scholarly journals Making Sense of Participant Experiences: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis in Midwifery Research

10.28945/3486 ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 205-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha J Charlick ◽  
Jan Pincombe ◽  
Lois McKellar ◽  
Andrea Fielder
Keyword(s):  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Postnatal Period ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Individualized Care ◽  
The Individual

Selecting the most appropriate methodology for research as a doctoral student is one of the most important yet difficult decisions. Not only should the methodology suit the research question, it is important that it resonates with the philosophy of one’s discipline and produces needed results that will contribute to knowledge. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is an approach to qualitative enquiry. IPA seeks to explore how individuals make sense of their major life experiences and is committed to the detailed study of each particular case before moving to broader claims. In the field of midwifery, midwives work with women throughout pregnancy, childbirth and the early postnatal period, offering individualized care based on the unique needs of each woman. IPA aligns with this women-centered philosophy as it offers a methodological approach that considers the individual in a local context. By capturing context specific situations, IPA allows broad-based knowledge to be contextualized within a social and cultural context, producing relevant findings. Thus the access to IPA studies will enable midwives to better care for women and their families through understanding the experiences and perceptions of those in their scope of practice. This paper presents the theoretical framework leading to practical guidelines on how to con-duct a doctoral-level IPA study, as experienced by the first author. It also addresses the advantages and challenges around utilizing IPA, illustrated through examples from the doc-toral student’s study on the journey of exclusive breastfeeding in Australia.

scholarly journals Insights on the Process of Using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis in a Sport Coaching Research Project

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bettina Callary ◽  
Scott Rathwell ◽  
Bradley Young
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Rigorous Research ◽  
Qualitative Research Methodology ◽  
First Time

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) is a qualitative research methodology used to understand participants’ subjective realities through personal interpretations of their lived experiences and the meanings they attach to these experiences (Smith, 2011). IPA has been used predominantly in health psychology, with rising interest within the field of sport psychology and coaching. This article seeks to describe insights about the processes of IPA by a research team using the methodological approach for the first time. These experiences are shared against the backdrop of research exploring the lived experiences of Masters athletes within the context of coached competitive swim programs. We describe how the multiple facets of IPA influence the refinement of the research question, the planning and implementation of data collection, and data analysis and interpretation. We elaborate on our perceptions of the complexities of IPA and make recommendations for how future research teams might smoothly navigate the rigorous research process to yield rich in-depth data and interpretations.

scholarly journals Should Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) be Used With Focus Groups? Navigating the Bumpy Road of “Iterative Loops,” Idiographic Journeys, and “Phenomenological Bridges”

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 160940692092160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beverly Love ◽  
Arlene Vetere ◽  
Paul Davis
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Group Data ◽  
Focus Group Data ◽  
Thematic Approach ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Individual Voice

Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is a qualitative thematic approach developed within psychology underpinned by an idiographic philosophy, thereby focusing on the subjective lived experiences of individuals. However, it has been used in focus groups of which some have been critical because of the difficulties of extrapolating the individual voice which is more embedded within the group dynamics and the added complexity of multiple hermeneutics occurring. Some have adapted IPA for use with focus groups, while others provide scant regard to these philosophical tensions. This raises the question whether IPA should be used with focus group data. To address these concerns, this article will set out a step-by-step guide of how IPA was adapted for use with focus groups involving drug using offenders (including illustrative examples with participants’ quotes). A rationale of why it was important to use both focus groups and an IPA approach will be covered including the value, merits, and challenges this presented. An overview of how participants’ idiographic accounts of their drug use, relapse, and recovery were developed will be provided. This article will conclude with a suggested way forward to satisfy the theoretical tensions and address the question raised in the title.

scholarly journals Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the Lived Experiences of Older Adults Regarding Their Functional Activities in Ghana

