on with her career, we certainly couldn't do Mulder and Scully again. But that's not to say there isn't another way to do "The X-Files". And so right now I think the future is unwritten." The rights are now owned by Disney.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: Carter began work on a new series, "Millennium". The genesis of this new project stemmed from "Irresistible", a second-season episode of "The X-Files" which Carter had written, which focused on a sexually motivated serial killer with none of that series' usual supernatural trappings. Carter fleshed out the basis of the new show's protagonist, Frank Black, and travelled to Seattle for inspiration for a new setting. Influence was also drawn from the works of Nostradamus, and the increasing popular interest in eschatology ahead of the coming millennium. The central role of Black was eventually filled by Lance Henriksen, and the series began airing in the Friday timeslot formerly occupied by "The X-Files". "Pilot", the début episode, was heavily promoted by Fox, and brought in over a quarter of the total audience during its broadcast.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: The series also attracted a high degree of critical appraisal, earning a People's Choice Award for "Favorite New TV Dramatic Series" in its first year. At the beginning of the second season, Carter handed over control of the series to Glen Morgan and James Wong, with whom he had previously worked on both "Millennium" first season and several seasons of "The X-Files". Despite its promising start, however, ratings for "Millennium" after the pilot remained consistently low, and it was cancelled after three seasons.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: During the production of the fourth season of "The X-Files", work on the first feature film adaptation of the series began. Also titled "The X-Files", Carter initially began a treatment for the script over Christmas holidays in Hawaii in 1996. Series producer Frank Spotnitz collaborated on the story outline at this time. Carter would later return to Hawaii for a ten-day stint in 1997 to begin fleshing out the finished script. Carter appointed frequent series director Rob Bowman as director of the film, which went on to feature many of the series' regular cast, including Duchovny, Anderson, Mitch Pileggi and William B. Davis.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: "The X-Files" premiered on June 19, 1998, eventually making a worldwide gross of $189 million, and received mixed reviews.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: Ten years after the success of the first film, and six years after "The X-Files" final season had finished, Carter would both write and direct a second feature film, titled "". Filmed in British Columbia, "I Want To Believe" was released on July 25, 2008; eventually grossing $68,369,434 worldwide. The film was received generally negative reviews from critics.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: Carter has had several brief cameo roles as an actor — first appearing in "The X-Files" "Anasazi" as an FBI agent; before portraying a member of a film audience in "Hollywood A.D.", a later episode of the same series. Carter also made a brief appearance in "Three Men and a Smoking Diaper", an episode of "The Lone Gunmen".


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: In 1999, Carter began adapting the comic book series "Harsh Realm" as a television show. Carter's friend and frequent collaborator Daniel Sackheim had optioned the comics for adaptation in 1996. However, when the series first aired on October 8, 1999, the comics' writers Andrew Paquette and James Hudnall were given no writing credits for the work; the two then filed suit against Fox to be credited for their work. "Harsh Realm" received disappointing viewing figures, and was cancelled after only three episodes had been broadcast.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: Two years later, Carter launched a spin-off of "The X-Files" titled "The Lone Gunmen", a series centred on three minor characters from the former series. "The Lone Gunmen" was cancelled after thirteen episodes, later receiving a coda in the form of a crossover episode with "The X-Files". Carter has since been involved with writing and directing the as-yet unreleased film "Fencewalker", set to feature Natalie Dormer and Katie Cassidy. In 2011, he began working to develop "Unique", a police thriller television series; the project was eventually dropped before completion.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: Carter next began work on the Amazon Studios television series "The After". The pilot episode was made available for viewing on February 6, 2014; the series was green-lit the following month, but finally cancelled on January 5, 2015, without another episode beyond the pilot being shot.


title: Chris Carter (screenwriter)

text: Carter's work has earned him several accolades over his career, including eight nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards. Carter has also received award nominations for the Directors Guild of America Awards, the Edgar Awards, and the British Academy Television Awards.


title: Toys (film)

text: Toys is a 1992 American fantasy comedy film directed by Barry Levinson, co-written by Levinson and Valerie Curtin, and starring Robin Williams, Michael Gambon, Joan Cusack, Robin Wright, LL Cool J, and Jamie Foxx in his feature film debut. Released in December 1992 in the United States, and March and April 1993 in the United Kingdom and Australia, respectively, the film was produced by Levinson's production company Baltimore Pictures and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Despite appearing somewhat juvenile at first glance, the film received a PG-13 rating from the MPAA for some language and sensuality.


