Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis As a Method for Democratic Inquiry

Background and Purpose:

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) is a rigorous qualitative methodology designed to examine how individuals make meaning of significant life experiences (Smith, 1998). IPA centers lived experience of individuals through the interpretive lens of the researcher. IPA lends itself to a democratic process of knowledge production, as participants and researcher engage in a co-creation of meaning through the process of interpretation. This workshop features a panel of four Ph.D students that applied IPA in their dissertations across diverse populations and contexts: Black adults in recovery from a serious mental illness, young adults who experienced school discipline and disability classifications, adolescents with incarcerated parents, and Black collegiate women who have experienced dating violence.

The purpose of this workshop is to inform participants about foundational knowledge about IPA, and to practice data analysis strategies that are part of IPA.

Methods

The workshop format will be as follows:
1.) BACKGROUND (10-15 minutes): Panelists will outline the theoretical foundations of IPA, including three core foundations of IPA, including phenomenology, hermeneutics, and idiography. Next, panelists will outline three important data analysis processes: a.) double hermeneutics: the process by which researchers make sense of participants who are themselves making sense of their experiences; b.) development of Personal Experiential Themes (PETs), the case-specific themes which emerge during data analysis; c.) development of Group Experiential Themes (GETs), the themes which emerge from cross-case analysis.

2.) APPLICATION (10-15 minutes): Scholars will outline how they applied IPA to their own research study. They will discuss the successes and challenges they encountered in applying IPA and discuss how IPA offered a pathway for addressing implicit and explicit bias. Panelists will describe their approaches to recruitment, data collection, and sample size considerations. Finally, they will illustrate how double hermeneutics shaped their data analysis process, and how they developed PETs and GETs in their own analysis.

3.) INTERACTIVE PORTION (30-40 minutes): Participants will break into groups of 4-5. They will be provided a mock transcript from a mock IPA research study. They will collaborate on identifying PETs in the provided transcript. Panelists will walk around the room and provide guidance to groups. The small groups will then come back to the full group to engage in a discussion of the PETs that were identified, and discuss how double hermeneutics played out in the analysis process. Finally, the panelists will facilitate a discussion to illustrate how GETs are formed through cross-case analysis.

Results:

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to identify how IPA advances democratic knowledge co-creation, in alignment with the 2027 SSWR conference theme. They will be able to apply various data analysis processes that are aligned to IPA methodology.

Conclusions and Implications:

Participants of this workshop will gain knowledge and skills to apply IPA to their own research, and to critically analyze which research questions align with IPA. This workshop advances the field of social work research by enhancing the knowledge and skills of practitioners and researchers to apply IPA.