Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

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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. 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.

PART ONE: DOING IPA: Theory and Method The Theoretical Foundations of IPA Planning an IPA Research Study Collecting Data Analysis Writing up PART TWO: IPA RESEARCH Health and Illness Sex and Sexuality Psychological Distress Life Transitions and Identity PART THREE: CURRENT ISSUES FOR IPA Assessing Validity The Relationship between IPA and Other Approaches Conclusion and Reflections on Future Developments

About the Author

Jonathan A. Smith is Professor of Psychology at Birkbeck University of London, UK where he leads the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) research group. He has written many articles applying IPA to a range of areas in health, clinical and social psychology. He is co- author (with Paul Flowers and Michael Larkin) of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Theory, Method and Research (Sage, 2009). He also has a wider interest in qualitative psychology generally and has co-edited a number of books in the area.

Reviews

'I have been using this book since it was published - recommending it to undergraduate and postgraduate students both as the definitive account of the IPA approach and as an accessible introduction to experiential qualitative research more broadly. The chapters on designing an IPA study, collecting and analysing data, and writing up an IPA study in particular are excellent...This book remains an invaluable addition to the toolkit of resources for teachers and students of qualitative research, and I thoroughly recommend it to both' - Psychology: Learning and Teaching, Volume 9, Number 1

Table of Contents

About the Author

Reviews