title: Toys (film)

text: The film was a box-office failure at the time of its release, despite its cast and filmmaking. Director Barry Levinson was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Director (losing to David Seltzer for "Shining Through"). The film did, however, receive Oscar nominations for Art Direction (losing to "Howards End") and Costume Design (losing to "Bram Stoker's Dracula"). It was also entered into the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival.


title: Toys (film)

text: Kenneth Zevo, owner of Zevo Toys in Moscow, Idaho, is dying. He surprises his assistant, Owen Owens, by announcing that instead of his son Leslie succeeding him, his younger brother, U.S. Army Lieutenant General Leland Zevo, will do so. Even Leland, whose relationship with Kenneth is strained, is surprised, noting how Leslie has been apprenticed at the toy factory most of his life. Kenneth agrees Leslie loves toys and his work, but his childlike demeanor would jeopardize the company. Kenneth had even hired Gwen Tyler to work in the factory, hoping she and Leslie would start a relationship to help Leslie mature. Leland reluctantly takes control after Kenneth's death, and since Leslie and his sister Alsatia know about toymaking, he first decides to effectively give them control of the factory. However, Leland's interest is piqued upon hearing about corporate secrets potentially being leaked, and he hires his son, Patrick, a soldier with covert military expertise, to manage security. From Patrick, Leland is inspired to build war toys, even though Leslie explains that Zevo Toys has never made war toys due to Kenneth's overall dislike of war, which caused the strained relationship with his brother. Meanwhile, Leslie finally notices Gwen, and they start dating.


title: Toys (film)

text: One night, Leland and Patrick go into town, where they peruse a video arcade, watching children play intently at the flickering game consoles. Going to a local toy store, Leland is amazed at what other companies have produced regarding war toys. As they drive back to the countryside, Leland and Patrick stop at a small pond, and Leland soon realizes that if military aircraft and hardware could be shrunken down and operated by remote control, military spending could become less cumbersome.


title: Toys (film)

text: Leland offers to drop the idea of Zevo Toys making war toys, but asks Leslie if he can partition off a small amount of the factory to develop toys of his own. He asks Leslie to avoid the area, fearing that his toys may not be good enough. Unknown to Leslie, Leland is using the space to develop miniature remotely controlled war machines, aspiring to sell these to the military. However, military leaders refuse to buy into his plan, and Leland, becoming unhinged by their refusal, moves ahead with his plan independently. He increasingly takes over the factory's space and increases security, shrinking other departments and shutting down Alsatia's, effectively laying off numerous workers. When Leslie sees children being led into a restricted area, he sneaks in and discovers Leland training children to operate the miniature war machines with arcade-like interfaces. Leslie barely escapes the "Sea Swine" amphibious drone guarding an exit, and flees to Gwen's house to reveal his findings. Unbeknownst to him, Leland, aware of Leslie's discovery, prepares to defend his parts of the factory, promoting himself to general of his own army. Patrick learns Leland lied about his mother's death and quits to warn Leslie.


title: Toys (film)

text: Leslie, Alsatia, Patrick, Gwen and Owen infiltrate the factory and then disperse to locate the main control center. Leland takes the opportunity to unleash some cute-yet-deadly toys, before setting his military-style "Tommy Tanks" and "Hurly-Burly Helicopters" on them. Leslie, Alsatia, Gwen and Owen end up finding their way into a storage warehouse, where he had the older Zevo Toys stored. Devising a plan, Leslie winds up the old toys and puts them to battle against Leland's war machines. He then manages to get to Leland, and during a fight, Leland's helicopter attempts to hit Leslie with a missile but misses and hits Leland's control panel, which shuts down all the military toys. As Leslie and Patrick confront Leland, Alsatia is attacked by the Sea Swine and is revealed to be a robot, built by Kenneth as a companion for Leslie after the death of his mother. As Leslie and Patrick tend to Alsatia, Leland tries to escape, but the Sea Swine attacks him. As Leland is hospitalized, Leslie takes over the factory and continues his relationship with Gwen, and Alsatia is fully repaired. Owen continues to work at Zevo, and Patrick prepares to depart for other missions, but remains with the others long enough to attend a brief memorial to Kenneth.


