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	STEP 3 - Contents > Where is the boundary? > What information is available? > Heritage registers > Finding out more about heritage > What additional information is required? > What goes into a heritage study?   > Have a go -Step 3
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	What is a thematic study? Thematic studies are a way of looking at the history or other aspects of a place which compares it to other places or events. You can then make use of information that has already been gathered about similar places to the one in which you may have an interest.   An example Imagine that your study aims to look at cultural heritage places throughout a whole local government area. Searches of heritage registers and other local studies show that: the heritage registers contain many town buildings and quite a few rural homesteads heritage studies have been completed for each town in the area, but not for rural districts. An analysis of this information, using a checklist or framework of themes, could reveal the following: no trees or gardens of heritage value in the towns have been identified, even though the towns are well known for these features no examples of farm outbuildings or structures such as shearing sheds, sheep dips and yards have been identified, even though most of the homesteads on the older farm properties are listed little recorded information exists about the role of Indigenous people in the history of the area, or about places significant to Indigenous people the history of the forested hills, important in the past for logging, charcoal-burning, brush-cutting, hunting and bee-keeping, has not been recorded and is not reflected in the heritage register listings the local community was not involved in past heritage studies, so there is no evidence that the social value of places has ever been considered. By checking against themes, you have identified gaps in knowledge about heritage and are now able to decide what additional information to collect. You may well decide to do more research on a particular theme, such as industries in the forested hills. A thematic approach also helps you to uncover the hidden history of a place rather than just rely on what it looks like. An example of a thematic approach is the Australian Historic Themes Framework, which lists themes agreed to by Commonwealth and State historic heritage agencies for use in conducting heritage studies. Further studies can be undertaken to explore one thematic area in more detail. For example for migrant heritage places there are ways of identifying places associated with particular cultural traditions. .....