Joe McNabb Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (ipa) Objectives of this presentation Discuss IPA Briefly talk about its theoretical underpinnings Offer my own perspective on differences between IPA and Phenomenology Aims of an IPA Research study Provide an in-depth explorations of participants’ lived experiences. Provide a close examination of how participants make sense of these experiences. Ipa Concerned with an exploration of an individual’s perception or account of the event. Focuses on personal meaning and sense-making in a particular context for people who share a particular experience. IPA and qualitative research Qualitative Uses a small purposive sample Analyzes themes Engages in in-depth study and creates thick descriptions. What makes IPA distinct Focus on personal meaning and sense-making. How do students at a CC who have been cyberbullied make sense of that experience? Not a focus upon experience itself and describing it in terms of its particular and essential features. What are the main features of being cyberbullied? What makes IPA distinct Bracketing takes on a different meaning in IPA. The role of the researcher The researcher is making sense of the participant trying to make sense of a particular phenomenon. Theoretical underpinnings of ipa Phenomenology Double Hermeneutic Idiography Idiographic: Focus on the particular Offer detailed, nuanced analysis of particular instances of lived experience. For Husserl, it was important to move from the individual instances to establish the eidetic structure or essence of the experience. For IPA the prior task of detailed analysis of particular cases of actual life and lived experience remains the priority. Summary of key elements Inductive [rejects hypotheses] Idiographic Assumes agency Individuals actively interpret their experiences Concerned with understanding lived experiences Data-driven [bottom up] Researcher’s role two fold IPA Textbook