title: Toys (film)

text: Italian designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti spent over a year designing the sets, which overtook every sound stage at Fox Studios in Los Angeles. The influence of René Magritte's art is obvious in the set design and in some of the costume design. The poster distributed to movie theaters featuring Williams in a red bowler hat against a blue, cloud-lined background evokes "The Son of Man". "Golconda" is featured during a sequence where Williams and Cusack perform in a music video sequence rife with surreal imagery, much of it Magritte-inspired. The film's design was also influenced by Dadaism, Modernism and Italian Futurism—notably the work of Fortunato Depero.


title: Toys (film)

text: The film has often been noted for many of its outdoor scenes, which feature the Palouse region. All of the outdoor scenes, including the trailer, were filmed on location in southeastern Washington near Rosalia and north-central Idaho.


title: Toys (film)

text: The "Into Battle" mix of "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood was created for the film by the song's original producer Trevor Horn and is exclusive to the soundtrack album.


title: Toys (film)

text: The film was publicized with a trailer that featured Williams walking through a large undulating field of green grass, breaking the fourth wall and talking to the audience. This trailer was parodied on the TV show "The Simpsons" in the episode "Burns' Heir", substituting Mr. Burns for Williams.


title: Toys (film)

text: "Toys" was released in 1,272 venues, earning $4,810,027 and ranking sixth in its opening weekend, second among new releases behind "Forever Young". The film would ultimately gross $23,278,931 in North America, making it a commercial failure based on a $50 million budget.


title: Toys (film)

text: The film has an approval rating of 29% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 28 reviews, and an average score of 4.5/10. The website's consensus reads, "Like a colorfully overengineered gewgaw on the shelf, "Toys" might look like fun, but its seemingly limitless possibilities lead mainly to confusion and disappointment." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Toys (film)

text: Kenneth Turan of the "Los Angeles Times" stated that what made the film "that much sadder a failure is that everyone involved must have sincerely felt they were doing the Lord's work, care and concern going hand in hand with an almost total miscalculation of mood. Even Robin Williams, so lively a voice in "Aladdin", is on beatific automatic pilot here, preferring to be warm and cuddly when a little of his energy (paradoxically on splendid display in the film's teaser trailer) is desperately called for. "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" seems to have stripped the life from this film as well, leaving a pretty shell, expensive but hollow, in its place." Peter Travers wrote in the "Rolling Stone": "To cut "Toys" a minor break, it is ambitious. It is also a gimmicky, obvious and pious bore, not to mention overproduced and overlong."


title: Toys (film)

text: A video game based on the film, "Toys: Let the Toy Wars Begin!", was released in 1993 for the Super NES and Genesis platforms by Absolute Entertainment. The game is played from an isometric perspective, and involves the player, as Leslie, attempting to destroy the elephant-head security cameras in the factory, cafeteria and warehouse levels in order to shut down those defenses. Once the player gets to the Manhattan model, the game switches to a side-scrolling flying shoot-'em-up stage, where the player must fly all the way to the General's control center, shut down the production of the war toys, and save the good name of Zevo Toys.


title: No Más (Breaking Bad)

text: "No Más" is the first episode of the third season of the American television drama series "Breaking Bad". Written by Vince Gilligan and directed by Bryan Cranston, it aired on AMC in the United States on March 21, 2010.


title: No Más (Breaking Bad)

text: Leonel and Marco Salamanca make a pilgrimage to a Mexican shrine to Santa Muerte, making an offering and leaving a drawing of Heisenberg at the shrine.


title: No Más (Breaking Bad)

text: A week after the mid-air plane collision, all of Albuquerque remains in shock. A depressed Walter White is living in his home alone following the departure of his wife, Skyler White, who has moved out with their son and newborn daughter to give Walt a chance to pack his things. Walt has pieced together that Donald Margolis inadvertently caused the plane crash after being distracted by his grief over his daughter Jane's death. Remorseful, he burns several bundles of money on the barbecue, but at the last moment changes his mind and throws the bills into the pool. While helping Walt to transport his belongings to a new apartment, Hank lifts the bag containing the money Walt obtained in his deal with Gus Fring. Walt openly admits the existence of the money, but Hank laughs, believing it to be a joke. Once in his new apartment, Walt calls to give his family his new address. He later receives a text message reading "POLLOS". At a school assembly, Walt becomes agitated as both teachers and students open up about the traumas they experienced due to the plane collision. When prompted to share his thoughts, he delivers an awkward speech comparing the accident to the Tenerife airport disaster, disturbing the assembled audience by advising them to "look on the bright side".


