IPA Qualitative research
A qualitative study on Sri Lankan women living in the UK- A perspective on culture, exercise and dietary patterns.
1.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE APPROACH
Having read the transcripts and the aim of the research, I decided to choose which qualitative approach to use in the analysis. Grounded Theory was ruled out because it deals more with a sociological approach and works better with a larger sample group (Willig, C,2009). Discourse Analysis explores the role of language in participant’s descriptions of events and conversations (Willig, 2009) this was also ruled out because I did not think that the language used by the participants was ambiguous enough and I did not think that language could be used to express and interpret the participants’ perspectives. This left me with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), (Smith,J.A, 2008; Willig,2009).
The rationale behind my choice to use Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) is because it works well with transcripts of semi-structured interview (Willig, 2009), which was the data collection method used in the study. It is suggested that IPA is likely to offer a more detailed and nuanced analysis of the lived experience of a small number of participants with an emphasis on the convergence and divergence between participants (Smith, 2008), Smith, (2008) further added that IPA is a suitable approach when one is trying to find out how individuals perceive the particular situation they are facing and how they make sense of their personal and social world.
The aim of IPA is to explore in details how participants are making sense of their personal and social world, the main currencies for an IPA study are the meanings that particular experiences, events or states hold for participants (Smith, 2008). IPA focuses upon perceptions. It aims to gain a better understanding of how the world appears to participants, of how participants perceive and experience the world from their own perspective (Willig, 2009).
IPA
1.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE APPROACH
Having read the transcripts and the aim of the research, I decided to choose which qualitative approach to use in the analysis. Grounded Theory was ruled out because it deals more with a sociological approach and works better with a larger sample group (Willig, C,2009). Discourse Analysis explores the role of language in participant’s descriptions of events and conversations (Willig, 2009) this was also ruled out because I did not think that the language used by the participants was ambiguous enough and I did not think that language could be used to express and interpret the participants’ perspectives. This left me with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), (Smith,J.A, 2008; Willig,2009).
The rationale behind my choice to use Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) is because it works well with transcripts of semi-structured interview (Willig, 2009), which was the data collection method used in the study. It is suggested that IPA is likely to offer a more detailed and nuanced analysis of the lived experience of a small number of participants with an emphasis on the convergence and divergence between participants (Smith, 2008), Smith, (2008) further added that IPA is a suitable approach when one is trying to find out how individuals perceive the particular situation they are facing and how they make sense of their personal and social world.
The aim of IPA is to explore in details how participants are making sense of their personal and social world, the main currencies for an IPA study are the meanings that particular experiences, events or states hold for participants (Smith, 2008). IPA focuses upon perceptions. It aims to gain a better understanding of how the world appears to participants, of how participants perceive and experience the world from their own perspective (Willig, 2009).
IPA
References: 1. Babakus, W.S. & Thompson, J.L. (2012). ‘Physical activity among South Asian women: a systematic, mixed-method review’, Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity. 5. Farooqi, A., Nagra, D., Edgar, T., & Khunti, K. (2000). ‘Attitudes to lifestyle risk factors for coronary health disease amongst South Asians in Leicester: a focus group study’, Family practice, Vol.17, No.4. 8. Murphy, M.H., Donnelly, P., Breslin, G., Shibli, S. &Nevil, A.M. (2013). ‘Does doing housework keep you healthy? The contributing of domestic physical activity to meeting current recommendations for health’, BMC Public Health. 9. Redding, C.A., Rossi,J.S., Rossi, S.R., Velicer, W.F., & Prochaska, J.O. (2000) Health Behaviour Models, The International Electronic Journal of Health Education, (Special Issue): 180-193 10. Smith, J.A 11. Linke,S.E., Robinso, C.J., & Pekmezi,D. (2013). Application theories to promote healthy lifestyles, American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine 12