IPA involves the detailed examination of personal lived experience through the exploration of the meaning of this experience to participants, and how they make sense of it (Smith, 2011). In order to achieve this, the researcher is
required to enter a process of engagement and interpretation (Smith, 2011), influenced by the hermeneutic approach described in section 4.5.
Larkin et al. (2006) suggest that researchers approach their data with two aims: ILUVWO\ WR XQGHUVWDQG WKHLU SDUWLFLSDQWV¶ ZRUOG DQG GHVFULEH LW DQG VHFRQGO\ WR SURYLGH D FULWLFDO DQG FRQFHSWXDO FRPPHQWDU\ RQ SDUWLFLSDQWV¶ sense-making in order to position the initial descriptions within wider social and cultural contexts.
Analysis of the eight interview transcripts adhered to the process described and espoused by Smith et al. (2009), who suggest that a researcher using IPA for the first time follow their step-by-step process to facilitate the analysis. The steps for analysing each case are:
x reading and rereading; x initial noting;
x developing emergent themes;
x searching for connections across emergent themes; and x looking for patterns across cases.
Table 5.3 presents each step and the process followed. Following the guidelines presented by Smith et al DQG,3$¶VLGLRJUDSKLFSULQFLSOH,
Steps Description of the Process Followed Step 1:
Reading and rereading
Smith et al. (2009) describe this step as entering into a phase RIµDFWLYHHQJDJHPHQWZLWKWKHGDWD¶ S 82). There is
repeated reading of the individual transcript at a careful pace (to avoid superficial reading) to enable a model of the
individual structure to develop, identify more detailed sections and locate any contradictions.
To increase my familiarity with each account, the interviews were read and reread three times. During the second reading I listened to the audio recording of the interview to enable me WRµKHDU¶WKHSDUWLFLSDQW¶VYRLFHRQVXEVHTXHQWUHDGLQJV As suggested by Smith et al., notes of my initial ideas (e.g. paraphrasing; connections between comments within the individual interview and across interviews; and tentative interpretations) were recorded on separate pieces of paper to set these aside (or bracket) whilst I continued to engage with the transcript.
Step 2: Initial noting
Although documented under separate headings, as described by Smith et al. (2009), Steps 1 and 2 merge together as the researcher often makes notes and highlights aspects of the transcript whilst reading and rereading the interviews. During Step 2, however, the analysis moves towards a more
interpretive level. Whilst there are no restrictions about what is commented on, the aim is to produce a detailed set of notes and comments (see Appendix 11).
During this stage, I underlined certain sections of the text I believed to be of importance and, in the left-hand margin, made comments regarding my rationale. These notes incorporated the processes of exploratory commenting (descriptive, linguistic and conceptual) described by Smith et al. (2009). Descriptive comments have a phenomenological focus and remain close to the participant¶s meaning; they include the things that matter to the participant (e.g. key objects of concern, places, events, values) and the personal meaning of these (Smith et al., 2009). Interpretive comments involve exploration of the language used by participants (e.g. pronoun use, pauses, laughter, repetition, tone) and the UHVHDUFKHU¶VDWWHPSWVWRPDNHVHQVHRIWKHµSDWWHUQVRI PHDQLQJLQWKHLUDFFRXQW¶WKURXJKWKHLGHQWLILFDWLRQRIPRUH abstract concepts (ibid, p. 83). This involves moving away IURPWKHSDUWLFLSDQW¶VH[SOLFLWFODLms towards their µRYHUDUFKLQJ XQGHUVWDQGLQJRIWKHPDWWHUVWKH\DUHGLVFXVVLQJ¶ ibid, p. 88). 7KHVHLQWHUSUHWDWLRQVHQWHULQWRµUHIOH[LYHHQJDJHPHQW¶,
ZKHUHE\WKHUHVHDUFKHU¶VH[SHULHQWLDODQGSURIHVVLRQDO knowledge is drawn upon in order to make sense of the
interpretation must be inspired by and arise from the
SDUWLFLSDQW¶VZRUGV; to ensure this was the case I continually checked my comments on subsequent readings of the transcripts.
Step 3: Developing emergent themes
During this stage of the analysis, the researcher identifies and labels themes that characterise sections of the text (Willig, 2008). The initial notes produced in the earlier stages evolve into more concise phrases, which aim to capture the
SDUWLFLSDQW¶VH[SHULHQFHV In doing so, the process becomes reductive in attempting to condense the larger data set that has been produced. Themes are conceptual, drawing on the µLQWHUSUHWLYH¶HOHPHQWLQ,3$DOORZLQJWKHRUHWLFDOFRQQHFWLRQV to develop, which may include psychological terminology as WKHUHVHDUFKHUDWWHPSWVWRSURGXFHµFRQFLVHDQGSLWK\¶ VWDWHPHQWVUHIOHFWLQJERWKWKHSDUWLFLSDQW¶VOLYHGH[SHULHQFH LQWKHLURZQZRUGV DQGWKHUHVHDUFKHU¶VLQWHUSUHWDWLRQ 6PLWK
et al., 2009, p. 92): it is a process of description and
interpretation (Smith and Osborn, 2015).
Emergent themes were recorded in the right-hand margin of the interview transcript and then listed on a separate piece of paper in the order they appeared in the transcript (Smith and Osborn, 2015) (see Appendices 10 and 11).
Step 4: Searching for connections
During this stage of the analysis, the researcher engages in a more analytical ordering of the themes by exploring
connections between them. Some of the emergent themes will cluster together to produce a superordinate theme, whilst others may emerge as superordinate concepts, drawing together other themes (Smith et al., 2009). Following a more traditional method, as described by Smith et al. (2009), emergent themes were typed and printed before being cut into individual themes. I then placed these on a large piece of paper and physically moved them around to identify patterns. Themes with commonalities were placed together and given a ODEHOWRµFDSWXUHWKHLUHVVHQFH¶ :LOOLJ LQRUGHUWRIRUP a superordinate theme (Smith et al., 2009).
Step 5: Looking for patterns
The penultimate stage of the analysis involves looking for FRQQHFWLRQVDFURVVWKHLQGLYLGXDOFDVHVWRSURGXFHDµPDVWHU WDEOHRIWKHPHV¶IRUWKHgroup of participants (Smith and Osborn, 2015). Themes and superordinate themes for each participant were printed and cut out so that they could be displayed on a large piece of paper. These were then physically moved around the paper as connections were established, leading to a reconfiguring and relabelling of some of the themes (Smith and Osborn, 2015). Through continued re-engagement with the transcripts, these initial labels
ensuring the analysis remained grounded within the SDUWLFLSDQWV¶SHUVRQDODFFRXQWV Willig, 2008; Smith and Osborn, 2015). A table of themes for each group (the children and then their parents) was created displaying each
superordinate theme and the themes incorporated within them. 7KHµWDEOHRIPDVWHUWKHPHV¶IRUWKHFKLOGUHQ¶V and parentV¶ interviews are shown in sections 6.1 and 7.1.
The final stage of the analysis involves the researcher moving from the final table of themes to the translation of these into a narrative account (Smith and Osborn, 2015). A narrative account of the findings from this study is presented in Chapters 6 and 7.
Table 5.3: Summary of steps for the interpretative phenomenological analysis.