title: No Más (Breaking Bad)

text: Skyler speaks to a divorce lawyer about making her separation from Walt permanent but hesitates when the attorney mentions the possibility of uncovering money Walt may have hidden. After being given a ride home from school by his father, Walter Jr. argues with both his parents and expresses his anger towards Skyler, who refuses to give him an explanation. She also refuses when asked by her sister Marie Schrader. Finally, she confronts Walt, presenting him with divorce papers. When she accuses him of being a drug dealer, Walt admits to being a methamphetamine cook. Skyler storms off in horror, pleading that she will not expose his secret to his children and to Hank if he grants her the divorce.


title: No Más (Breaking Bad)

text: Walt's former business partner, Jesse Pinkman, is in rehab trying to overcome his drug addiction and come to terms with his girlfriend Jane Margolis' death, expressing his own personal self-loathing and guilt. During one session, the group leader confesses that, high on cocaine on a birthday of his that occurred a decade earlier, he ran over and killed his own daughter in his pick-up truck while desperately trying to reach vodka at a liquor store. He follows this up by saying that hating oneself is only an impediment to moving on. Walt picks up Jesse and takes him to his apartment, where Jesse expresses remorse over the events that led to the mid-air collision. Walt tells him he is not responsible for what happened, but Jesse calmly insists that he has learned not to shy away from who he really is: "the bad guy". Inspired by this, Walt visits Gus at Los Pollos Hermanos and tells him of his decision to get out of the meth business. Gus presents an offer for Walt to make $3 million for three months' work; Walt briefly reconsiders but ultimately refuses.


title: No Más (Breaking Bad)

text: Meanwhile, the Salamanca twins cross into the US from Mexico hidden in the back of a truck, in search of Heisenberg. After another migrant discovers their affiliation with the Juarez Cartel, they kill their fellow passengers and the driver of the truck before blowing it up.


title: No Más (Breaking Bad)

text: The episode was written by Vince Gilligan, and directed by Bryan Cranston; it aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on March 21, 2010. The title of the episode means "no more" in Spanish, and refers to Walt's decision to quit the meth business.


title: No Más (Breaking Bad)

text: Seth Amitin of "IGN" gave the episode an 8.8 rating; he also stated Breaking Bad comes back after its eight-month hiatus with "No Más," "A wonderful and wonderfully-titled episode. The show is mixing its pitches in the season 3 premiere. After a hard plane-crashing fastball, we're getting an emotionally impacted change-up that lands softly into the catcher's mitt." While The A.V Club gave the episode an A rating. The episode's original broadcast was viewed by 1.95 million people.


title: No Más (Breaking Bad)

text: At the 62nd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Michael Slovis was nominated for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (One Hour) for his work on this episode, while Skip Macdonald was nominated for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing - Drama Series.


title: Patriot League

text: The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective groups of higher education institutions in the NCAA, and has a very high student-athlete graduation rate for both the NCAA graduation success rate and the federal graduation rate.


title: Patriot League

text: The Patriot League has 10 core members: American University, the United States Military Academy (Army), Boston University, Bucknell University, Colgate University, College of the Holy Cross, Lafayette College, Lehigh University, Loyola University Maryland, and the United States Naval Academy (Navy). All 10 core members participate in the NCAA's Division I for all Patriot League sports that they offer. Since not all schools sponsor every available NCAA sport, most schools are affiliated with other collegiate conferences for sports such as ice hockey and wrestling.


title: Patriot League

text: Only half of the conference's core members compete in the Patriot League for football, as part of the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision (FCS): Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, and Lehigh. Of the five other conference members, American, Boston University, and Loyola Maryland do not sponsor football, while Army and Navy play in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision; Army is an independent, while Navy competes as an associate member of the American Athletic Conference.


