Reflexivity

Evaluative criteria within phenomenological approaches describe ‘owning one’s perspective’ as an important element of qualitative research (Elliot, Fischer and Rennie, 1999, p.222) thereby acknowledging the subjective aspect within the research process (Willig, 2001). Due to the interpretative nature of IPA and the central role of the researcher, the issue of

reflexivity requires due attention in terms of acknowledging that the possible preconceived ideas and beliefs could potentially influence the analysis and generation of themes (Brocki and Wearden, 2006; Madill, Jordan and Shirley, 2000). However, the aim is not to minimise these, but rather to accept the inevitability of bringing one’s personal perspective to bear on the research (Madill et al, 2006). To this end, my professional background, the origin of the idea and the themes I expected to find are outlined to support greater transparency within the study’s findings. An extract from a diary I used to record my thoughts during the project is presented in Appendix 11.

I am cognisant of the fact that how the participants saw me more than likely affected the information they shared with me during the interview (Richards and Emslie, 2000). For example, as a lecturer a student may have been reluctant to talk about interactions with other lecturers or complain about the structure of their course as impacting their experiences, although I stressed that my role in the interview was one of an interested researcher, not as a lecturer. Or, a student knowing that I am a lecturer, may use the interview context as an opportunity to talk about their problems or concerns about the course. Similarly, I am

109 | P a g e cognisant that my personal perception of the participants affected how I constructed questions and the interview. For example, I had to be careful that I did not make assumptions about how I expected a student to engage with the course content. Students, over the years, have disclosed information about how low mood impacted their abilities to complete assignments and also how medications affected their abilities to concentrate and be creative, for example. I needed to be conscious that I had a view of students’ experiences of depression and taking medication, and that I needed to be mindful of this in order to capture what the participants actually said (or did not say). I was also highly aware that I had assumptions and views of the research topic and the impact that this could have on how I viewed and reported the data. Essentially, being reflective necessitates being critically aware of how the participants may have perceived me as a researcher and how I, in turn, perceived them.

The social standing of the researcher and participants in relation to each other is a key element, which may influence the production of data. This is often conceptualised as the researcher being an ‘insider’ (a member of the group being researched) or an ‘outsider’ (an individual not sharing the same social position as the participants) (Cresswell, 2013).

Merton (1972, p.22) argues that ‘individuals do not have not a single status, but a status set: a complement of various interrelated statuses which interact to affect both behaviour and perspectives.’ One may be an insider in some aspects of the research culture but not in others and one’s position as insider or outsider may shift with different aspects of the research and it is possible ‘simultaneously be to some extent an insider, and to some extent an outsider’ (Hellawell, 2006, p.490). I am aware that I was moving along this continuum as I were neither a complete outsider nor a complete insider. I was an insider as I was doing research in my own Institution where I was keenly familiar with the culture, its workings, its ‘lived experience’ (Brannick & Coughlan, 2007 p.69) and many of its personnel. I was an outsider

110 | P a g e in that I was not a fellow student in the Institution, and my position as a lecturer there and a researcher set me apart from the group. I had neither been diagnosed with depression, nor taken antidepressants. I was not researching the organisation or the practice of colleagues and did not expect to experience ‘role conflict’ or ‘role duality’ which Coughlan (2007) describes as likely hazards of individuals researching their own organisations.

I have limited experience of qualitative interviewing so I approached this research as a ‘novice’. As I have developed therapeutic skills in my training as a counselling psychologist, I had to be mindful that the interviews were not therapy. None the less, having acknowledged this, I would assert that having therapeutic skills and having worked, extensively, with a student population in educational establishments, I would be able to use these skills to support participants should they have become emotional during the interview. I recognised that a competing demand in the interviews was duty of care for participants and concern for their emotional well-being as well as eliciting data, which was pertinent to the topics being researched.

I was also cognisant that there are stereotypes of depression as a general ‘thing’, whereas, in reality, I would argue that being depressed is a profoundly individual experience, and this was borne out in the participants’ personal accounts of their depression.

Despite my keen interest in the research topic, I was sentient to some of the challenges that needed to be faced in carrying out the work. They included adopting the mindset of a

qualitative researcher and undertaking the interviews in an unfamiliar role – that of researcher and not as a lecturer or indeed as a clinician. I needed to be alert to the possible potential for taking on the role of clinician or invoking knowledge I had of the Institution or the courses undertaken by the students. However, I felt well positioned to undertake this sensitive research due to my counselling training and skills, and my many years of working with a

111 | P a g e student population. I was also committed to hearing an individual’s perspective on what it is like for them to engage in study with a diagnosis of depression.

3.11 Chapter Summary

In this chapter I have discussed why I adopted IPA for the study reported in this thesis. I have illustrated how the research is adhering to the philosophical underpinnings of IPA. The discussion of methods used to collect and analyse data offers clarity, and permits the reader to see what has been carried out. The following chapter reports the analysis, with sufficient verbatim extracts from interviews, along with interpretation, as required in IPA. This provides an illumination of the themes derived from the participants’ accounts.

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