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 215013272093111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kofi Awuviry-Newton ◽  
Meredith Tavener ◽  
Kylie Wales ◽  
Julie Byles
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Interview Data ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
World Health ◽  
International Classification Of Functioning ◽  
Functional Activities

Introduction: Research on disability largely draws on epidemiological data, often conducted in more developed countries. To date, there is little research related to older adults in Ghana, Africa. The purpose of this study was to strengthen understanding of how older adults in Ghana perform functional activities, referenced against the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (WHO-ICF) framework. Methods: Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) of semistructured interview data was employed as the methodological approach. Using purposive criterion sampling, 8 older adults admitted to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Ghana, presenting with any identified health condition and/or frailty were recruited. Results: Analysis of interview data identified 5 interrelated themes: (1) feeling anxious, (2) feeling restricted, (3) understanding and admitting difficulty, (4) striving to be healthy and being productive, and (5) managing functional difficulty. These concerns were classified and related to the WHO-ICF, particularly the contextual factors. Discussion: This study examined in detail experiences of older adults performing functional activities. Our study highlights the relevance of the WHO-ICF framework for understanding the health needs of older adults, emphasizing the functional, social, and environmental factors influencing the functional status of older adults. The findings offer unique insight into the health needs of older adults, drawing attention to the implications for policy and care.

scholarly journals Threshold concepts in prosthetics

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 548-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Hill
Keyword(s):  
Study Design ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Clinical Relevance ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Analysis Approach ◽  
Threshold Concepts ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Potential Threshold

Background:Curriculum documents identify key concepts within learning prosthetics. Threshold concepts provide an alternative way of viewing the curriculum, focussing on the ways of thinking and practicing within prosthetics. Threshold concepts can be described as an opening to a different way of viewing a concept. This article forms part of a larger study exploring what students and staff experience as difficult in learning about prosthetics.Objectives:To explore possible threshold concepts within prosthetics.Study design:Qualitative, interpretative phenomenological analysis.Methods:Data from 18 students and 8 staff at two universities with undergraduate prosthetics and orthotics programmes were generated through interviews and questionnaires. The data were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach.Results:Three possible threshold concepts arose from the data: ‘how we walk’, ‘learning to talk’ and ‘considering the person’.Conclusion:Three potential threshold concepts in prosthetics are suggested with possible implications for prosthetics education. These possible threshold concepts involve changes in both conceptual and ontological knowledge, integrating into the persona of the individual. This integration occurs through the development of memories associated with procedural concepts that combine with disciplinary concepts. Considering the prosthetics curriculum through the lens of threshold concepts enables a focus on how students learn to become prosthetists.Clinical relevanceThis study provides new insights into how prosthetists learn. This has implications for curriculum design in prosthetics education.

scholarly journals Corporate Entrepreneurship, Strategy Formulation, and the Performance of the Nigerian Manufacturing Sector

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Segun OMISORE
Keyword(s):  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Corporate Entrepreneurship ◽  
Strategy Formulation ◽  
Cumulative Impact ◽  
Industrial Transformation ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences ◽  
The Individual