title: Patriot League

text: Four other private institutions are Patriot League members only for specific sports, and are referred to as associate members. Fordham University and Georgetown University are associate members in football, while MIT is an associate member in women's rowing and the University of Richmond is an associate member in women's golf.


title: Patriot League

text: Patriot League members are schools with very strong academic reputations that adhere strongly to the ideal of the "scholar-athlete", with the emphasis on "scholar". An academic index ensures that athletes are truly representative of and integrated with the rest of the student body. Out-of-league play for Patriot League schools is often with members of the Ivy League, which follow similar philosophies regarding academics and athletics.


title: Patriot League

text: Patriot League members have some of the oldest collegiate athletic programs in the country. In particular, "The Rivalry" between Lehigh University and Lafayette College is both the nation's most-played and longest-uninterrupted college football series.


title: Patriot League

text: The winner of the Patriot League basketball tournament receives an automatic invitation to the NCAA Division I basketball tournament every March. In recent years, Bucknell (twice) and Lehigh have both won NCAA tournament games. The Patriot League champions in a number of other sports also receive an automatic invitation to their respective NCAA tournaments.


title: Patriot League

text: The origins of the Patriot League began after the eight Ivy League schools expanded their football schedules to ten games starting in 1980. Needing opponents with a similar competitive level on a regular basis for each team's three nonconference games, the league contacted two university presidents, the Reverend John E. Brooks, S.J., of Holy Cross, and Peter Likins of Lehigh, about forming a new conference that also prohibited athletic scholarships. The result was the Colonial League, a football-only circuit that began competition in 1986. Its six charter members were Holy Cross, Lehigh, Bucknell, Colgate, Lafayette, and Davidson. Davidson dropped out after the 1988 season for reasons related to geography, lack of competitiveness, and a reluctance to relinquish its basketball scholarships in case the conference expanded into other sports.


title: Patriot League

text: In 1990, the league changed its name to the Patriot League at the suggestion of Carl F. Ullrich, who would go on to become the conference's first full-time administrator. At the start of the 1990–91 academic year, the league became an all-sport conference, with 22 sports (11 for men and 11 for women), and now had seven full members, including Fordham and the United States Military Academy (Army) as new members. In 1991, the league gained an eighth full member, the United States Naval Academy (Navy).


title: Patriot League

text: In 1993, the league hired Constance (Connie) H. Hurlbut as executive director. She was the first woman and youngest person to be the leader of an NCAA Division I conference.


title: Patriot League

text: In 1995, Fordham resigned its full membership (leaving the league with seven full members) but continued as an associate member in football. In 1996, Fairfield and Ursinus joined as associate members in field hockey. (Fairfield left after the 2003 fall season and is now an associate member of the Northeast Conference. Ursinus left after the 2001 fall season and is now a full member of the Division III Centennial Conference.) In 1997, Towson joined as an associate member in football. (Towson left after the 2003 fall season to join the Atlantic 10 Conference, whose football conference would be absorbed by the Colonial Athletic Association in 2007.) In 1999, Hobart joined as an associate member in men's lacrosse and Villanova joined as an associate member in women's lacrosse. (Hobart left after the 2004 spring season, to join the ECAC Lacrosse League, while Villanova left after the 2006 spring season.) In 2001, American University joined as the eighth full member and Georgetown University joined as an associate member in football. Two schools announced in summer 2012 that they would join the league for the 2013–14 academic year, with Boston University making its announcement on June 15, and Loyola University Maryland doing so on August 29.


title: Patriot League

text: While Patriot League colleges have always offered need-based financial aid, league members have only been allowed to give athletic scholarships in recent years. Basketball scholarships were first allowed beginning with freshmen entering the league in the fall of 1998.


title: Patriot League

text: In 2001, when the league admitted American, which gave scholarships in all its sports (AU does not play football), the league began allowing all schools to do so in sports other than football. Lafayette, the last holdout with no athletic scholarships, began granting full rides in basketball and other sports with freshmen entering the school in the fall of 2006. Most Patriot League schools do not give athletic scholarships in a number of sports, and Bucknell only granted them in basketball prior to the addition of football scholarships in 2013.


