Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis: An Appropriate Methodology for Educational Research?

Authors

  • Edward John Noon Sheffield Hallam University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14297/jpaap.v6i1.304

Keywords:

IPA, Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, Phenomenology, Qualitative, Methodology

Abstract

Interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) is a contemporary qualitative methodology, first developed by psychologist Jonathan Smith (1996). Whilst its roots are in psychology, it is increasingly being drawn upon by scholars in the human, social and health sciences (Charlick, Pincombe, McKellar, & Fielder, 2016). Despite this, IPA has received limited attention across educationalist literature. Drawing upon my experiences of using IPA to explore the barriers to the use of humour in the teaching of Childhood Studies (Noon, 2017), this paper will discuss its theoretical orientation, sampling and methods of data collection and analysis, before examining the strengths and weaknesses to IPA’s employment in educational research.

Author Biography

  • Edward John Noon, Sheffield Hallam University

    Edward Noon is a PhD candidate and Associate Lecturer on the Early Childhood and Childhood Studies Programme at Sheffield Hallam University. His doctoral research seeks to explore how social comparison on social network sites influences adolescent identity development. Twitter – @EdwardJNoon

References

Arroll, M. A. (2015). Health Psychology and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. In M. J. Langweilder, & P. W. McCarthy (Ed.), Methodologies for Effectively Assessing Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) (pp. 43-51). London: Singing Dragon.

Brocki, J. M., & Wearden, A. J. (2006). A critical evaluation of the use of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) in health psychology. Psychology & Health, 21, 87-108.

Bulmer, M. (2001). The ethics of social research. In N. Gilbert (Ed.), Researching Social Life (pp. 45-57). London: Sage.

Bush, J., Harris, D. M., & Parker, R. J. (2016). Cognitive Self Change: How Offenders Experience the World and What We Can Do About It. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

Cassidy, E., Reynolds, F., Naylor, S., & De Souza, L. (2011). Using interpretative phenomenological analysis to inform physiotherapy practice: An introduction with reference to the lived experience of cerebellar ataxia. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 27 (4), 263-277.

Charlick, S., Pincombe, J., McKellar, L., & Fielder, A. (2016). Making sense of participant experiences: Interpretative phenomenological analysis in midwifery research. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 11, 205-216.

Clarke, V. (2010). Review of the book ”Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Theory, Method and Research”. Psychology Learning & Teaching, 9, 57-56.

Coyle, D. (2014). Phenomenology. In A. McInstosh-Scott, T. Mason, E. Mason-Whitehead, & D. Coyle (Ed.), Key Concepts in Nursing and Healthcare Research (pp. 116-124). London: Sage.

Dallmayr, F. (2009). Hermeneutics and inter-cultural dialog: linking theory and practice. Ethics & Global Politics, 2, 23-39.

Denovan, A., & Macaskill, A. (2012). An interpretative phenomenological analysis of stress and coping in first year undergraduates. British Educational Research Journal, 39 (6), 1002-1024.

Eatough, V., & Smith, J. A. (2008). Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. In: C. Willig, & W. Stainton-Rogers (Ed.)., The Sage handbook of qualitative research in psychology (pp. 179-194). Los Angeles: Sage.

Griffiths, M. (2009). Parent and Child Experiences of Childhood Cancer: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Approach. PhD: Queensland University of Technology.

Hefferon, K., & Gil-Rodriguez, E. (2011). Methods: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The Psychologist, 24, 756-759.

Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and time. Oxford: Blackwell.

Jeog, H., & Othman, J. (2016). Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis from a Realist Perspective. The Qualitative reports, 21 (3), 558-570.

Langdridge, D. (2007). Phenomenological psychology: Theory, research and method. London: Pearson Education.

Moses, J. W., & Knutsen, T. L. (2012). Ways of Knowing: Competing Methodologies in Social and Political Research. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Noon, E. J. (2017). An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the Barriers to the Use of Humour in the Teaching of Childhood Studies. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 5 (3), 45-52.

Pietkiewicz, I. & Smith, J.A. (2012) Praktyczny przewodnik interpretacyjnej analizy fenomenologicznej w badaniach jakościowych w psychologii. Czasopismo Psychologiczne, 18 (2), 361-369.

Quest, D. A. (2014). Out of the Way and Out of Place: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the Experiences of Social Interactions of Bisexually Attracted Young People. PhD: Portland State University.

Ricoeur, P. (1970). Freud and philosophy: An essay on interpretation. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Shaw, R. (2001). Why use interpretative phenomenological analysis in Health Psychology? Health Psychology Update, 10 (4), 48-52.

Smith, J. A. (1996). Beyond the divide between cognition and discourse: Using interpretative phenomenological analysis in health psychology. Psychology and Health, 11, 261-271.

Smith, J. A. (1999). Towards a relational self: Social engagement during pregnancy and psychological preparation for motherhood. British Journal of Social Psychology, 38, 409-426.

Smith, J. A. (2004). Reflecting on the development of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and its contribution to qualitative research in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 1, 39-54.

Smith, J. A., & Eatough, V. (2006). Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In G.M. Breakwell, S. Hammond, C. Fife-Schaw, & J. A. Smith (Ed.), Research Methods in Psychology (pp. 322–341). London: Sage.

Smith, J. A., & Osborn, M. (2003). Interpretive phenomenological analysis. In J.A. Smith (Ed.) Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods (pp. 51-80). London: Sage.

Smith, J. A., & Osborn, M. (2008). Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In: J. A. Smith (Ed.), Qualitative psychology: a practical guide to research methods (pp. 53-81). London: Sage.

Smith, J. A., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method and research. London: Sage.

Smith, J.A., Jarman, M. & Osborn, M. (1999). Doing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. In M. Murray, & K. Chamberlain (Ed.), Qualitative Health Psychology: Theories and Methods (pp. 218-240). London: Sage.

Sparkes, A. C., & Smith, B. (2014). Qualitative Research Methods in Sport, Exercise and Health: From Process to Product. Abingdon: Routledge.

Tomkins, L. (2017). Using Interpretative Phenomenological Psychology in Organisational Research with Working Carers. In J. Brook, & N. King (Ed.), Applied Qualitative Research in Psychology (pp. 86-100). London: Palgrave.

Wagstaff, C., Jeong, H., Nolan, M., Wilson, T., Tweedlie, J., Phillips, E,... Holland, F. (2014). The Accordion and the Deep Bowl of Spaghetti: Eight Researchers’ Experiences of Using IPA as a Methodology. The Qualitative Report, 19, 1-15.

Wedlock, M. (2016). “You kind of pull back the layers”: The experience of inter-professional supervision with Educational Psychologists. Doctorate in Child, Community and Educational Psychology: University of Essex.

Willig, C. (2013). Introducing Qualitative Research In Psychology. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Downloads

Published

2018-04-24

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2018): JPAAP Vol 6, Issue 1 (2018)

Section

Reflective Analysis Papers

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice has made best effort to ensure accuracy of the contents of this journal, however makes no claims to the authenticity and completeness of the articles published. Authors are responsible for ensuring copyright clearance for any images, tables etc which are supplied from an outside source.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.