Interpretative phenomenological analysis : theory, method and research

Table of contents: 1. Introduction 2. The theoretical foundations of IPA 3. Planning an IPA research study 4. Collecting data 5. Analysis 6. Writing 7. Advanced designs and innovative approches 8. Connecting IPA with perspectives in the human sciences 9. Assessing validity and quality 10. Research Exemplar A: Health and illness 11. Research Exemplar B: Psychological distress 12. Research Exemplar C: Identity and life transitions 13. Conclusion and reflections on future developments

This book presents a comprehensive guide to interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) which is an increasingly popular approach to qualitative inquiry taught to undergraduate and postgraduate students today. The first chapter outlines the theoretical foundations for IPA. It discusses phenomenology, hermeneutics, and idiography and how they have been taken up by IPA. The next four chapters provide detailed, step by step guidelines to conducting IPA research: study design, data collection and interviewing, data analysis, and writing up. In the next section, the authors give extended worked examples from their own studies in health, sexuality, psychological distress, and identity to illustrate the breadth and depth of IPA research. Each of these chapters also offers a guide to other good exemplars of IPA research in the designated area. The final section of the book considers how IPA connects with other contemporary qualitative approaches like discourse and narrative analysis and how it addresses issues to do with validity. The book is written in an accessible style and will be extremely useful to students and researchers in psychology and related disciplines in the health and social sciences.