Corporate entrepreneurship is a process that encourages formulating and implementing new ideas, taking risks, and creating new ideas to start new businesses. It is associated with innovation, which results in entrepreneur wealth and adds value for an organisation and the customers that buy the products. The Nigerian manufacturing sector has been underperforming in the past decade with numerous firms in the sector operating at less than 30% of initially installed capacity. Despite various industrial transformation programmes initiated by the successive governments to boost manufacturing outputs, most firms in this sector do not seem to have made any significant progress in response. Reasons for this underperformance is arguably due to the misalignment between ‘externally-driven’ policies and the ‘internal processes’ within the individual firms of various sizes. To explore and unravel the undercurrents impelling the seeming strategy- environment misalignment, this study takes a recourse to the strategic management literature. It draws from the intersectionality of strategy-environment congruence and the attendant moderating effect on performance. In order to drill down to conceptual specifics, it builds on the 3Cs framework (competence, commitment and co-ordination) initially propounded by Jha and Iyer (2007). Based on a sample of 32 manufacturing firms and leaning on the qualitative methodological approach (using interpretative phenomenological analysis), the study sought to gain situated, contextual, insights into the perceptions of the phenomenon as demonstrable in the strategic configuration. It interrogated respective processes of strategy formulation and implementation in the degree to which they are moderated by the contending environmental variables and the cumulative impact on corporate performance. This is the level of analysis at which corporate entrepreneurship behaviour, in terms of both antecedents and consequences, profoundly manifests itself; mirroring management behaviour, sensitivity and predilections towards environmental scanning capabilities. The sample of firms was drawn from firms of varying sizes in four geopolitical zones of Nigeria – South West, South East, South, and North Central. Results indicate profound ambivalences in the nature of the operating environment and the signals emitted there from which, in turn, truncates entrepreneurial behaviours of firms. Essentially, negative perceptions of the environment militated against strategic coherence, thus adversely impacting corporate performances. Essentially, the eclectic 3Cs paradigm holds strong explanatory as well as diagnostic force in explicating the setbacks of the Nigerian manufacturing sector. The analytical prism is a novelty and offers tremendous latitude for sketching out appropriate turnaround intervention strategies.

scholarly journals Addressing Religion in Secular Healthcare: Existential Communication and the Post-Secular Negotiation

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Ricko Damberg Nissen ◽  
Aida Hougaard Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Physician Patient

This article aims to understand why religion has proven difficult to address in secular healthcare, although existential communication is important for patients’ health and wellbeing. Two qualitative data samples exploring existential communication in secular healthcare were analyzed following Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, leading to the development of the analytical constructs of ‘the secular’ and ‘the non-secular’. The differentiation of the secular and the non-secular as different spheres for the individual to be situated in offers a nuanced understanding of the physician–patient meeting, with implications for existential communication. We conceptualize the post-secular negotiation as the attempt to address the non-secular through secular activities in healthcare. Employment of the post-secular negotiation enables an approach to existential communication where the non-secular, including religion, can be addressed as part of the patients’ life without compromising the professional grounding in secular healthcare. The post-secular negotiation presents potential for further research, clinical practice, and for the benefit of patients.

An interpretative phenomenological analysis exploring the transition from army to civilian life.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Alice Jones
Keyword(s):  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Civilian Life ◽  
Transition Experience ◽  
Personality Perception ◽  
Transition To Civilian Life ◽  
Army Personnel

This thesis presents an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) exploring the transition from army to civilian life. The research purpose was to explore the experiences of ex-army personnel of their transition from army to civilian life by building an in-depth picture of each participant’s experience of transitioning from the army to civilian life, as well as an understanding of how they felt about their time in the army. The following research questions were used to guide the research, Question 1: How do ex-army personnel perceive their experience of their transition from military to civilian life? Question 2: How do ex-army personnel adjust to a civilian lifestyle? Question 3: How do ex-army personnel make sense of their identity during their transition to civilian lifestyle? Question 4: How do ex-army personnel perceive support could be further developed or introduced, to facilitate individuals in the transition from military to civilian life? The thesis addressed three research aims, Aim 1: to examine how ex-army personnel perceive their experience of their transition from military to civilian life, Aim 2: to explore how ex-army personnel adjust to a civilian lifestyle, Aim 3: to develop an interpretation of the best ways in which to support ex-army personnel during their transition to civilian life. The three aims were achieved through the use of an IPA approach to the analysis of 9 interviews. Participants were individuals who had served in the army and experienced the transition from army to civilian life first hand. Nine master themes were developed as a result of the analysis. The nine master themes identified were: Identity, Control, Personality, Perception of the army, Wellbeing, Civilian lifestyle, Civilian connection, Army life, and Support. In its unique contribution to knowledge, this thesis builds upon the existing quantitative research on the topic of the transition from army to civilian life creating further depth and understanding. It explores how individuals perceive their transition experience and how they made meaning of this in their reflections. In addition to this, it uses the examination and evaluation of the transition experience to develop an interpretation of how ex-army personnel may be better supported in their transition to civilian life.

