Phenomenology

the study of phenomena from a first person point of view to explore personal experience

Ontology

what is the nature of the world?

Causality

cause and effect in the world

Epistemology

how and why do we know things?

Important names

>Brentano- interested in differences between physical sensations and thought processes >Husserl >Heidegger >Gadamer >Smith- developed IPA

Idiography

intensive study of a single case to obtain in-depth understanding

IPA

detailed exploration of personal meaning and lived experience by extracting deeper meaning from what is said using emotions, body language, and implied meaning

Aim of IPA

provide insights into how a person makes sense of their world by looking at similarities and differences

double hermeneutic process

participant makes meaning of their experiences, then the research makes meaning of from their meaning

reflexivity

tell the reader your standpoint because we become very close to the data

participants

>2-25 pps >purposeful sampling

IPA interviews

>90-120 mins long >semi-structured >online or in-person >debrief after

step 1

re-read transcripts and note reflections

step 2

line-by-line coding and note down interesting things

step 3

consider possible themes by looking for patterns and relationships from initial notes

step 4

identify theme connections

step 5

repeat steps 1-4 on other cases

step 6

identify patterns and connections between cases, and develop themes to encompass each case

types of comments

>descriptive >linguistic >conceptual

strengths

>flexible >focus on individual as expert >participants voices heard >in-depth exploration >adaptable method

criticisms

>can leave out why experiences occurred >not generalisable >time consuming