title: Patriot League

text: In the spring of 2009, Fordham University announced that it would start offering football scholarships in the fall of 2010. This action made Fordham ineligible for the league championship in that sport, but it also prompted a league-wide discussion on football scholarships. On February 13, 2012, the Patriot League announced its members could begin offering football scholarships starting with the 2013–14 academic year. Since then, each school has been allowed no more than the equivalent of 15 scholarships to incoming football players. Presidents from six of the seven football schools indicated they would award scholarships in the fall of 2012. Georgetown University did not commit to offering scholarships. Since the transition to scholarship football was completed for the 2016–17 academic year, each football member has been allowed up to 60 scholarship equivalents per season, a total only slightly lower than the NCAA limit of 63 scholarship equivalents for FCS programs.


title: Patriot League

text: The Patriot League sponsors championship competition in 12 men's and 13 women's NCAA-sanctioned sports. Georgetown and Fordham are Associate members for football, and Georgetown and MIT are Associate members for rowing.


title: Patriot League

text: The Patriot League Presidents' Cup is awarded to the member institution with the highest cumulative sports point total for their Patriot League standings in sponsored men's and women's sports. Points are awarded based upon a combination of an institution's regular-season and tournament finishes in each sport.


title: Patriot League

text: In NCAA basketball, Boston, Bucknell, Navy, Lehigh, and Holy Cross are the only teams in the conference ever to have recorded NCAA Tournament victories. Bucknell won tournament games in 2005 over Kansas and in 2006 over Arkansas. Lehigh won over Duke in the first round in the 2012 tournament.


title: Patriot League

text: The Bison, Mountain Hawks, and Crusaders are the only teams to win in the NCAA tournament while actually representing the Patriot League. A Navy team—then representing the Colonial Athletic Association—led by future Hall of Famer David Robinson won three tournament games while advancing to the regional finals in 1986, while BU won two games in the 1959 tournament before falling in the regional finals. Holy Cross was among the best teams in the country in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and won the 1947 national championship with a team that included future Hall of Famer Bob Cousy. Its combined record in the NCAA tournament is 8–12. After a 63-year drought, Holy Cross defeated Southern University in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Bryan Cohen of Bucknell was named Patriot League Defensive Player of Year in 2010, 2011, and 2012; he was the only player in league history to win the award three times.


title: Patriot League

text: The Patriot League prohibited athletic scholarships for football from its founding (as the Colonial League) until the league presidents voted to approve football scholarships starting with the 2013 recruiting class. Since then, each school has been allowed no more than the equivalent of 15 scholarships to incoming football players in any given season. With the transition to scholarship football having been completed in 2016, each school is now allowed a maximum of 60 scholarship equivalents per season, three short of the NCAA FCS maximum. However, Georgetown does not offer scholarships.


title: Patriot League

text: Until 1997, Patriot League teams did not participate in the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs. This practice was in step with the Ivy League's policy of not participating in the playoffs, since the Patriot League was founded with the Ivy League's athletics philosophy. Since 1997, the league champion receives an automatic playoff berth. If there are co-champions, a tie-breaker determines the playoff participant, though the other co-champion is eligible to be selected with an at-large invitation.


title: Patriot League

text: Colgate was the first team to receive the league's automatic berth, in 1997. The following year, Lehigh won the league's first playoff game. This was also the only year in which a Patriot League team, Colgate, received a playoff invitation without being a league co-champion.


title: Patriot League

text: Because the Georgetown Hoyas opted out of the 2020-21 NCAA Division I FCS football season due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Patriot League split into a north and south division for the first time. This led to the first ever Patriot League Football Championship Game


title: Patriot League

text: , the Army Black Knights men's lacrosse team has twelve conference championships, the most of any school in the conference. Prior to the 2004 season, no conference tournament was held to determine a single winner.


title: Patriot League

text: The Patriot League was profiled in the John Feinstein book "The Last Amateurs" (2000). The title is derived from the belief that the Patriot League was the last Division I basketball league that plays a conference tournament (the Ivy League, which operates under the same model, albeit with no scholarships, did not hold a conference tournament until the 2016–17 season) and functions as a place for student-athletes rather than a "de facto" minor professional circuit with players not representative of their student bodies. The book is Feinstein's chronicle of all seven of the league's men's basketball teams at the time during the 1999–2000 season.