Experiences of shame for people with dementia: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Dementia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 1896-1911 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Aldridge ◽  
Paul Fisher ◽  
Ken Laidlaw
Keyword(s):  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Psychological Therapies ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Control ◽  
Published Research

Studies highlight that shame can be problematic for people with early-stage dementia. However, no published research has specifically explored experiences of shame in dementia from the perspective of the individual. This study uses Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to gain an understanding of how shame is experienced and made sense of by six people with early-stage dementia. Individual, semi-structured interviews took place in participants’ homes. An in-depth analysis of the data revealed four superordinate themes implicated in shame experiences: Avoidance explains the participants’ efforts to distance themselves from shaming experiences; participants reported Negative self-perceptions including a weakening self, loss of value and meaninglessness; Relationship matters involved issues around trust, burden and past relationships and Uncertainty and loss of control highlights participants’ anxiety about losing clarity and control. Ideas are contributed for promoting non-shaming experiences for people with dementia, particularly through communication during assessment and diagnosis, and psychological therapies.

Working After Loss: How Bereavement Counsellors Experience Returning to Therapeutic Work After the Death of Their Parent

2021 ◽  
pp. 105413732110676
Author(s):  
Dr. Colleen Swinden
Keyword(s):  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Grief And Loss ◽  
Use Of Self ◽  
Self Disclosure ◽  
Therapeutic Work ◽  
Returning To Work ◽  
The Impact

Despite increased interest in the impact of external events on counsellors, surprisingly little has been written on counsellor bereavement. To address the research question: How do bereavement counsellors experience therapeutic work after the death of their parent? Interviews were conducted with four bereaved counsellors who reflected on its impact on their work. Data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Three major themes emerged; how decisions about returning to work were informed by colleagues and supervision; the benefits of returning to work and the use of ‘bracketing’; long-term implications for practice including heightened empathy with clients’ and disclosure of loss. In addition, participants felt they had insufficient guidance regarding fitness to practice. The possible limitations of the study were that self-selection may have introduced an element of bias to the results. These findings support existing literature and also revealed potential gaps in grief and loss training for counsellors and supervisors. A particular training issue for supervisors might be identifying and discussing fitness to practice issues with supervisees. There are also implications for counsellors in terms of the use of self-disclosure in therapy. Suggested further research to explore the use of self-disclosure in greater depth.

scholarly journals The anatomy of business failure

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Artur Dias ◽  
Aurora A.C. Teixeira
Keyword(s):  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
New Ventures ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Business Failure ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The North ◽  
Main Determinants ◽  
The Individual

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the aftermath of business failure (BF) by addressing: how the individual progressed and developed new ventures, how individuals changed business behaviors and practices in light of a failure, and what was the effect of previous failure on the individual’s decisions to embark on subsequent ventures. Design/methodology/approach The authors resort to qualitative methods to understand the aftermath of BF from a retrospective point of a successful entrepreneur. Specifically, the authors undertook semi-structured interviews to six entrepreneurs, three from the north of Europe and three from the south and use interpretative phenomenological analysis. Findings The authors found that previous failure impacted individuals strongly, being shaped by the individual’s experience and age, and their perception of blame for the failure. An array of moderator costs was identified, ranging from antecedents to institutions that were present in the individual’s lives. The outcomes are directly relatable to the failed experience by the individual. The authors also found that the failure had a significant effect on the individual’s career path. Originality/value While predicting the failure of healthy firms or the discovery of the main determinants that lead to such an event have received increasingly more attention in the last two decades, the focus on the consequences of BF is still lagging behind. The present study fills this gap by analyzing the aftermath of BF.

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